US Treasury Sanctions Iran’s Four Crypto Exchanges
US Treasury’s OFAC designated Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, and three rival platforms on June 3, blocking their access to the dollar system. Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex joined Nobitex on the SDN list under the Trump administration’s “Economic Fury” campaign, which treats digital asset infrastructure as a legitimate target in economic warfare. Four Iranian nationals, including Nobitex chairman Amir Hossein Rad and CEO Seyed Ali Khoee, were personally designated alongside the platforms.
What OFAC Actually Alleges
The numbers tell the story bluntly. Nobitex processed more than 50% of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025. Wallex captured 12%. Bitpin took 10%. Ramzinex recorded over $2.45 billion in total transactions, including payments connected to a government-backed Iranian financial institution. OFAC alleges the platforms collectively served as on-ramps for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, ransomware actors, and regime insiders trying to shield wealth during internet blackouts that followed US combat operations in Iran.
Treasury also alleged that Nobitex helped the Central Bank of Iran accumulate hundreds of millions in stablecoins to defend the falling rial, and that two Nobitex co-founders from the Kharrazi family hold documented ties to Khamenei’s inner circle. That political connection elevates this beyond a routine compliance action. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed it plainly: “While Iran’s economy is in free fall, the regime has chosen to co-opt digital asset technologies for its own corrupt agenda, including evading sanctions and transferring wealth out of the country.” In April, Tether had already frozen $344.2 million across two wallets attributed to the Central Bank of Iran, which TRM Labs described as the largest on-chain freeze of Iranian sovereign crypto reserves on record.
Bitcoin BTC$63,768.00▲0.54%
Ethereum ETH$1,674.32▲0.09%
Tether USDT$0.9994▲0.07%
BNB BNB$603.47▼0.05%
USDC USDC$0.9998▲0.01%
XRP XRP$1.14▲0.14%
Solana SOL$67.31▲0.69%
TRON TRX$0.3153▲0.69%
Figure Heloc FIGR_HELOC$1.03▲0.07%
Dogecoin DOGE$0.0870▲0.64%The Compliance Pressure Spreading Outward
One figure created confusion this week. Bessent said publicly that the US had seized roughly $1 billion in Iranian crypto assets since late February. The formal Treasury announcement, however, cited the earlier figure of nearly $500 million. Both numbers point to a large enforcement campaign, but the gap matters for anyone trying to gauge the actual scale of Iranian crypto flows and how much US blockchain tracing has genuinely penetrated them. Discrepancies like this are not accidents; they shape narrative, and narrative shapes policy appetite. This enforcement pattern mirrors what the UK applied to HTX in its first crypto exchange sanctions action, signalling that Western regulators are moving toward targeting exchange infrastructure directly, not just individual wallets.
For global exchanges, market makers, and stablecoin issuers, the SDN listings now carry secondary sanctions exposure for any counterparty still touching these platforms. OFAC had already clarified earlier this year that Iranian digital asset exchanges are treated as blocked financial institutions regardless of SDN status. Explicit designation sharpens that threat considerably. The full scope of the Economic Fury campaign now spans shadow banking, oil channels, shipping, and the entire exchange layer of Iran’s crypto market. The regime tried to use crypto as an escape hatch. Washington just narrowed it further.
