The Islamic regime has frequently cited Western sanctions as the cause of its economic crisis, which has led to the rial being valued at 1,283,540.00 per US dollar on Tuesday. However, experts from the blockchain intelligence platform NOMINIS.io have revealed that the regime maintains a thriving black-market economy, primarily through illegal oil sales and the use of cryptocurrency.
Snir Levi, CEO of NOMINIS, explained that the regime generates a steady income by selling oil to Russia and China, with the funds often converted into cryptocurrency. Much of this money is then laundered through third countries before reaching proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen.
“Iran is under siege, and Gaza is also under siege,” Levi noted, emphasizing the regime’s reliance on sympathetic states. “The cryptocurrency industry in Gaza has been flourishing since October 7, as there are no other options to move funds. We estimate that the amount of cryptocurrencies moving in and out over the year has exceeded $100 million. That’s a significant sum compared to the usual economy of Gaza.”
Global regulators have long advocated for stricter controls on crypto exchanges to prevent illicit activities such as money laundering and financing of terrorism. According to Levi, the majority of crypto funds reaching Gaza come through Binance. Documents released by Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing showed that hundreds of crypto accounts at Binance have been seized in recent years.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who is currently facing legal action from the families of American victims of the October 7 attack, has been accused of knowingly enabling Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to transfer more than $1 billion through his platform, including over $50 million after the October 7 attack.
Despite Zhao pleading guilty to anti-money-laundering violations related to Binance in 2023, U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned him in October.
Sanctions haven’t affected Iran’s missile and nuclear policies
Dennis Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, explained to the Post that while sanctions have had a lasting impact on the Islamic regime’s economy, particularly in the energy sector, they did not change Tehran’s strategic policies regarding core issues like nuclear or missile development.
Citrinowicz emphasized that sanctions act as a constraint mechanism rather than a silver bullet to topple the Iranian regime. He pointed out that the effectiveness of these sanctions has continued to be challenged by the regime.
Charlotte Cobb, head of content for NOMINIS, clarified that the belief that cryptocurrency is untraceable is a misconception. She stated that NOMINIS is capable of tracking and tracing funds using exclusive sources, open-source intelligence, behavior intelligence, social media observation, and transactional data from the blockchain.
Cobb explained that while Telegram is blocked in Iran, the IRGC has used the encrypted platform along with a VPN to solicit funds from Westerners, sometimes unknowingly, and to contact targets in Israel.
“It’s possible to send out many feelers at a low cost, to throw many messages to many possible targets with simple lures, and eventually find somebody willing to do small tasks,” she said, referencing the case of Fares Abu al-Hija, who was indicted by the Haifa District Court for allegedly spying on former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The 32-year-old was reportedly contacted by a foreign agent on Telegram in October 2025 and maintained contact until last month. The agent allegedly paid Hija using cryptocurrency through Binance for carrying out tasks. As part of the assignments, Hija was said to have purchased and concealed mobile phones and a charger at several locations in Haifa and Kiryat Haim, activated the devices, installed communication applications on them, documented the hiding places, and forwarded the documentation to his handler.
He was later allegedly asked to deliver an envelope containing an access code to a crypto account at a location in Zichron Ya’acov, as well as to photograph a café in Tel Aviv. In January 2026, he was allegedly instructed to travel to the community of Amikam and photograph streets near the home of Gallant. After taking the pictures and sending them to his handler, he was arrested at the scene.