According to the 2025 Crypto Crime Report by Blockchain Analytics Firm Chainasys, licensed entities received $15.8 billion in ciphers in 2024, accounting for 39% of all illegal crypto transactions.
The report highlighted how geopolitical tensions and increased financial restrictions have driven countries like Iran and Russia to rely on digital assets to avoid sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has moved to step up efforts to dismantle financial networks supporting licensed states, targeting individuals and disrupt core financial infrastructure.
OFAC issued 13 designations, including Crypto addresses, the second highest total in the past seven years, despite a decline in overall sanctions.
Iran’s dependence on crypto
The growing reliance on Iranian crypto is clear, with domestic centralized exchanges (CEX) showing an increase in activity and capital outflow.
With Iran’s rial and inflation covered by around 40-50%, output surged to $4.18 billion in 2024, up 70% from the previous year as residents turned to digital assets. did.
The sudden halt of Iran’s withdrawal from the exchange indicates an attempt to curb the financial outflow. Many Iranians turned to crypto as a hedge against economic instability, maintaining their wealth and often bypassing government-imposed financial management with digital assets.
Meanwhile, in February, the Trump administration issued a Memorandum of Understanding for the National Security President (NSPM-2) to revive the “maximum pressure” campaign in Iran.
The directive targets Iran-related financial networks and outlines the US Department of Justice (DOJ) aggressive measures to disrupt sanctions avoidance efforts. These measures included investigating Iran’s financial network, breaching illegal oil cargo, seizing Iran’s government assets and prosecuting leaders of Iranian funded terrorist groups.
The growing ecosystem of Russia
In Russia, lawmakers have enacted laws that legalize crypto mining and allow digital assets for international payments to alleviate the economic tensions of Western sanctions.
The policy change aims to ease financial pressure by enabling global trade through cryptocurrencies, with Russia strengthening ties with BRICS countries in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and bypassing the US dollar We explored alternative financial systems.
The Russian central bank has encouraged efforts to integrate crypto into the country’s financial system under regulatory oversight, highlighting a significant deviation from the country’s previous stance on digital assets.
Western institutions launched a significant business in 2024 against Russian-related crypto entities. On August 23, OFAC could encourage Russian UAV developer KB Vostok Ooo to sell drones to Ukrainian Russian military for crypto donations.
German Federal Criminal Police seized infrastructure from 47 No-Kyc Crypto exchanges involved in ransomware and darknet transactions on September 19 as part of the “final exchange operation.”
Meanwhile, OFAC has approved Russia-based Crypto Exchange Cryptex and its operator Sergey Sergeevich Ivanov.
The crackdown continued on December 4th. The UK’s National Crime Agency dismantled Russia’s money laundering network due to “operational instability,” leading to 84 arrests and more than 20 million euros in cash and code.
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