Russia, Iran and North Korea send illicit crypto volumes to record $154bn

Sanctioned entities from Russia, Iran and North Korea drove illicit cryptocurrency volumes to a record $154 billion in 2025, with sanctioned entities representing the vast majority of illegal crypto activity according to Chainalysis data.

• →Illicit cryptocurrency volumes reached a record high of $154 billion in 2025.
• →Russia, Iran and North Korea were the primary drivers of this illegal crypto activity.
• →Sanctioned entities made up the vast majority of illicit crypto transactions.
• →The data comes from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
• →This represents a significant increase in sanctions evasion through cryptocurrency.