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By Elizabeth Howcroft<\/p>\n
PARIS, March 3 (Reuters) – Outflows from Iranian crypto exchanges spiked in the hours after the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday, two blockchain analytics \u200ccompanies said, although researchers added it was not possible to be certain what was \u200cbehind the moves.<\/p>\n
Funds leaving Iranian crypto exchanges jumped sharply to hit more than $2 million in the hour after the strikes \u200bbegan, U.S. blockchain research company Chainalysis said. Reuters’ first reports of the strikes were around 0615 GMT on Saturday.<\/p>\n
British blockchain researchers Elliptic said outflows from Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, peaked at $2.89 million between 1100 and 1200 GMT on Saturday, a roughly eightfold increase compared with the previous day’s peak \u200chourly outflows.<\/p>\n
Overall, crypto worth $10.3 million left \u2060Iranian crypto exchanges between Saturday and Monday, Chainalysis said.<\/p>\n
Nobitex was not available for comment.<\/p>\n
The data gives a glimpse into the growing role \u2060of crypto in Iran, where activity tends to rise sharply after geopolitical shocks, blockchain researchers say.<\/p>\n
While estimates can differ widely, researchers say crypto transaction volumes hit $8-11 billion in 2025, as state-linked actors and retail \u200binvestors alike \u200bhave turned to the digital currency.<\/p>\n
The United States is \u200blooking into whether specific crypto platforms \u200chave facilitated sanctions evasion by Iranian officials, Reuters reported in February.<\/p>\n
Crypto wallet addresses are pseudonymous – recorded on the blockchain as a string of letters and numbers – making it difficult to establish who is behind transactions. Chainalysis said it was not clear who had moved funds in the last few days or why.<\/p>\n
“Some of these flows are almost \u200ccertainly ordinary Iranians moving funds in response to rising risk,” \u200bChainalysis said. “Others may be exchanges reshuffling liquidity or attempting \u200bto reduce the visibility of their operations \u200bon-chain, or state-aligned actors leveraging mainstream platforms to transfer funds.”<\/p>\n
Elliptic said that initial \u200ctracing suggested the funds were being sent \u200bto overseas crypto exchanges, \u200band “potentially represents capital flight from Iran”. Another U.S. blockchain research firm, TRM, said via email that the flows at Nobitex were “more indicative of activity under stress than evidence of systemic \u200bcapital flight”.<\/p>\n
Cryptocurrencies remain a small \u200cpart of the global financial system, but their use is expected to grow in \u200bemerging markets with weak currencies, the International Monetary Fund has said.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; \u200bEditing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Barbara Lewis)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n