On Aug. 8, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges, Shelbit and Aban Tether, expanding the Trump administration’s “Economic Fury” campaign targeting Iran’s financial network.
The Treasury said the two exchanges were used to move crypto assets at scale, evade U.S. sanctions, and provide support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, as well as other entities the United States designates as terrorist organizations.
Shelbit operator and related companies added to sanctions list
OFAC also sanctioned Shelbit operator Siavash Kayvanpour and several companies the agency said he controls in Georgia, Poland, and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the Treasury, wallets linked to the IRGC sent more than $1 million in crypto to Shelbit and received more than $2 million from the exchange.
The Treasury also said wallets tied to Kayvanpour allegedly transferred more than $2 million to Nobitex, which it described as Iran’s largest crypto exchange.
Treasury links Shelbit to gambling network
The Treasury said Shelbit also provided services to a network of more than 2,000 gambling websites that allegedly laundered tens of millions of dollars through crypto assets.
Before the sanctions action, Reuters reported that Shelbit had processed at least $4 billion in transactions over the past two years, including flows tied to Iran’s gambling network, the Central Bank of Iran, and entities associated with the IRGC.
Data cited by the Treasury showed wallets associated with Shelbit sent at least $676 million to Binance during that period. About $540 million of that total came after Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or VARA, penalized the platform for operating without a license.
Aban Tether also sanctioned
OFAC also designated Iranian exchange Aban Tether, saying it processed millions of dollars in transactions involving Nobitex and previously sanctioned platforms including Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex.