How Iran Uses Bitcoin Mining to Bypass International Sanctions

By 2025, Iran was mining Bitcoin at a scale that put it among the top four countries in the world - not because it had the best technology, but because it had the cheapest electricity and the most to lose. When the U.S. pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, the world cut off its banks, froze its assets, and blocked its oil sales. Iran didn’t fold. Instead, it turned its power plants into Bitcoin factories.

Why Bitcoin? Because It Doesn’t Need a Bank

Bitcoin doesn’t care about SWIFT, U.S. Treasury sanctions, or international banking rules. All it needs is electricity and an internet connection. Iran had both - especially electricity. The country sits on massive natural gas reserves and produces more power than it can use. Instead of letting that surplus go to waste, the government started redirecting it to Bitcoin mining rigs.

By 2024, Iranian miners were generating $4.18 billion in cryptocurrency exports - up 70% from the year before. That’s not just profit. It’s survival. This money buys medicine, food, and industrial parts that sanctions otherwise block. And unlike traditional trade, Bitcoin moves without passports, customs forms, or bank approvals.

The State Runs the Mines - And Gets Paid in Bitcoin

This isn’t a grassroots movement. It’s a state-run operation. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and religious foundations like Astan Quds Razavi control most of the big mining farms. One facility in Rafsanjan, Kerman province, uses 175 megawatts of power - enough to light up a small city. It runs 24/7, paid for by the government, not the miner.

Iran doesn’t just allow mining - it licenses it. Over 10,000 mining farms were officially registered by 2022. The Central Bank of Iran even created rules for crypto payments. By 2020, Iran began accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to pay for imports. The first official purchase? $10 million in medical equipment, paid directly in crypto.

The IRGC didn’t wait for permission. It started mining as soon as sanctions bit. In 2019, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reportedly ordered crypto mining as compensation for losing access to U.S. dollars. Now, those mines are wired into Iran’s sanctions evasion network - alongside its shadow oil fleet of 320 tankers.

How It Works: From Power Plant to Wallet

Here’s the chain: Iran’s power plants burn cheap natural gas to make electricity. That electricity feeds racks of Chinese-made ASIC miners. These machines solve complex math problems to earn Bitcoin. The Bitcoin goes into wallets controlled by state-linked entities. From there, it’s swapped into stablecoins like USDT or TRON’s TRX, then moved through exchanges in the UAE, Hong Kong, or Turkey - places where enforcement is weak.

Binance, the world’s largest exchange, processed over $8 billion in Iranian-linked transactions between 2018 and 2025. Iranian firms used shell companies in free zones to hide their tracks. Chainalysis and Elliptic confirmed these flows. The U.S. Treasury flagged them. But because Bitcoin is decentralized, shutting it down isn’t like shutting a bank.

A cartoon Bitcoin coin carrying medicine across a sanctions map, walking through digital blockchain paths.

Why Iran’s Strategy Beats Venezuela and North Korea

Venezuela tried to create its own digital currency - the Petro. It failed. No one trusted it. North Korea stole crypto through hacking. It’s risky, illegal, and unsustainable.

Iran did something smarter. It mined Bitcoin legally - at least under its own laws. It used its real resources: energy. It didn’t invent a new coin. It used the most trusted one in the world. And it scaled it fast. By 2025, Iran accounted for 4.5% of all Bitcoin mining globally. That’s more than Russia and Kazakhstan combined in some months.

Other sanctioned nations watch. If Iran can do it, why can’t they?

The Hidden Costs: Blackouts and Inequality

The price? Iranian citizens pay for it.

Miners consume electricity equivalent to 10 million barrels of oil per year - about 4% of Iran’s total oil export value. That’s power that could go to hospitals, homes, and factories. Instead, entire neighborhoods face daily blackouts while mining farms run nonstop. In cities like Tehran and Mashhad, families struggle to keep lights on while state-backed miners use subsidized power for free.

The profits don’t trickle down. They go to IRGC-linked companies, religious foundations, and military contractors. Ordinary Iranians can’t access these systems. They’re locked out by bureaucracy, corruption, and sanctions on hardware. A single ASIC miner costs thousands of dollars - money most can’t afford. Smuggled rigs are rare and expensive. So while the regime mines Bitcoin, regular people can’t even buy it.

A family in darkness contrasts with a bright state-run Bitcoin mine, showing economic inequality.

Global Risks and the Future of Sanctions

This isn’t just an Iranian problem. It’s a global one.

Every Bitcoin transaction includes a fee paid to miners. If 4.5% of miners are Iranian, then every time someone sends Bitcoin, there’s a chance their fee is funding a regime that supports Hezbollah, the Houthis, and missile programs. Financial institutions are terrified. Banks that process crypto now risk U.S. sanctions - even if they didn’t know the Bitcoin came from Iran.

The U.S. and EU have responded with sanctions on mining equipment suppliers, wallet providers, and exchanges that handle Iranian flows. But enforcement is slow. Blockchain analytics firms like TRM Labs and Chainalysis can trace the money - but they can’t stop it. Bitcoin moves too fast, too anonymously.

Experts warn this model will spread. Other countries facing sanctions - Venezuela, Syria, Russia - are watching closely. Russia, after its 2022 isolation, began encouraging crypto mining too. But Iran built the blueprint: state control, subsidized energy, and integration with shadow trade.

Can Sanctions Still Work?

The rise of Iran’s Bitcoin mining shows a deeper truth: financial sanctions are losing power.

In the 20th century, cutting off a country from banks meant economic collapse. Today, you can bypass banks entirely. You don’t need dollars. You don’t need SWIFT. You just need electricity and a server.

Iran’s strategy isn’t perfect. It’s messy, energy-hungry, and unfair. But it works. It keeps the regime alive. It buys weapons. It funds proxies. And it proves that in the age of crypto, isolation is harder than ever.

The next decade will decide whether the world can adapt - or if it’s already too late.

What’s Next for Iran’s Crypto Strategy?

Iran isn’t stopping. In 2025, new mining zones opened in Bushehr and Khuzestan, using surplus power from gas plants and solar farms. Officials plan to increase mining capacity by 50% over the next two years. They’re building domestic exchanges to reduce reliance on foreign platforms. They’re experimenting with stablecoins and smart contracts.

If sanctions stay, mining grows. If sanctions lift, mining might shrink - but it won’t disappear. Bitcoin has become part of Iran’s economic DNA. Even if diplomacy returns, the infrastructure is already built. And once you’ve tasted financial independence, you don’t give it up easily.

January 7 2026
Terri DeLange
16 Comments
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Written by: Terri DeLange

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16 Comments

kris serafin
January 9, 2026 AT 05:09

This is wild 🤯 Iran turning power plants into Bitcoin factories? That’s next-level adaptation. I’ve seen sanctions break a lot of things, but this? This is like watching a nation hack the global financial system with electricity and ASICs. 🚀
Caitlin Colwell
January 10, 2026 AT 11:23

The blackouts are the real story here
Charlotte Parker
January 11, 2026 AT 18:44

Oh wow so the theocracy found a way to fund its death cult with crypto. How very innovative. 🙄 You know what’s more efficient than mining Bitcoin? Not being a global pariah. But hey, at least the IRGC can buy more drones now. Congrats, Iran. You turned your economy into a Bitcoin-powered dumpster fire with a side of human suffering.
Sarbjit Nahl
January 12, 2026 AT 18:50

The fundamental flaw in this narrative is the assumption that Bitcoin is a tool of liberation. It is not. It is a speculative asset that requires infrastructure and capital. The Iranian state exploits its citizens energy subsidies to generate rent for elite entities. This is not innovation. It is extraction disguised as resilience
Paul Johnson
January 12, 2026 AT 21:18

so iran just mined bitcoin to buy meds but regular people cant even afford a rig so they die in blackout and the irgc gets rich? sounds like capitalism with a side of islamic fascism. lol
Kelley Ramsey
January 14, 2026 AT 19:03

I just can’t believe how clever this is... I mean, using surplus energy to bypass sanctions? And the fact that Bitcoin doesn’t need banks? It’s like nature’s workaround for broken systems. I’m honestly amazed at the ingenuity-even if the cost is terrible for regular people. Maybe there’s a way to make this fairer?
Michael Richardson
January 15, 2026 AT 21:07

So the mullahs turned electricity into weapons. Cool. Next up: they’ll mine crypto to buy nukes. What a surprise. The US should’ve nuked their grid in 2018. Now it’s too late.
Sabbra Ziro
January 16, 2026 AT 07:48

I feel so sad for the families in Tehran who can’t turn on their lights... while the state runs machines that just spin and earn digital coins for people who’ll never help them. Is there any way we can support ordinary Iranians without enabling the regime? Maybe funding decentralized energy grids?
Krista Hoefle
January 17, 2026 AT 14:35

Iran mining bitcoin? Wow. So impressive. Like a 12 year old with a raspberry pi trying to mine dogecoin. Only bigger and dumber. And yes, they're 'winning'. By losing.
Jessie X
January 18, 2026 AT 13:39

The energy waste is insane but honestly the fact that they found a way to survive sanctions is kind of impressive
Kip Metcalf
January 19, 2026 AT 13:16

Man this is wild. They’re literally turning on the power and getting paid in bitcoin. I mean sure the people suffer but at least the country ain’t collapsing. Kinda respect that hustle.
Jacob Clark
January 20, 2026 AT 17:54

I’ve been saying this for YEARS-sanctions are DEAD. The U.S. thinks it can starve nations into submission? HA. Iran just turned their entire power grid into a crypto ATM. And Binance? They’re just printing money. The entire global financial system is a house of cards. And now? It’s on fire. Someone call the fire department. Or better yet, mine some bitcoin.
Jon Martín
January 22, 2026 AT 06:05

This is the future of resistance! 🌍⚡ Imagine if every oppressed nation used their natural resources to build decentralized economies! Iran didn’t wait for permission-they built their own financial sky. The real revolution isn’t in protests. It’s in electricity. It’s in code. It’s in the quiet hum of a thousand ASICs running through the night. We’re witnessing the birth of a new economic order. And it’s powered by gas and grit.
Becky Chenier
January 22, 2026 AT 13:38

It’s fascinating how technology can both empower and oppress at the same time. The infrastructure is there, the will is there-but the distribution is completely unjust. Maybe the next step is open-source mining pools for civilians?
Staci Armezzani
January 23, 2026 AT 04:34

The fact that Iran’s crypto exports hit $4.18 billion in a single year is insane. But here’s what’s even more important: they didn’t just find a loophole-they built a whole new financial pipeline. That’s not luck. That’s strategic engineering. And honestly? It’s working. The question isn’t whether it’s moral. It’s whether the West can adapt fast enough to stop the next country from doing the same.
Tracey Grammer-Porter
January 23, 2026 AT 06:12

I’ve been thinking a lot about how energy access equals economic power. If Iran can turn gas into Bitcoin, why can’t we help communities in the Global South do the same? Imagine solar-powered mining co-ops in rural Africa or Latin America. Not to bypass sanctions, but to build real local wealth. Maybe the real lesson here isn’t about evasion-it’s about democratizing access to the tools of finance