Iran’s largest crypto exchange shows no capital flight after strikes: TRM
Nobitex, Iran's largest crypto exchange, has not shown signs of a sustained user-driven run since the US-Israeli attack on Iran, although blockchain data indicates a brief increase in activity and significant outflows from Iranian exchanges, according to separate analyzes from TRM Labs and Chainalysis.
A TRM report that analyzed onchain activity around Nobitex after the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 found that the platform immediately recorded significant activity, including transfers of more than $35 million from hot wallets to cold storage. However, TRM said the transfers could be part of the exchange's internal treasury operations.
“Based on historical behavior and wallet behavior, these activities are consistent with traditional liquidity management rather than consumer-driven spending,” the report said.
Nobitex sits at the center of Iran's crypto ecosystem. TRM estimates that it will handle tens of billions of dollars in transaction volume, including more than $5 billion from 2025 alone.
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Nobitex uses Bitcoin mining to recover from hacking
In the year In June 2025, Nobitex suffered a $90 million cyber attack from the Predatory Sparrow hacking group with ties to Israel. The breach exposed details of Nobitex's internal architecture, including a multi-layer container structure that separates hot, hot and cold wallets, as well as automated routing systems designed to handle transactions across different networks.
After the hack, Nobitex relied in part on reserves associated with previous Bitcoin (BTC) mining activity to stabilize operations. TRM announced that nearly $2.7 million of more than 100 dormant mining-related wallets were lost shortly after the incident, prompting the exchange to restore services for previously unused funds.
Despite the operational disruptions, Nobitex continues to step up operations in 2025.
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Crypto is issued from Iranian exchanges
Meanwhile, a Chinalysis report showed that around $10.3 million worth of digital assets left Iran's exchanges between February 28 and Monday. The hourly flow is up 873 percent from the 2026 average in a short period of time.
According to the report, the transfers mean that ordinary Iranians move their money into self-reserve to protect against economic instability, while others exchange currencies or create new wallets to obscure movements under sanctions. Another possibility is that state-linked actors use local exchanges to transport funds across borders.
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