Chainalysis: Iran-linked Bitcoin activity fell 80%, then rebounded during blackout
- —Bitcoin transactions fell nearly 90% below baseline in the first week of the January shutdown
- —Cloudflare recorded partial traffic restoration on May 26, 87 days after the second shutdown began
- —Peak traffic on May 26 reached only 40% of the 2026 maximum, with IPv6 effectively at zero
- —Cross-border stablecoin inflows to Iran initially fell nearly 50%, then surpassed baseline
Why it matters: The data suggests Bitcoin can partially function during blackouts, but it cannot measure how many households actually retained access to funds.
Source: CryptoSlate