According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, data from institutions such as Chainalysis shows that sanctioned entities including Iran, Russia, and North Korea are accelerating their use of cryptocurrencies to evade U.S. and Western sanctions. Crypto addresses associated with sanctioned entities received over $100 billion in crypto assets in 2025, nearly eight times the amount in 2024. The report states that these parties are processing funds through self-created digital tokens, crypto exchanges, and multi-layer transaction structures; Western officials and analytics firms claim that Iran and Russia have used crypto assets to procure drones and weapons components, while North Korea has been accused of stealing crypto assets through hacking and cybercrime to purchase fuel and military equipment.