Crypto outflows spike 700% on largest Iranian exchange following US-Israeli attack on Saturday: Elliptic

Crypto flows on Iran’s largest exchange surged this weekend following the U.S. and Israeli-led attacks on the heavily sanctioned country, according to analytics firm Elliptic. Outflows reportedly spiked 700% to nearly $3 million on Nobitex, the largest Iranian crypto exchange. 

“The surge in cryptoasset outflows last Saturday potentially represents capital flight from Iran,” Elliptic chief scientist and co-founder Tom Robinson wrote in a report on Monday. “Initial tracing of recent outflows from Nobitex suggests that the funds are being sent to overseas cryptoasset exchanges that have historically seen significant inflows from Iran.”

On Saturday, a co-led U.S.-Israel air attack killed several leading Iranian political and military figures, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The assault has led to increased tension in the region and ongoing military engagements.

Nobitex allows rials to be converted to digital assets, which can be withdrawn into non-custodial crypto wallets. “This allows funds to be moved out of Iran while avoiding some of the scrutiny of the global banking system,” Robinson said. 

Sanctions backdrop

Iran has increasingly turned to crypto amid wide-reaching sanctions opposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the United Nations. Elliptic reported in January that Iran's Central Bank acquired approximately $507 million in USDT in a bid to support the plummeting rial.

In January, the U.S. imposed additional sanctions on Iranian officials, causing two separate surges of outflows, according to Elliptic. Crypto exchange outflows also spiked following the internet blackout imposed by the regime on Jan. 9, following widespread political protests. Chainalysis reported a similar uptick in crypto activity in the country at the time.

OFAC sanctioned two UK-registered cryptocurrency exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion, in February for facilitating transactions linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), marking the first blacklisted firms under U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's financial sector.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal also recently opened an investigation into Binance related to its alleged role in facilitating Iranian sanctions evasion. The UN imposed sanctions on Iran in 2025 related to the country's controversial nuclear program.

Nobitex was hacked in 2025, with a pro-Israel group claiming credit. The exchange overshadows all other Iran-based crypto exchanges, with $11 billion in total historic inflows compared to under $7.5 billion for the next 10 largest exchanges combined, according to Chainalysis. 

Elliptic said Nobitex’s estimated 11 million users sent or received $7.2 billion in cryptoasset transactions in 2025.

Despite the geopolitical shock of the U.S.’ latest Middle Eastern military engagement, onchain and derivatives indicators showed relatively little systemic stress in crypto markets, The Block reported earlier on Monday. Markets are currently rallying.