Nobitex, one of Iran’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, continues to serve as a critical hub for digital asset activity in the sanctioned country, despite a massive drop in trading volumes and recent geopolitical turmoil. A report by blockchain analytics firm Global Ledger, shared with Cryptopolitan, reveals that the exchange remains surprisingly robust, with volumes now dominated by stablecoins and driven almost entirely by large-scale traders.
In 2024, Nobitex processed an average of $207 million per month. That figure has plummeted over 18-fold in 2026, with the exchange handling just $46.97 million year-to-date, or roughly $9.4 million monthly. Even so, activity has stabilized after a 50% decline following the outbreak of war in March 2026, returning to levels last seen in February 2026.
Whale addresses are the backbone of the remaining volume. Around 4% of wallets—those with transactions exceeding $200,000—generate 85% of all volume on Nobitex. The exchange also remains tightly connected to the broader centralized exchange ecosystem, having moved $3.06 billion to other CEXs, with $1.13 billion going to the top 10 exchanges.
The Iran conflict triggered a sharp pivot in asset usage. Bitcoin deposits collapsed by 86.5%, with just 0.08 BTC deposited post-war. Ether flows surged, however, rising 3.4 times from 599 ETH before the conflict to 2,021 ETH afterward. Litecoin deposits fell 34%, TRX inflows shrank 6%, and USDT deposits dipped only 9%. Tether’s USDT remains the central asset, comprising 84.4% of volumes and primarily moving via the TRON network.
Nobitex currently holds approximately $11.1 million in assets, based on Arkham Intelligence data. In the past 24 hours, a suspicious wallet withdrew $18.85 million across multiple chains—including $8.07 million in BNB, $3.19 million in SHIB, and $1.09 million in USDT. The funds remain in the initial destination wallet and have not yet been flagged as an exploit, but Nobitex has long been monitored for potential links to money laundering and sanctions evasion.
The exchange’s resilience underscores that cryptocurrency use in Iran persists, with traders increasingly relying on stablecoins as a safe-haven asset amid conflict and financial isolation.
