Iran is relying upon cryptocurrency to pay for its war against the United States. To evade western sanctions that block the country from using traditional banking networks, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has received cryptocurrency payments through front companies, financial facilitators, and crypto exchanges and used the funds to purchase military equipment for attacks on American forces and bases. A significant amount of the funding has come from selling oil to Chinese refining companies, which pay for the crude with cryptocurrency sent to shell companies that transfer funds to the IRGC.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in mid-May issued an alert to financial institutions urging them to file suspicious activity reports to help identify the “shadow banking” networks that are laundering and funneling funds to the IRGC. FinCEN says financial operators across the globe have been aiding the IRGC, which the U.S has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
“Purported trust companies and affiliates—including those based in Hong Kong and Eastern Europe—have been identified as facilitating the transmission of value to the IRGC, including through the conversion of fiat currency to digital assets, particularly the minting of stablecoins,” said the FinCEN alert.
A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency that is supposed to maintain its value because it is pegged to a real world asset, like the U.S. dollar. According to FinCEN, Iran has laundered funds through stablecoins and even created proprietary stablecoins, such as USDZ.
The IRGC received more than $3 billion of cryptocurrency in 2025, according to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.
