Treasury's Sanctions List Adds Two Iranian Crypto Exchanges, Plus a Game of Crypto Hot Potato With $1M 🪙

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on August 7 against two digital asset exchanges, Shelbit and Aban Tether, alongside Iranian national Siavash Kayvanpour and associated wallets and companies, accusing them of laundering funds for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). "The Iranian regime's reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that Economic Fury is working," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. Separately, in a Friday notice, OFAC said the exchanges facilitated illicit cryptocurrency activity and sanctions evasion, with proceeds supporting the IRGC. Bessent added: "Whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat."

According to the Treasury, IRGC-controlled wallets sent more than $1 million in crypto to addresses tied to Shelbit, while wallets linked to Kayvanpour sent $2 million in digital assets to Nobitex, an Iranian exchange added to the U.S. list of sanctioned entities in June. The agency said Shelbit had facilitated the transfer of $2 million in crypto to IRGC-controlled wallets. Treasury also alleged that Shelbit laundered tens of millions from a Persian-language online gambling network. The UAE's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) took enforcement action against Shelbit General Trading in January 2025 and again in July 2026, but the exchange remained in business, Treasury said.

Kayvanpour, who is Iran-born and holds Dominica and Afghanistan citizenship, ran a multi-country network from the UAE and Georgia through his Georgia firm SHPS Shelbit, Poland-based Shelbit Technologies, and UAE-based Crypto Home and NFT Home DMCC. The second exchange, Aban Tether, processed millions in transactions with previously designated Iranian platforms including Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex. Both exchanges and the named individuals were designated under authorities targeting Iran's financial sector and its support for terrorism, and added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, cutting them off from the American financial system. Any U.S.-touching property is frozen, and foreign firms that continue dealing with them risk secondary sanctions.

OFAC's actions are part of a broader U.S. campaign against Iran's financial networks. The department designated digital asset exchanges Zedcex and Zedxio as sanctioned entities in January and froze $131 million in wallets linked to Iran in June. Earlier in May, the U.S. froze $131 million in Iran-linked crypto, and according to Bessent, roughly $1 billion in Iranian crypto has been seized since the campaign began. Related reporting has indicated that Iran-linked entities moved $3.8 billion through CoinEx, according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM. The State Department's Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $15 million for information that disrupts the financial mechanisms of the IRGC. As of August 7, Shelbit Exchange, Aban Tether, and the named individuals remain on the SDN List with their U.S.-touching assets blocked.