Full Denial of Iran Cooperation
CoinEx has released an official statement categorically denying any commercial partnerships with Iranian government entities or local exchanges. The statement points out that as early as 2021, CoinEx was blacklisted by Iran and its official domain was blocked within the country—clear evidence that CoinEx is not an Iran-endorsed or supported platform. CoinEx has never established an office or operational entity in Iran. Its global referral commission system is driven by individual users, not organized by the platform. The company opposes conflating ordinary user behavior with state-level sanction evasion narratives.
Point-by-Point Response to Specific Allegations
Regarding the Alireza Derakhshan and Zedcex/Zanjani transactions mentioned in the report, CoinEx states that, based on currently available information, all relevant transactions occurred before the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on those entities. The platform does not provide services to sanctioned entities or individuals and has never facilitated any individual or entity known to be under sanctions. In the case of the Bybit hack, CoinEx immediately assisted Bybit in blocking accounts and freezing assets, and will conduct an internal review of the transactions mentioned. The statement also notes that in 2023 CoinEx suffered a cyberattack attributed by multiple investigations to North Korea-linked groups, losing nearly $80 million. Therefore, it deeply understands the harm of malicious cybercrime and stands in full alignment with global law enforcement agencies.
Limitations of Blockchain Tracing and Compliance Measures
CoinEx emphasizes that while blockchain transactions are open, cross-chain, and traceable, the fact that funds have passed through a platform does not imply that platform's knowledge, support, or participation in the related activities. Different third-party on-chain analytics platforms show widely varying data, and no single platform's data should be taken as conclusive. On-chain attribution is inherently limited, and merging bidirectional fund flows into a single aggregate amount to imply that CoinEx processed that sum is highly misleading. After sanctions were imposed on Iranian exchanges such as Nobitex, CoinEx immediately launched a comprehensive review of Iran-related risk exposure and initiated an exit process, including:
- Immediately suspending deposit, trading, and withdrawal functions for Iranian users;
- Conducting individual reviews of all accounts linked to Iran;
- Proactively reporting to relevant regulators and cooperating with investigations.
