Treasury sanctions two Iran-linked crypto exchanges in fresh IRGC crackdown
OFAC says Shelbit and Aban Tether helped move assets through Iran's shadow-finance system, while a related network is accused of laundering funds for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The U.S. Treasury Department has opened a new sanctions front around Iran's digital-asset infrastructure. On Aug. 7, the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated two crypto exchanges, a network of related companies and an individual operator, saying the group helped move funds tied to Tehran's shadow-finance system and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The action names Shelbit Exchange and Aban Tether, alongside Siavash Kayvanpour and several companies associated with Shelbit. Treasury says the designations were coordinated with IRS Criminal Investigation and paired with a Rewards for Justice offer of up to $15 million for information about the networks.
A web of named entities
According to Treasury's announcement, Kayvanpour is linked to Shelbit Exchange, Shelbit General Trading LLC, Shelbit Technologies, Crypto Home and NFT Home. The release says addresses identified with the IRGC sent more than $1 million to Shelbit, while more than $2 million moved from Shelbit to IRGC-linked addresses. Treasury also describes Shelbit as part of a Persian-language gambling network.
The second exchange, Aban Tether, is described as an Iran-based platform that processed millions of dollars in transactions involving Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex. Those names matter because the action is aimed at identifiable chokepoints in the financial chain, not at a general category of wallets or tokens.
The designation changes the operating risk
Treasury says property and interests in property held in the United States or controlled by U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. Entities owned 50% or more, directly or indirectly, by blocked parties are covered as well. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with the designated parties unless a license or other authorization applies.
The case shows how sanctions enforcement now follows the service layer around crypto: exchanges, front companies, payment addresses and the people who operate them. It also raises a practical compliance question for platforms that touch Iranian counterparties or route stablecoin activity through intermediaries. Treasury's Iran sanctions program.
Treasury broadens the sector exposure
On Aug. 24, Treasury announced Operation Economic Outcast and said it had issued sector determinations covering digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. The move is broader than the Aug. 7 designations of named exchanges: Decrypt's report says the digital-assets determination allows OFAC to target people worldwide operating in or supporting Iran's crypto sector.
Treasury said the campaign covered nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels and accused a broker of processing more than $100 million in crypto payments connected to oil sales by the IRGC-Qods Force since 2023. That creates a material update for exchanges, payment firms and other platforms that interact with Iranian digital-asset businesses, but it is not a blanket finding that every Iran-linked crypto transaction is unlawful; the applicable designation, ownership and licensing rules still control.
