Rogue States' Crypto Volume Hit $100B in 2025, Up 8x

Countries under U.S. sanctions moved more than $100 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing industry estimates. That figure is nearly eight times the amount received in 2024, according to analytics firm Chainalysis.

Sanctioned nations including Iran, North Korea and Russia have established their own digital tokens and crypto exchanges to process transactions, crypto companies and Western authorities told the Journal. “Crypto has changed the sanctions evasion game significantly,” said Kaitlin Martin, a senior intelligence analyst at Chainalysis.

Western officials and crypto analytics firms said Iran and Russia used digital assets to pay for drones and weapon parts. Russia also used crypto to pay crews smuggling its oil around the world. North Korea, accused of stealing crypto through hacks, purchased fuel and military equipment with the virtual currency, officials told the Journal.

A ruble-backed stablecoin, the A7A5 token, became a key channel. The European Union later sanctioned it. At its peak, about $2 billion a week flowed through that token, said Eric Jardine, Chainalysis head of research. “Once that happened at scale, you were starting to see about $2 billion a week being processed via that token,” he said.