Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday proposed using cryptocurrencies to prepare for potential banking sanctions, pointing to a tool that has become a major financial lifeline for some of the world’s most isolated countries over the past year. According to the 2026 Crypto Crime Report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, sanctioned entities received at least $104 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, nearly eight times the amount recorded in 2024. The surge pushed total illicit activity on blockchain networks to a record $154 billion.
The figures show that countries facing severe sanctions are increasingly incorporating cryptocurrency into their national financial strategies to bypass the traditional banking system. Among them…
