Amid anti-government protests and government internet censorship in multiple parts of Iran, local residents are accelerating the transfer of Bitcoin to personal wallets. Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, points out a significant increase in BTC withdrawals from local Iranian exchanges to unknown personal wallets between December 28, 2024, the start of the protests, and January 8, when the internet outage occurred. This indicates that people are holding their Bitcoin in custody more frequently during periods of social unrest. Chainalysis believes this behavior is closely related to the sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial. Data shows that the rial's exchange rate against the US dollar plummeted from approximately 420,000 to over 1.05 million in a short period, resulting in a rapid loss of purchasing power. In this context, Bitcoin, with its decentralized, censorship-resistant, and cross-border transfer characteristics, is seen as an important tool to hedge against currency collapse and economic instability. The report also notes that this trend is consistent with other regions globally experiencing war, economic crises, or repressive government policies. Furthermore, Chainalysis also revealed that addresses associated with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accounted for over 50% of the total amount of crypto assets received in Iran in the fourth quarter of 2025, with on-chain processing exceeding $3 billion for the entire year. (CoinDesk)