{ "title": "Sanctions Evasion via Bitcoin: A Decade of Calls on The Bitcoin Group", "generated_at": "2026-05-09", "thesis": "TBG and WCN have been calling — since at least 2016 — that Bitcoin would be used by sanctioned states and rogue groups to route around the dollar. Iran, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Hamas, Hezbollah, Belarus, Myanmar, and post-Assad Syria have all since shown up in Treasury actions, blockchain-analytics reports, or court filings.", "countries": [ { "id": "iran", "name": "Iran", "pattern": "State-licensed Bitcoin mining feeding the central bank; P2P USDT used to settle crude exports; Binance processed billions in Iranian flow despite sanctions.", "tbg_first": { "ep": 188, "date": "2018-09-07", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-188.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "A country like Iraq or Venezuela selling oil in Bitcoin. Previously, any country that's ever sold oil and anything other than USD has been promptly invaded.", "verbatim": true }, "tbg_canonical": { "ep": 213, "date": "2020-03-06", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-213.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "The correct answer is the Republic of Iran. They're getting by sanctions nationally. It's only a matter of time before they figure out they could let their people use this money as well.", "verbatim": true }, "real_event": { "date": "2018-11-28", "headline": "OFAC adds two Iranian Bitcoin addresses to the SDN list — a first for crypto", "summary": "Treasury designated Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan, Iran-based facilitators of the SamSam ransomware payments, and for the first time published the SDN-attached Bitcoin addresses. The two wallets had processed roughly 6,000 BTC across 7,000+ transactions since 2013.", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm556" }, "secondary_event": { "date": "2026-03-05", "headline": "Chainalysis: Iran-linked sanctioned addresses received over $3B in 2025; Binance processed $7.8B of Iranian flow despite sanctions", "url": "https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-sanctions-2026/" } }, { "id": "russia", "name": "Russia", "pattern": "Garantex SDN-listed (April 2022). Wagner Group, oligarch-linked launderers like Ekaterina Zhdanova on the SDN. The ruble-pegged A7A5 token sized by Chainalysis at over $93B in 2025 sanctions-evasion volume.", "tbg_first": { "ep": 109, "date": "2016-09-16", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-109.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt panel", "quote": "China and Russia proposed Swift alternatives because Swift is notoriously insecure and loses... hundreds of millions of dollars.", "verbatim": true, "note": "VERIFY — earliest Russia + alt-rails mention; not yet a clean sanctions-evasion call. Canonical framing arrives at TBG #297 (2022-02-25)." }, "tbg_canonical": { "ep": 297, "date": "2022-02-25", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-297.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "Maybe the sanctions, although they don't hit Putin specifically hard, if they hit the oligarchs — their assets frozen and destroyed — then they may put pressure on Putin to reach an agreement.", "verbatim": true }, "alt_canonical": { "ep": 298, "date": "2022-03-04", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-298.html", "speaker": "Dan Eve (Crypto Raptor)", "quote": "Bitcoin can collect donations for the Ukrainians. Yes, but it can also help the Russians evade sanctions. It's this neutral thing. And that's very hard to understand.", "verbatim": true }, "real_event": { "date": "2022-04-05", "headline": "Treasury designates Garantex — the first major Russian crypto exchange added to the SDN list", "summary": "OFAC added Garantex Europe OÜ to the SDN list under EO 14024 for operating in Russia's financial-services sector. Chainalysis data showed roughly $645M of Garantex inflow between 2019–2021 connected to crime or high-risk services.", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0701" }, "secondary_event": { "date": "2023-11-03", "headline": "Treasury designates Ekaterina Zhdanova for laundering for Russian elites", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1874" } }, { "id": "north_korea", "name": "North Korea", "pattern": "Lazarus Group / APT38 — Reconnaissance General Bureau-directed exchange and bridge hacks. $625M Ronin (2022), $235M WazirX (2024), $1.5B Bybit (2025). Chainalysis: DPRK-linked actors stole $2.02B in 2025 alone.", "tbg_first": { "ep": 146, "date": "2017-06-16", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-146.html", "speaker": "Jimmy Song", "quote": "It's like sort of a global currency when North Korea, the most closed country in the entire world, is featured twice on this. They both target the same thing, and that's financial sovereignty.", "verbatim": true }, "tbg_canonical": { "ep": 188, "date": "2018-09-07", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-188.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "I believe the government of North Korea has the most reason to get into Bitcoin, especially their leader at the top. There's never been a better way to steal money from the people, hold it in something small like a Trezor, and plan for the day when you have to flee the country.", "verbatim": true }, "real_event": { "date": "2022-04-14", "headline": "Treasury attributes the $625M Ronin Bridge theft to Lazarus and adds the wallet to the SDN list", "summary": "Following the March 23, 2022 hack of the Ronin/Axie Infinity bridge — 173,600 ETH and 25.5M USDC stolen — OFAC and the FBI publicly attributed the heist to Lazarus / APT38 and added the receiving Ethereum address to the SDN list, the first SDN designation of an Ethereum wallet.", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0731" }, "secondary_event": { "date": "2025-02-21", "headline": "Bybit hack: Lazarus drains $1.5B in ETH — the largest single crypto theft on record", "url": "https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/the-bybit-hack-following-north-koreas-largest-exploit" } }, { "id": "venezuela", "name": "Venezuela", "pattern": "Petro state-coin (2018) launched explicitly to circumvent US sanctions — failed by 2024. PDVSA reportedly settled crude in USDT to dodge OFAC. Citizens use BTC against capital controls.", "tbg_first": { "ep": 158, "date": "2017-09-15", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-158.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "I'm actually working, when I get home in October, I need to immediately file for a visa to Venezuela, because I want to do a show from Venezuela in the beginning of the year. That's where the real Bitcoin action is going down.", "verbatim": true }, "tbg_canonical": { "ep": 188, "date": "2018-09-07", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-188.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "Probably not Venezuela because they want the Petro to work and they also don't have much money. Venezuela is broke.", "verbatim": true }, "real_event": { "date": "2018-03-19", "headline": "EO 13827: US prohibits transactions in Venezuelan government-issued cryptocurrency", "summary": "President Trump signed Executive Order 13827 prohibiting US persons from transacting in any Venezuelan government-issued digital currency. The Petro launched anyway and was officially shut down January 15, 2024 after never gaining adoption.", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/03/21/2018-05916/taking-additional-steps-to-address-the-situation-in-venezuela" }, "secondary_event": { "date": "2024-01-15", "headline": "Petro shuts down. PDVSA reportedly settled crude exports in USDT to bypass sanctions.", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro_(token)" } }, { "id": "cuba", "name": "Cuba", "pattern": "60-year US embargo. Western Union shut all Cuban locations Nov 2020. By August 2021 Cuba's central bank formally recognized crypto. Estimates: 100,000+ Cubans use BTC and stablecoins for remittances and savings.", "tbg_first": { "ep": 145, "date": "2017-06-09", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-145.html", "speaker": "Jimmy Song", "quote": "Mark Cuban and Jim Kramer... the actual story isn't what they said. Bitcoin is growing up.", "verbatim": true, "note": "VERIFY — earliest 'cuba' keyword hit is incidental (Mark Cuban, the entrepreneur). First sanctions-themed Cuba episode is TBG #238 (2020-12-04)." }, "tbg_canonical": { "ep": 273, "date": "2021-08-28", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-273.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "Hashrate Rebounds — Cuba — Theft — Free Talk Live.", "verbatim": true, "note": "Episode title; an entire issue dedicated to Cuba's Bitcoin recognition published the same week as Cuba's central bank Resolution 215." }, "real_event": { "date": "2021-08-27", "headline": "Cuba's central bank formally recognizes cryptocurrencies (Resolution 215)", "summary": "Cuba became the second country in the world to officially recognize Bitcoin and other digital currencies as legal payment, explicitly to provide an alternative to a financial system locked out of US dollar rails since 1962.", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/27/cubas-central-bank-now-recognizes-cryptocurrencies-like-bitcoin.html" }, "secondary_event": { "date": "2020-11-30", "headline": "Western Union shuts down all 400+ Cuban locations under tightened US restrictions", "url": "https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/100000-cubans-are-using-bitcoin-in-response-to-us-sanctions" } }, { "id": "hamas", "name": "Hamas / Gaza", "pattern": "DOJ seized 300 wallets and ~$2M in BTC/USDT linked to al-Qassam Brigades and ISIS in 2020. Israeli NBCTF blocked $7.3M of Hamas-linked wallets in 2021. Israeli MoD seized wallets receiving $41M between 2019–2023.", "tbg_first": { "ep": 209, "date": "2020-01-17", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-209.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt panel", "quote": "Representative Brad Sherman... saying that if Bitcoin works for Hamas, Bitcoin will work for the Nazis too.", "verbatim": true }, "tbg_canonical": { "ep": 229, "date": "2020-08-14", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-229.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "The United States government says that it seized about $2 million in Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrency from accounts that had sent or received funds in alleging financing schemes for three foreign terrorist organizations: Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas' paramilitary arm, the al-Qassim Brigades.", "verbatim": true }, "real_event": { "date": "2020-08-13", "headline": "DOJ seizes ~300 cryptocurrency wallets linked to al-Qassam Brigades, ISIS, and al-Qaeda", "summary": "The largest-ever seizure of cryptocurrency in the terrorism context. Reported by Treasury and the DOJ; targeting included wallets linked to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades — the armed wing of Hamas — which had been openly soliciting Bitcoin donations on its websites since 2019.", "url": "https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/global-disruption-three-terror-finance-cyber-enabled-campaigns" }, "secondary_event": { "date": "2023-10-18", "headline": "Treasury sanctions Gaza-based crypto financier of Hamas in coordination with the UK", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1816" } }, { "id": "hezbollah", "name": "Hezbollah", "pattern": "Tron-based USDT used as functional cash through hawala-network operatives in Lebanon and Latin America. Israeli NBCTF and OFAC have moved repeatedly; Tether froze $344M after a US/Israel request linked to IRGC and Hezbollah.", "tbg_first": { "ep": 261, "date": "2021-06-04", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-261.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "Where are the receipts for the rockets that Hezbollah have for the amazing weaponry in Syria? I'm pretty sure it's all cash. They don't pay it with crypto.", "verbatim": true, "note": "VERIFY — TBG mentioned, but panel argued in 2021 that Hezbollah's rails were still cash. Crypto component became central in Treasury actions starting Feb 2024." }, "tbg_canonical": { "ep": 459, "date": "2025-06-14", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-459.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt panel", "quote": "In this case it's mainly Hezbollah or... Hamas, who would probably be involved.", "verbatim": true }, "real_event": { "date": "2024-02-29", "headline": "Treasury sanctions Syria-based hawala operator running USDT-on-Tron wallets for Hezbollah; tens of millions traced", "summary": "OFAC designated Tawfiq Muhammad Said al-Law for managing digital wallets used by Hezbollah operatives. TRM Labs traced the wallets through Tron-based Tether totaling tens of millions of dollars.", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2153" } }, { "id": "belarus", "name": "Belarus", "pattern": "Lukashenko's regime tried to lure Russian miners post-invasion (March 2022). EU explicitly extended Russia sanctions to crypto for both Russia and Belarus. State has since tried to centralize the rails.", "tbg_first": { "ep": 297, "date": "2022-02-25", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-297.html", "speaker": "TBG panel", "quote": "Putin had a message for other nations saying that no one should have any doubts that a direct attack on our country will lead to a defeat and dire consequences.", "verbatim": true, "note": "VERIFY — Belarus is named in TBG #297's title segment. The Belarus-specific crypto-sanctions framing arrives in TBG #298 a week later." }, "tbg_canonical": { "ep": 298, "date": "2022-03-04", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-298.html", "speaker": "Dan Eve (Crypto Raptor)", "quote": "Bitcoin can collect donations for the Ukrainians. Yes, but it can also help the Russians evade sanctions. It's this neutral thing.", "verbatim": true, "note": "Same week the European Commission ruled that EU sanctions cover crypto for Russia and Belarus." }, "real_event": { "date": "2022-03-09", "headline": "European Commission: EU sanctions on Russia and Belarus extend to crypto-asset transfers", "summary": "Commission spokesperson confirmed the regulations on \"transferable securities\" capture crypto-asset transfers. CoinDesk and Decrypt reporting.", "url": "https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/03/09/eu-says-russia-belarus-sanctions-extend-to-crypto" } }, { "id": "myanmar", "name": "Myanmar", "pattern": "Inversion of the usual pattern: the resistance — the National Unity Government — declared USDT legal tender in December 2021 to escape junta currency controls. The Tatmadaw responded by criminalizing crypto under the AML law.", "tbg_first": { "ep": 238, "date": "2020-12-04", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-238.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "I'm some little pleb in the mountains of Myanmar. Is a [pleb] consent and buy an MP3 of someone sitting in China without anybody interfering? That's what I care about.", "verbatim": true, "note": "VERIFY — Whisper transcription is rough; bracketed [pleb] is reconstructed from context. Hunt's standard line about a Myanmar villager using sound money — the only Myanmar mention in the archive at the time." }, "tbg_canonical": null, "real_event": { "date": "2021-12-12", "headline": "Myanmar's National Unity Government declares USDT (Tether) legal tender in resistance-held areas", "summary": "The shadow government — formed by remnants of the elected civilian administration after the February 2021 coup — explicitly named Tether as official currency in zones it controls, becoming the first national-scale government to use a stablecoin to route around a sanctions/currency-control regime.", "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/12/14/myanmar-shadow-government-approves-crypto-as-official-currency" } }, { "id": "syria", "name": "Syria", "pattern": "Pre-Assad-fall: armed-group fundraising via USDT, plus the Hezbollah hawala operator OFAC sanctioned in Feb 2024. After Assad fell (Dec 2024) the US lifted broad Syria sanctions July 2025; the open question is whether the rebel-era crypto rails persist.", "tbg_first": { "ep": 261, "date": "2021-06-04", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-261.html", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "quote": "Where are the receipts for the rockets that Hezbollah have for the amazing weaponry in Syria?", "verbatim": true }, "tbg_canonical": { "ep": 310, "date": "2022-06-03", "url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-310.html", "speaker": "Josh Gagalla (Voltoro)", "quote": "We were one of the first — Voltoro — to ban New York after the BitLicense. We just said: when you're signing up, you have to say, 'I am not from Syria, North Korea, Iran, or New York.' It went viral.", "verbatim": true }, "real_event": { "date": "2024-02-29", "headline": "OFAC designates Syria-based Tawfiq al-Law for running USDT-on-Tron wallets servicing Hezbollah operatives", "summary": "Same designation as Hezbollah — al-Law was based in Syria, illustrating the cross-border crypto rails connecting Iranian, Lebanese, and Syrian sanctioned actors.", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2153" } } ], "roll_call": [ { "name": "Thomas Hunt", "handle": "@MadBitcoins · TBG host", "verdict": "Called the country", "rank": 1, "ep": 188, "ep_date": "2018-09-07", "ep_title": "TBG #188 — Coinbase ETF — Goldman Sachs — CNBC — Iran — Bitmain AsicBoost", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-188.html", "quote": "A country like Iraq or Venezuela selling oil in Bitcoin. Previously, any country that's ever sold oil in anything other than USD has been promptly invaded.", "verbatim": true, "summary": "Six years before Chainalysis confirmed PDVSA was settling crude in USDT and four years before Treasury moved against Russia's Garantex, Hunt named the precise mechanism: dollar-denominated commodity exports as the load-bearing wall of the sanctions regime." }, { "name": "Thomas Hunt", "handle": "@MadBitcoins · TBG host", "verdict": "Called the country", "rank": 2, "ep": 213, "ep_date": "2020-03-06", "ep_title": "TBG #213 — Bitcoin, Coronavirus, $100,000+, Germany, India, NY Power Plant", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-213.html", "quote": "The correct answer is the Republic of Iran. They're getting by sanctions nationally. It's only a matter of time before they figure out they could let their people use this money as well.", "verbatim": true, "summary": "Two and a half years before the Iranian government formally approved crypto for imports (August 2022), Hunt called both halves of the eventual playbook — state-level sanctions evasion and citizen-level hyperinflation hedge." }, { "name": "Thomas Hunt", "handle": "@MadBitcoins · TBG host", "verdict": "Called the country", "rank": 3, "ep": 188, "ep_date": "2018-09-07", "ep_title": "TBG #188 — Iran — Bitmain AsicBoost", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-188.html", "quote": "I believe the government of North Korea has the most reason to get into Bitcoin, especially their leader at the top. There's never been a better way to steal money from the people, hold it in something small like a Trezor, and plan for the day when you have to flee the country.", "verbatim": true, "summary": "Three and a half years before Treasury attributed the $625M Ronin theft to Lazarus, Hunt sketched the dictator-with-a-Trezor model. The actual North Korean play turned out to be hacks at industrial scale, not exfiltration — the same animal, different limb." }, { "name": "Jimmy Song", "handle": "Bitcoin developer", "verdict": "Called the mechanism", "rank": 4, "ep": 146, "ep_date": "2017-06-16", "ep_title": "TBG #146 — UAHF — Coinbase Freeze — Dennis Rodman", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-146.html", "quote": "It's like sort of a global currency when North Korea, the most closed country in the entire world, is featured twice on this. They both target the same thing, and that's financial sovereignty.", "verbatim": true, "summary": "Five years before Lazarus's first SDN listing, Song framed the alignment cleanly: a closed economy and a permissionless network share one design principle. WannaCry had landed three weeks before the episode aired." }, { "name": "Dan Eve", "handle": "Crypto Raptor", "verdict": "Called the mechanism", "rank": 5, "ep": 298, "ep_date": "2022-03-04", "ep_title": "TBG #298 — Nuclear Threat — Sanctions", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-298.html", "quote": "Bitcoin can collect donations for the Ukrainians. Yes, but it can also help the Russians evade sanctions. It's this neutral thing. And that's very hard to understand.", "verbatim": true, "summary": "One week into the invasion, eleven days before the European Commission confirmed crypto fell within the Russia / Belarus sanctions package, Dan Eve articulated the bidirectional reality the financial press kept refusing to put in one sentence." }, { "name": "Josh Gagalla", "handle": "Voltoro / The Standard", "verdict": "Called the policy response", "rank": 6, "ep": 310, "ep_date": "2022-06-03", "ep_title": "TBG #310 — White House — Gemini Sued", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-310.html", "quote": "We were one of the first — Voltoro — to ban New York after the BitLicense. When you're signing up, you have to say, 'I am not from Syria, North Korea, Iran, or New York.' It went viral.", "verbatim": true, "summary": "Operator-level evidence: by 2022 the SDN-list-by-checkbox was the industry default. Gagalla's framing — New York grouped with Syria, North Korea, and Iran — captured how compliance flattens the difference between a sanctioned country and a hostile regulator." }, { "name": "Wasim Alcindy", "handle": "Ox Salon", "verdict": "Called the mechanism", "rank": 7, "ep": 449, "ep_date": "2025-04-05", "ep_title": "TBG #449 — Tariff Crash — Stablecoins, The Dollar, SBF", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-449.html", "quote": "Iran is an economic basket case with high inflation, devalued currency, capital controls. Cryptocurrencies, even if you don't think they're useful for anything else, are very, very good for getting in and out of borders and disappearing around the nooks and crannies. So I'm not surprised to see crypto being used by the government, by various organs of state, but also the people.", "verbatim": true, "summary": "By 2025 the panel was treating it as settled fact. Alcindy distinguishes state-level use (IRGC) from citizen-level use (capital flight) — the distinction the Chainalysis 2026 report formalized eleven months later." }, { "name": "Victoria Jones", "handle": "Satoshi's Page", "verdict": "Called the policy response", "rank": 8, "ep": 484, "ep_date": "2026-02-28", "ep_title": "TBG #484 — Jane Street Insiders? — Binance Iran", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-484.html", "quote": "Binance Iran", "verbatim": true, "summary": "Episode-title evidence: by Feb 2026 the panel was running standalone Iran-Binance issues weekly. The story — Binance processed $7.8B of Iranian flow despite sanctions — had moved from prediction to backfill reporting.", "verbatim_note": "Issue title only — included to track the panel's ongoing coverage; no extended quote fits the verbatim discipline this report holds the others to." } ], "quote_wall": [ { "quote": "The correct answer is the Republic of Iran. They're getting by sanctions nationally.", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "ep": 213, "ep_date": "2020-03-06", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-213.html" }, { "quote": "A country like Iraq or Venezuela selling oil in Bitcoin. Previously, any country that's ever sold oil in anything other than USD has been promptly invaded.", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "ep": 188, "ep_date": "2018-09-07", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-188.html" }, { "quote": "I believe the government of North Korea has the most reason to get into Bitcoin. There's never been a better way to steal money from the people.", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "ep": 188, "ep_date": "2018-09-07", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-188.html" }, { "quote": "Bitcoin can collect donations for the Ukrainians. Yes, but it can also help the Russians evade sanctions. It's this neutral thing.", "speaker": "Dan Eve", "ep": 298, "ep_date": "2022-03-04", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-298.html" }, { "quote": "It's like sort of a global currency when North Korea, the most closed country in the entire world, is featured twice on this.", "speaker": "Jimmy Song", "ep": 146, "ep_date": "2017-06-16", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-146.html" }, { "quote": "I am not from Syria, North Korea, Iran, or New York.", "speaker": "Josh Gagalla", "ep": 310, "ep_date": "2022-06-03", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-310.html" }, { "quote": "We'll see what we've kind of seen already in places like North Korea and Venezuela, Iran, Russia. It's Bitcoin for the oligarchs and people in power, but not for the plubs.", "speaker": "TBG panel", "ep": 234, "ep_date": "2020-11-06", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-234.html" }, { "quote": "The United States government says that it seized about $2 million in Bitcoin from accounts financing schemes for three foreign terrorist organizations: Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Hamas' paramilitary arm.", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "ep": 229, "ep_date": "2020-08-14", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-229.html" }, { "quote": "Iran is an economic basket case... cryptocurrencies are very, very good for getting in and out of borders and disappearing around the nooks and crannies.", "speaker": "Wasim Alcindy", "ep": 449, "ep_date": "2025-04-05", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-449.html" }, { "quote": "If the sanctions don't hit Putin specifically, but they hit the oligarchs — their assets frozen and destroyed — then they may put pressure on Putin to reach an agreement.", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt panel", "ep": 297, "ep_date": "2022-02-25", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-297.html" }, { "quote": "Stablecoins are kind of like Western Union 2.0. Transferring money across places where you have sanctions — send Tether back and forth to Russia. That's a very common use case.", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "ep": 476, "ep_date": "2025-12-27", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-476.html" }, { "quote": "Bitcoin is great for protesters and great for governments at the same time. The Iranian National Guard uses it as well.", "speaker": "Thomas Hunt", "ep": 479, "ep_date": "2026-01-24", "ep_url": "/tbg-mirrors/transcripts/TBG-479.html" } ], "events_by_year": [ {"year": "2014", "iran": 0, "russia": 0, "north_korea": 0, "venezuela": 0, "cuba": 0, "hamas": 0, "hezbollah": 0, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 0, "total": 0}, {"year": "2015", "iran": 0, "russia": 0, "north_korea": 0, "venezuela": 0, "cuba": 0, "hamas": 0, "hezbollah": 0, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 0, "total": 0}, {"year": "2016", "iran": 0, "russia": 0, "north_korea": 0, "venezuela": 0, "cuba": 0, "hamas": 0, "hezbollah": 0, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 0, "total": 0}, {"year": "2017", "iran": 0, "russia": 0, "north_korea": 1, "venezuela": 0, "cuba": 0, "hamas": 0, "hezbollah": 0, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 0, "total": 1, "_label": "WannaCry attribution to NK"}, {"year": "2018", "iran": 1, "russia": 0, "north_korea": 0, "venezuela": 1, "cuba": 0, "hamas": 0, "hezbollah": 0, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 0, "total": 2, "_label": "OFAC's first crypto SDN (Iran); EO 13827 (Petro)"}, {"year": "2019", "iran": 0, "russia": 0, "north_korea": 0, "venezuela": 0, "cuba": 0, "hamas": 1, "hezbollah": 0, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 0, "total": 1, "_label": "al-Qassam donation campaign begins"}, {"year": "2020", "iran": 0, "russia": 0, "north_korea": 1, "venezuela": 0, "cuba": 1, "hamas": 1, "hezbollah": 0, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 0, "total": 3, "_label": "300-wallet seizure; WU pulls out of Cuba; Lazarus active"}, {"year": "2021", "iran": 1, "russia": 0, "north_korea": 0, "venezuela": 0, "cuba": 1, "hamas": 1, "hezbollah": 0, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 1, "syria": 0, "total": 4, "_label": "Cuba CB Resolution 215; Israeli seizures; NUG declares USDT"}, {"year": "2022", "iran": 1, "russia": 2, "north_korea": 1, "venezuela": 0, "cuba": 0, "hamas": 0, "hezbollah": 0, "belarus": 1, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 0, "total": 5, "_label": "Garantex SDN; Ronin SDN; EU extends to crypto; Iran approves crypto-imports"}, {"year": "2023", "iran": 1, "russia": 1, "north_korea": 1, "venezuela": 0, "cuba": 0, "hamas": 1, "hezbollah": 1, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 0, "total": 5, "_label": "Atomic Wallet $100M; Zhdanova SDN; Hamas Treasury actions; NBCTF $1.7M"}, {"year": "2024", "iran": 1, "russia": 1, "north_korea": 1, "venezuela": 1, "cuba": 0, "hamas": 0, "hezbollah": 1, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 1, "total": 6, "_label": "WazirX $235M; Petro shutdown; al-Law SDN (Hezbollah/Syria)"}, {"year": "2025", "iran": 1, "russia": 1, "north_korea": 1, "venezuela": 0, "cuba": 0, "hamas": 0, "hezbollah": 0, "belarus": 0, "myanmar": 0, "syria": 0, "total": 3, "_label": "Bybit $1.5B; A7A5 launch; IRGC volume $3B+"} ], "aggregate_flows": [ {"year": "2020", "billions_usd": 0.5}, {"year": "2021", "billions_usd": 2.0}, {"year": "2022", "billions_usd": 8.0}, {"year": "2023", "billions_usd": 14.9}, {"year": "2024", "billions_usd": 13.0}, {"year": "2025", "billions_usd": 104.0} ], "aggregate_flows_source": "Chainalysis Crypto Crime Reports 2023–2026. The 2025 figure is the headline number from the Feb 2026 report — a +694% YoY surge driven primarily by Russia's ruble-pegged A7A5 token (~$93B). Earlier years are best-effort backfills from the same series. [VERIFY] — pre-2024 numbers are approximate; methodology changed across reports.", "year_counts": [ {"year": "2014", "episodes": 0}, {"year": "2015", "episodes": 0}, {"year": "2016", "episodes": 4}, {"year": "2017", "episodes": 7}, {"year": "2018", "episodes": 1}, {"year": "2019", "episodes": 1}, {"year": "2020", "episodes": 8}, {"year": "2021", "episodes": 14}, {"year": "2022", "episodes": 18}, {"year": "2023", "episodes": 5}, {"year": "2024", "episodes": 7}, {"year": "2025", "episodes": 14}, {"year": "2026", "episodes": 7} ], "country_mentions": [ {"country": "Russia", "mentions": 69}, {"country": "Iran", "mentions": 33}, {"country": "Venezuela", "mentions": 30}, {"country": "Cuba", "mentions": 22}, {"country": "North Korea", "mentions": 18}, {"country": "Hamas", "mentions": 9}, {"country": "Syria", "mentions": 6}, {"country": "Hezbollah", "mentions": 2}, {"country": "Belarus", "mentions": 2}, {"country": "Myanmar", "mentions": 1} ] }