When a country's currency is worse than worthless paper, how can ordinary people survive? This is not alarmist talk, but the reality happening every day in Iran.

On the streets of Tehran, the capital of Iran, you can see scenes like this: holding a big bag of money but unable to buy a lunch. In October 2025, the Iranian parliament approved a currency reform, directly removing four zeros from the rial denomination. But this "adjustment" on paper cannot change the real solution that ordinary people have already found—Bitcoin.

Behind the numbers is a despair for survival. A cup of coffee costs 100,000 rials, a bag of flour costs over a million. ATM screens can no longer display so many zeros, and the calculators in accountants' hands are almost broken. Over the past 40 years, the Iranian rial has depreciated by more than 95%. Today, on the black market, 1 USD can exchange for 1.42 million rials, with prices soaring by 42% year-over-year. The price of one kilogram of lamb is equivalent to an entire 25 days' wages for an average person.

In such a predicament, young people and ordinary workers have made their choices. Survey data shows that about a quarter of Iranians already hold some form of cryptocurrency, with over 15 million active in the crypto space. What are they using Bitcoin and other digital assets for? To fight inflation, bypass international sanctions, receive wages, conduct international trade, and even daily consumption—pay for coffee, visit the dentist. Cryptocurrency has gradually become a survival tool parallel to the official financial system.

Ironically, the government's attitude has been contradictory. On one hand, banning crypto-related ads, restricting trading hours, and starting to levy taxes; on the other hand, Iran was once a major participant in global Bitcoin mining, accounting for 4.5% of the total network hash rate. By 2025, despite stricter official policies, a large amount of capital still flows into the country through crypto channels.

A more dramatic event occurred in June this year. Pro-Israel hacker groups attacked Iran’s largest major exchange, but their goal was not to steal user funds, rather to transfer $82 million into a "black hole address" for complete destruction. The hackers explicitly stated that the platform was suspected of helping the Iranian regime illegally finance itself. Cryptocurrency has evolved into an intense, smoke-free battlefield on the international stage.

An Iranian user once expressed his hope: "We all hope the darkness passes, and the world sees our longing for peace and communication." Bitcoin cannot save a country's economy, but in times of policy failure and currency collapse, it provides ordinary people with a way to survive. This story is worth the attention of everyone concerned with global finance.