The serpent has begun to swallow itself.
A nation's most potent geopolitical instruments — the power to isolate, to pressure, to compel through economic force — are only as strong as the financial architecture that enforces them. In championing cryptocurrency deregulation while accepting billions in crypto-linked income, the Trump administration has quietly dismantled the walls it claims to defend, handing Russia, Iran, and North Korea the very tools needed to slip past American sanctions. What presents itself as financial innovation is, in the longer view of history, a quiet transfer of leverage from the many to the few — and from Washington to its adversaries.
- The Trump administration has rolled back crypto enforcement and promoted stablecoins while the Trump family reportedly collected roughly $5 billion from cryptocurrency ventures, blurring the line between policy and profit.
- Russia and Iran have seized the opening — Moscow routing war financing through crypto exchanges and Kyrgyz intermediaries, Tehran collecting $36 million in a single day in Bitcoin and Tether tolls at the Strait of Hormuz.
- Illegal cryptocurrency transactions surged more than 160 percent in 2025, with hostile state actors driving much of the volume through blockchain networks that settle payments in seconds and leave regulators behind.
- The GENIUS Act and the rejection of a central bank digital currency signal a deliberate choice to favor opaque, lightly governed crypto over regulated alternatives — the same alternatives adversaries are now exploiting at scale.
- Ordinary people worldwide absorb the cost: Iranians living through active conflict, and consumers everywhere facing higher energy and food prices as sanctions lose the teeth that once made them credible.
There is an old symbol — the Ouroboros, a serpent consuming its own tail — that captures something essential about the Trump administration's approach to cryptocurrency. Policies shaped by generous campaign donors and justified in the name of innovation have quietly eroded the financial architecture that underpins American power.
Cryptocurrencies occupy a regulatory gray zone: not government-backed, not legal tender, and valued in part precisely because they obscure transactions. Since returning to office, Trump has become the industry's most prominent champion — a posture that tracks closely with the roughly $5 billion the Trump family has reportedly earned from crypto ventures. The administration has deregulated aggressively, promoted dollar-pegged stablecoins through legislation like the GENIUS Act, and rejected the development of a central bank digital currency. Binance's founder, whose firm has ties to the Trump family, pleaded guilty to facilitating money laundering and served four months before receiving a presidential pardon. The signal to the industry was unmistakable.
The consequences extend well beyond financial markets. Sanctions — America's primary tool for pressuring adversaries — depend on dollar dominance and the ability to monitor financial flows. Cryptocurrency undermines both. In 2025, illegal crypto transactions surged more than 160 percent, driven largely by Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Moscow, after the Biden administration froze its central bank assets, turned to crypto exchanges to finance drone procurement for Ukraine and move goods through intermediaries. Russia's parliament legalized crypto for international settlements in mid-2024; Putin legalized mining shortly after.
Iran's trajectory is equally striking. Its crypto sector reached $7.8 billion in 2025, with entities linked to the Revolutionary Guard accounting for more than half of all inflows. At the Strait of Hormuz, shipping companies now pay a $1-per-barrel toll — accepted in Bitcoin, Tether, or Chinese renminbi — processed in seconds on the TRON blockchain. On a single recent day, up to 18 tankers passed through, generating an estimated $36 million for the Iranian regime. TRON was founded by a Chinese developer with reported ties to Trump-linked ventures.
The people absorbing the cost are Iranians living through active conflict and ordinary consumers worldwide facing higher energy and food prices as sanctions lose their force. The infrastructure built to serve a small circle of investors has become the infrastructure of American self-defeat.
There is an old symbol, the Ouroboros—a serpent eating its own tail—that captures something essential about self-sabotage. It applies neatly to the Trump administration's approach to cryptocurrency, a policy that appears designed to enrich a small circle of investors while systematically dismantling the financial tools that have long anchored American power.
Cryptocurrencies exist in a regulatory gray zone. They are not legal tender, not government-backed, and their value floats on market demand—much of it driven by their usefulness in hiding transactions, dodging taxes, and slipping past oversight. This opacity attracts speculators chasing volatility, but it also attracts criminals and state actors looking for ways to move money without leaving a trace. Since returning to office, Trump has positioned himself as the industry's most prominent advocate. The reason is straightforward: major crypto investors have funded his campaigns generously, and members of the Trump family have reportedly earned roughly $5 billion from various cryptocurrency ventures.
To serve these interests, the administration has moved aggressively to deregulate crypto markets while promoting dollar-pegged stablecoins through legislation like the GENIUS Act. It has simultaneously rejected the development of a central bank digital currency—a more stable, regulated alternative that countries like China are already exploring. The practical result has been a rollback of enforcement. Crypto firms that would once have faced serious consequences now operate with minimal oversight. Binance, which has business connections to the Trump family, exemplifies the pattern: its founder pleaded guilty to facilitating money laundering and served four months in prison before Trump pardoned him. The message to the rest of the industry was clear.
But the consequences ripple far beyond Wall Street. Cryptocurrencies create an alternative financial system that can be used to evade the economic sanctions that have been America's primary tool for pressuring adversaries. Their growth also threatens the dollar's global dominance—the foundation of American economic leverage. In 2025 alone, illegal cryptocurrency transactions surged by more than 160 percent, driven largely by Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
Russia moved first. After the Biden administration froze its central bank assets, Moscow turned to cryptocurrency exchanges to work around sanctions, move sensitive goods through intermediaries like Kyrgyzstan, and finance the procurement of cheap military drones for use in Ukraine. In July 2024, the Russian parliament legalized cryptocurrency for international settlements. A month later, Putin announced the legalization of crypto mining—a practice the Trump administration has also promoted domestically.
Iran has followed a similar path. By 2025, its crypto sector was valued at $7.8 billion, with entities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accounting for more than half of all inflows. More recently, Iran has weaponized cryptocurrency at the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints. Shipping companies passing through now pay a toll of $1 per barrel of oil—payable in Chinese renminbi, Bitcoin, or the stablecoin Tether. On a single day this month, between 15 and 18 tankers passed through, generating an estimated $36 million for the Iranian regime. Some of these transactions have been processed on the TRON blockchain, which settles payments in under three seconds. TRON was founded by Chinese developer Justin Sun and has been linked to ventures associated with the Trump family.
The irony is difficult to overstate. American policies, shaped by crypto financiers and justified in the name of innovation, have expanded and legitimized the very infrastructure that allows hostile regimes to evade American sanctions. The people paying the price are Iranians caught in an active conflict and ordinary people worldwide facing rising energy and food costs as sanctions lose their bite. The serpent, it turns out, has begun to swallow itself.
Citações Notáveis
A strategic maritime chokepoint is now a hub for crypto transactions— Analysis of Iran's use of cryptocurrency at the Strait of Hormuz
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does the Trump administration seem so committed to deregulating crypto when the national security costs appear so obvious?
Because the financial incentives are immediate and personal. The crypto industry has funded his campaigns heavily, and his family has made billions from crypto ventures. The geopolitical damage is slower, more diffuse, harder to trace back to a single policy.
But surely people in the administration understand that Russia and Iran are using crypto to evade sanctions?
They likely do. But understanding and acting are different things. Sanctions enforcement requires regulatory infrastructure. Deregulation dismantles that infrastructure. You can't simultaneously champion crypto and maintain effective sanctions.
Is there a way to have crypto without enabling this kind of evasion?
Theoretically, yes—through a central bank digital currency, which is regulated and traceable. But that doesn't enrich private crypto investors. It's not what the industry wants, so it's not what gets promoted.
So this is really about choosing between two financial systems?
Exactly. One is regulated, government-backed, and serves American interests. The other is opaque, profitable for insiders, and increasingly useful to adversaries. The administration has chosen the second one.
What happens if this continues?
The dollar loses its dominance as the global reserve currency. Sanctions become ineffective. American leverage over hostile regimes erodes. And the people who suffer most are ordinary citizens facing higher energy and food prices.