Synopsis: Iranians rushed to move money out through crypto within minutes of the first strikes. But a near-total internet blackout quickly shut the door. Let’s dive into the specifics.
Iranians moved fast. The moment US and Israeli airstrikes hit Tehran on Saturday, February 28, people turned to crypto. Within minutes, withdrawal activity on Iran’s largest crypto exchange surged dramatically. Many rushed to protect their money.
According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, outflows from Nobitex jumped by more than 700% almost immediately after the first strikes began. In just one hour later that day, withdrawals reached nearly $3 million. The sharp rise suggests that many Iranians treated crypto as a financial lifeline the moment conflict broke out.
Money Moving Out of Iran
Elliptic tracked where much of that money went. Many of the funds moved to foreign crypto exchanges outside Iran. This allowed people to transfer assets abroad without going through traditional banks, which face heavy international sanctions.
“This allows funds to be moved out of Iran while avoiding some of the scrutiny of the global banking system,” Elliptic stated in its report, published on March 2, 2026. Chainalysis, another blockchain data firm, separately tracked around $10.3 million in total crypto outflows from major Iranian exchanges between February 28 and March 2. Hourly outflows hit or exceeded $2 million during the first hours after the strikes.
Internet Blackout Slows the Flow
However, the surge did not last. Shortly after the conflict began, Iran’s internet connectivity dropped by approximately 99%, according to TRM Labs, a competing crypto forensics platform. As a result, crypto outflows from Nobitex fell sharply after Saturday.
TRM challenged Elliptic’s reading of the situation. Rather than seeing capital flight, TRM argued the data told a different story one of a crypto ecosystem grinding to a halt. Overall crypto trading volume on Iranian platforms reportedly fell by around 80% in the days following the strikes.
“It appears that the country’s crypto ecosystem is not showing signs of acceleration or capital flight, but instead experiencing a downturn in both transactions and volume as the regime enforces strict internet blackouts,” TRM stated.
Both firms agree on the basic facts. The disagreement is over interpretation whether the initial spike reflects a true exit of capital or just a brief panic response that the blackout quickly contained.
Nobitex: The Exchange at the Center
Nobitex sits at the heart of Iran’s crypto economy. It handles roughly 87% of the country’s crypto transaction volume. In 2025, it processed about $7.2 billion in trades for more than 11 million users.
Furthermore, the exchange has not been without trouble. In June 2025, hackers stole $81 million from Nobitex in a significant security breach. Even so, many Iranians continue to rely on it as a primary financial tool, given the ongoing collapse of the country’s conventional banking system.
The exchange’s dominance also means that when something significant happens, its data captures an unusually complete picture of how ordinary Iranians respond financially. Therefore, analysts watch it closely during times of crisis.
A Banking System Already on the Edge
To understand why Iranians turned to crypto so quickly, it helps to look at the state of their banking system. In October 2025, Ayandeh Bank one of Iran’s largest private banks went bankrupt. It had accumulated $5.1 billion in losses and nearly $3 billion in debt. More than 42 million customers were affected.
On the other hand, Iran’s central bank warned last year that eight other local banks face possible dissolution unless they make significant reforms. As a result, trust in the formal financial system has eroded sharply.
Against this backdrop, crypto has become a practical tool for millions of Iranians. It allows them to store value, send money across borders, and sidestep the restrictions that come with a heavily sanctioned economy. Consequently, when a crisis hits, many people reach for crypto first not second.
The events of February 28 showed that dynamic in real time. The conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran continues to evolve, with fresh Israeli strikes reported as recently as March 3–4, 2026. As the situation develops, analysts say crypto activity on platforms like Nobitex will remain a key signal of how ordinary Iranians are coping.
Written By Fazal Ul Vahab C H
