Russia and Iran are increasingly using stablecoins to circumvent sanctions.

History repeats itself, but this time she is wearing a digital mask. If Napoleon claimed that “money is needed to rule,” Vladimir Putin and Ayatollah Khamenei clearly understood that a code was needed to bypass the blockades. The latest report from Chainalysis is sensational: the revenue of the “sanctioned organizations” sector has increased by almost 700% in one year. State financial engineering.

Key points of this article:

• The sharp increase in the amount of cryptocurrencies received by sanctioned organizations by 694% was shocking observers
• Russia and Iran use stablecoins to circumvent economic sanctions and conduct illegal transactions on a large scale.

Stablecoin: The Trojan Horse of “Rogue States” Forget Bitcoin and the stereotype of BTC-obsessed terrorists. The latest Chainalysis report shows 694% growth cryptocurrencies received by sanctioned entities in the past year. Russia and Iran stand out in particular. These countries use cryptocurrencies for a variety of activities, from money laundering and illegal oil sales to weapons purchases.

For these serious and illegal transactions, the stablecoin is the king of the ball. These dollar-backed tokens that constitute 84% of illegal activity provide the stability needed to pay for oil supplies or military components without the ability to interfere with the SWIFT system.

As Andrew Firman of Chainalysis points out, the scale has changed. We are no longer talking about a few million “disappeared”, but about billions moving at the speed of light. blockchain,

Russia and Iran are in the lead Moscow made great efforts to avoid financial collapse. By running the token A7A5 tied to the ruble, in February 2025, the Kremlin created a closed chain, through which it has already passed 93 billion dollars . Meanwhile, Tehran is not far behind. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has facilitated more than $2 billion in money laundering and illegal online oil sales.

Organizations linked to Iran, from Hezbollah to the Houthis, are now using cryptography on an unprecedented scale. We are observing a kind of “parallel diplomacy”, where alliances are created through intermediaries.

While illicit transactions remain less than 1% of total cryptocurrency trade, the growing use of stablecoins by sanctioned nations calls into question the effectiveness of traditional economic measures. Cryptocurrencies, once seen as a tool for people seeking to escape inflation, are now at the center of a new form of economic warfare.