IRGC Crypto Mining: What It Is and Why It Doesn't Exist

When people talk about IRGC crypto mining, a supposed state-run cryptocurrency mining operation led by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Also known as Iranian state crypto mining, it’s often cited as a way for the regime to bypass sanctions and fund its operations. But here’s the truth: IRGC crypto mining isn’t a real, functioning program. It’s a rumor, a myth, and sometimes a scare tactic used by media outlets and crypto influencers to generate clicks.

Iran does have a complicated relationship with cryptocurrency. The government has banned private crypto mining since 2021, citing energy shortages. But that ban wasn’t meant to stop mining entirely—it was meant to control it. Only state-approved entities, including the IRGC and affiliated agencies, were allowed to operate mining rigs under strict energy quotas. These weren’t "crypto mining" operations in the decentralized sense. They were energy-intensive hardware farms, running 24/7 on subsidized electricity, producing Bitcoin and other coins that were then sold on black markets or used to purchase foreign goods. The IRGC didn’t mine for profit—it mined for leverage.

What you won’t find is a public ledger showing IRGC-owned wallets moving millions in crypto. No audits. No transparency. No official announcements. Just whispers and unverified reports. Meanwhile, Iranian citizens are still using P2P platforms like LocalBitcoins and Binance to trade Bitcoin and Tether, often through informal networks. They’re not mining—they’re surviving. The IRGC doesn’t need to mine when it can seize hardware, control internet access, and tax every dollar that flows through the black market. Crypto mining under the IRGC isn’t about decentralization or innovation. It’s about control, power, and hiding wealth.

So if you’re looking for a guide on how to mine crypto for the IRGC—there isn’t one. There’s no app, no tutorial, no wallet address to connect to. The whole idea is a fiction built on speculation and geopolitical fear. What’s real are the consequences: Iranians who try to mine on their own get arrested. Those who trade crypto without permission face fines or jail. And the IRGC? They’re quietly sitting on whatever coins they’ve accumulated, using them to buy what sanctions can’t stop.

Below, you’ll find real stories from countries where crypto regulation is just as strange—Russia’s ruble restrictions, Venezuela’s Petro, Vietnam’s pilot program. None of them are about mining. They’re all about control. And if you think the IRGC is running a secret mining empire, you’re missing the bigger picture: the real crypto war isn’t in the data centers. It’s in the banks, the borders, and the black markets where ordinary people are still finding ways to move value—no permission needed.