The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned two more crypto exchanges accused of moving money for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, extending a crackdown that has already frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in regime-linked digital assets this year. OFAC's August 7 action targeted Shelbit and Aban Tether along with Iranian national Siavash Kayvanpour and several associated wallets and companies, over a combined $5 million in crypto the agency says facilitated money laundering and sanctions evasion for the IRGC.
According to Treasury's account, roughly $1 million in crypto moved from IRGC-controlled wallets to Shelbit addresses, while $2 million in digital assets tied to Kayvanpour flowed to Nobitex and another $2 million moved from Shelbit back to IRGC-controlled wallets. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the action as a continuation of pressure rather than a one-off strike: "We will continue to increase the economic pressure," he said. "Whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat."
Part of the “Economic Fury” campaign
The August designations build directly on a much larger action from June 2, 2026, when OFAC designated four Iranian exchanges — Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex — along with four executives, in what was described as the largest-ever enforcement action against Iran's digital asset sector. Nobitex alone is estimated to handle roughly half of all Iranian crypto trading volume and claims 11 million users, and that June action alone froze close to $500 million in digital assets connected to the Iranian regime, on top of $131 million in Iran-linked wallets frozen separately.
Related: Brazil to Delay Crypto Transfers Over $10,000 by Up to 24 Hours
How the money moves
Treasury's account of the laundering mechanism centers on stablecoins. Dollar-pegged tokens have increasingly become the preferred instrument for moving value across borders outside traditional banking rails, and in Iran's case, rials are converted into stablecoins — primarily USDT on the Tron and Ethereum networks — through domestic exchanges before being transmitted to international counterparties. That flow reportedly serves several purposes at once: settling trade contracts, funding IRGC operational budgets, and letting regime-connected individuals move personal wealth offshore, all while working around the international banking system that formal sanctions have already cut Iran off from.
A widening net
Shelbit itself is registered in Georgia while operating out of Dubai, illustrating how sanctioned networks route through jurisdictions with lighter oversight to keep functioning. Previous OFAC rounds this year have also designated Zedcex and Zedxio in January, showing a steady cadence of enforcement rather than a single dramatic action. For crypto exchanges and compliance teams globally, the pattern suggests Treasury intends to keep working outward from Iran's largest platforms toward the smaller intermediaries and shell companies that keep sanctioned funds moving.
