Tagged: iran

September 17, 2025 @ 5:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In an escalation of efforts to curb Iran’s illicit financial activities, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on September 16, 2025, targeting a sophisticated shadow banking network. This operation, valued at over $600 million in cryptocurrency inflows,… Read More

July 22, 2025 @ 12:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In an escalation of the shadow cyberwar between Israel and Iran, the hacker group Predatory Sparrow, known in Farsi as Gonjeshke Darande, has struck at the core of Iran’s financial infrastructure, targeting its banking sector and cryptocurrency exchanges. This campaign, detailed in a recent Wall… Read More

June 23, 2025 @ 5:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

On June 18, 2025, Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, fell victim to a devastating cyberattack that resulted in the loss of approximately $90 million in digital assets, with some estimates suggesting losses as high as $100 million. The breach, which targeted the exchange’s hot wallets,… Read More

June 22, 2025 @ 9:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

As tensions escalate in the Middle East, the global energy market is bracing for potential upheaval. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is referencing Polymarket to assess the probability of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for oil shipments. Approximately 30% of the world’s oil… Read More

February 22, 2025 @ 5:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The blockchain and crypto ecosystem last year was marked by significant illicit activity, with sanctioned entities and jurisdictions playing a major role, according to Chainalysis’s latest report, entitled “2025 Crypto Crime Trends: Sanctions.” The blockchain analytics firm reveals that $15.8 billion in crypto flowed to… Read More

October 24, 2024 @ 9:34 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

The latest edition of LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ Taking the Pulse of Major Sanctions Lists suggests a heightened level of sanctions activity may be the new normal. The report analyzes activity from the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and… Read More

September 26, 2022 @ 11:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said this past Wednesday that it will “begin the pilot launch of crypto-rial as the bank’s digital currency as of Thursday.” The CBI has said that “the aim of designing the crypto-rial is to turn banknotes into a programmable… Read More

June 30, 2021 @ 5:29 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The past few weeks have seen some interesting geopolitical developments in the cryptocurrency space, GlobalBlock sales trader Alexandra Clark said. Iran could be taking advantage of China’s tough stance on cryptocurrency mining, Clark suggests. They recently have granted permits to 30 crypto mining farms. Should… Read More

June 22, 2021 @ 7:44 pm By Priyanka Pani  |  

In a major crackdown, the Iranian police have seized 7,000 crypto mining machines blamed for massive power outages in the country, as per its state media. The police  7,000 computer miners were seized in an abandoned factory in the west of the capital city of… Read More

June 12, 2021 @ 9:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Zack Voell, a cryptocurrency mining specialist, writes in a blog post published by Compass that Iran has banned Bitcoin mining for four months in the country’s most recent “legal pivot” away from the “begrudged but enduring segment of miners” operating in the country. Voell points… Read More

May 21, 2021 @ 5:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sanctions research from blockchain security firm CipherTrace reveals that over 72,000 “unique” Iranian IP addresses have been linked to over 4.5 million “unique” Bitcoin (BTC) addresses. CipherTrace notes that since monitoring sanctions-related IP usage across the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain network, they’ve been able to identify… Read More

March 3, 2021 @ 11:02 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Iran’s Presidential Center for Strategic Studies, which is a thinktank that is attached with President Rouhani’s office, has released an extensive report which emphasizes the need for the so-called rogue State to use decentralized cryptocurrencies to generate additional revenue. Extracting these virtual currencies, the report… Read More

January 17, 2021 @ 6:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

There have reportedly been massive blackouts and smog that have hit several cities in Iran. It’s being described as quite a toxic mix as the nation, which is facing serious economic challenges and crippling US-led sanctions, is now also having to deal with the region’s… Read More

November 11, 2020 @ 7:31 am By Omar Faridi  |  

John Lee Quigley, who’s focused on building Bitcoin media and research products at HASHR8 Inc, notes that Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading past the $15,000 mark and appears to be holding its own during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quigley writes in a blog post that it’s… Read More

August 23, 2020 @ 2:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

Taviner, the power generation and transmission company of Iran, has shut down 1100 crypto mining farms that apparently were not licensed to do business in the country. In the summer of 2019, it was reported that the Iranian government had legalized crypto mining companies for… Read More

December 19, 2019 @ 6:42 pm By Cali Haan  |  

“The Muslim world should be designing measures to save themselves from the domination of the United States dollar and the American financial regime,” Iranian president Hassan Rouhani told leaders from the Muslim world gathered at the Kuala Lumpur Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, Dec. 19…. Read More

July 12, 2019 @ 10:12 am By Cali Haan  |  

Two researchers at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) have produced a comprehensive report on Russia, Venezuela, Iran and China’s efforts to create or exploit alternative payment systems that would allow them to circumvent the US dollar as a means of enforcing American foreign… Read More

June 10, 2019 @ 9:40 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Iran Deputy Energy Minister Homayoun Haeri told an audience in Tehran over the weekend that cryptocurrency miners in his country should have to pay the same rates for power as firms purchasing electricity exports, Iranian news site Financial Tribune reports. So far, Iran has had a… Read More

May 27, 2019 @ 1:59 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading service LocalBitcoins has shut down trading among users in Iran, likely in order to comply with US sanctions, Coindesk reports. Iranian LocalBitcoins customers are still allowed to withdraw bitcoins but reportedly cannot conduct new trades or update previous ones. According to reporter… Read More

April 12, 2019 @ 12:27 pm By Cali Haan  |  

In the wake of increasing Chinese state reticence towards a once supported industry, the biggest Chinese crypto mining firms have been steadily expanding or relocating to Canada, the US and Iceland, Chinese crypto news outlet 8BTC reports. But small and mid-size Chinese crypto miners have… Read More