Iran accepts cryptocurrency as payment for advanced weapons
Prospective customers could purchase weapons such as missiles, tanks and drones using crypto, according to a government website.
Prospective customers could purchase weapons such as missiles, tanks and drones using crypto, according to a government website.
Jan 2, 2026, 12:09 p.m.
Mindex, the export center of Iran's Ministry of Defense, is accepting cryptocurrency payments method for advanced weapons systems as a means of bypassing international sanctions that the country faces.
Prospective customers can buy weapons such as missiles, tanks and drones using crypto, amongst other accepted payment methods including Iranian rials or bartering, according to the center's website.
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Mindex is responsible for Iran's overseas defense sales and claims to have clients in 35 countries.
No prices are displayed for the available items.
The offer is among the first known instances of a country accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment for military equipment, according to the Financial Times, which the news earlier.
The facility for using cryptocurrency as a means of payment in transaction involving sanctioned countries, however, is already well established. In early 2025, blockchain analytics provider Chainalysis reported that U.S.-sanctioned countries had received nearly $16 billion in digital assets the year before.
United Nations (UN) sanctions against Iran saw a re-escalation in 2025, with the reimposition of those that had been lifted in 2015 related to the country's nuclear program.
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