Chainalysis: Crypto-Linked Sanctions Evasion Surged Sevenfold in 2025 to Over $100 Billion

Sanctioned entities received at least $104 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, pushing total illicit onchain volume to a record $154 billion, Chainalysis reported Thursday. State-backed actors including Russia, Iran and North Korea used stablecoins, hacked funds and state-linked exchanges to circumvent international sanctions. The blockchain analytics firm identified ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5 as a key channel for sanctioned Russian businesses, which processed $93.3 billion in transactions in less than a year and is linked to exchanges Grinex and Meer, later sanctioned by the U.S. and European Union. Stablecoins accounted for roughly 84% of illicit crypto transaction volume, while an "A7A5 Instant Swapper" service with limited KYC checks converted more than $2.2 billion into mainstream dollar-pegged stablecoins, and addresses tied to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps moved over $3 billion by late 2025.