When the Iran energy crisis, a severe shortage of electricity caused by mismanagement, sanctions, and aging infrastructure. Also known as power cuts in Iran, it has forced millions to find alternative ways to survive economically. The country’s grid fails daily—sometimes for 12 hours or more—leaving homes, businesses, and hospitals in the dark. But while the lights go out, something unexpected stays on: crypto trading. People aren’t just using Bitcoin to avoid inflation. They’re using it to bypass sanctions, send money abroad, and even power mining rigs during off-peak hours when electricity is cheap—or free.
It’s not just about money. It’s about access. With banks blocked from global networks and foreign exchanges like Binance and OKX restricted, Iranians rely on VPNs, tools that mask internet traffic to bypass government firewalls. Also known as proxy networks, they’re the only way most traders can reach global markets. But using them is risky. Authorities have cracked down hard. In 2024, dozens were arrested after exchanges flagged IP patterns linked to Iranian networks. Free VPNs? They’re dangerous—many log data and hand it over to state agencies. Even paid ones aren’t safe. The Nobitex, Iran’s largest domestic crypto exchange, operating under strict government oversight. Also known as Iranian crypto platform, it’s the only legal option—but it’s slow, limited, and monitored. So people trade on the edge: using peer-to-peer platforms, mixing services, and decentralized protocols that don’t require KYC.
And then there’s mining. With cheap natural gas and low electricity rates during nighttime blackouts, Iran became one of the world’s top Bitcoin mining hubs—until the government banned it in 2021. But the ban didn’t stop miners. It just drove them underground. Thousands of rigs still run in basements, garages, and warehouses, powered by stolen grid electricity. The government has raided homes, confiscated hardware, and jailed operators. Yet mining persists because for many, it’s the only way to earn real USD. This isn’t speculation—it’s survival.
What you’ll find in the posts below isn’t theory. It’s real stories from people trading crypto under blackout conditions, legal warnings from those who got caught, and breakdowns of the tools they use to stay online. You’ll see how a nation without reliable power became one of the most crypto-savvy in the world—not by choice, but by necessity.
Iran uses state-controlled crypto mining to bypass international sanctions, with the IRGC running massive, subsidized operations that drain the national power grid-while ordinary citizens suffer blackouts. This is not free enterprise-it's economic warfare.