Overview
- Elliptic reported a rapid surge in withdrawals from Iran’s largest crypto exchange within minutes of strikes on Tehran.
- Early blockchain tracing showed transfers to foreign platforms that have historically received sizable Iranian inflows, which Elliptic’s Tom Robinson described as potential capital flight outside the banking system.
- Nobitex functions as a key rial-to-crypto gateway, processing about $7.2 billion in 2025 and serving more than 11 million users.
- The firm has previously linked some Nobitex activity to IRGC-aligned flows and said Iran’s central bank appeared to use the exchange to bolster the weakening rial.
- Crypto markets moved sharply after the strikes, with bitcoin briefly slipping below $64,000 before rebounding and ether trading near $1,930.