2026-06-03 21:41:31
US Sanctions Iran’s Largest Crypto Exchange Nobitex in Major ‘Economic Fury’ Crackdown
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The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned Nobitex, Iran’s largest digital asset exchange, along with three other Iranian crypto exchanges. The move is part of the Donald Trump administration’s Economic Fury campaign aimed at increasing economic pressure on Tehran. The Treasury’s sanctions apply to Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex. US officials allege that these exchanges helped users bypass sanctions, facilitated financial activity connected to Iran, and processed transactions linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Terror Finance and Sanctions Evasion Risks In an official statement this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that Iran has increasingly used digital asset technologies to advance its “corrupt agenda,” including circumventing sanctions and transferring wealth outside the country. He added that Treasury would continue tracking financial activity through both traditional banking channels and digital assets as part of the administration’s broader effort to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. According to Treasury, Nobitex processed more than 50% of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025 and played a central role in the country’s crypto ecosystem. The agency alleged that the exchange facilitated payments linked to Iran’s terrorist activities, sanctions evasion efforts, and IRGC-related transactions, including activity involving IRGC-affiliated ransomware actors. Treasury also accused Nobitex of helping the Central Bank of Iran access hundreds of millions of dollars in stablecoins used to support the Iranian rial and enabling regime insiders to access international crypto exchanges across multiple jurisdictions. Treasury said Nobitex helped protect and move assets out of the country despite internet blackouts from the very start of the war. In addition to sanctioning the exchange, OFAC designated Amir Hossein Rad, Nobitex’s chairman, co-founder, and former CEO, along with several other company leaders and officials. According to their findings, Rad helped restore Nobitex’s operations after the platform suffered a $90 million hack in June 2025. The agency also sanctioned Nobitex co-founders Seyed Mohammad Ali Aghamir Mohammad Ali and Seyed Mohammad Aghamir Mohammad Ali, both members of the Kharrazi family, which Treasury described as part of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s inner circle. Current Nobitex CEO Seyed Ali Khoee was also designated. Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex Also Targeted Meanwhile, Wallex, identified as Iran’s second-largest digital asset exchange by volume, was said to have received 12% of Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025 and allegedly facilitated transactions linked to the IRGC. Bitpin accounted for 10% of Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025 and processed millions of dollars in transactions, including transfers allegedly connected to the IRGC, while some of its investors have reportedly been linked to efforts to evade US sanctions. Ramzinex, a Tehran-based exchange founded in 2018, has processed more than $2.45 billion in transactions and allegedly facilitated transactions linked to the IRGC and an Iranian government-backed financial institution. The post US Sanctions Iran’s Largest Crypto Exchange Nobitex in Major ‘Economic Fury’ Crackdown appeared first on CryptoPotato .