U.S. Sanctions Nobitex, Three Iranian Crypto Platforms

The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday designated Nobitex, Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and three other Iran-based trading platforms — Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex — to the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list for processing digital asset inflows and facilitating sanctions evasion.

OFAC said Nobitex processed over 50 percent of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025 and identified the exchange as a conduit for terrorist financing and transfers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The designation also applies to Nobitex chairman and co-founder Amir Hossein Rad; current CEO Seyed Ali Khoee; and co-founders Ali and Mohammad Kharrazi, whom the Treasury described as members of a politically connected family.

A Treasury statement quoted Secretary Scott Bessent: ‘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.' The Treasury said the designations are part of the Trump administration's ‘Economic Fury' campaign targeting Tehran's financial networks.

The announcement follows U.S. statements that authorities seized roughly $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrency holdings; the Treasury's release referenced earlier estimates of nearly $500 million in seized crypto and did not provide a current total. Treasury officials said blocking key exchanges and individuals will disrupt channels used to move funds out of Iran.

Sanctions designation freezes any U.S. assets of the listed entities and individuals and generally prohibits U.S. persons from engaging with them. The Treasury did not provide operational details about how the exchanges processed or concealed transactions but said the actions were based on analysis of on-chain activity and financial intelligence indicating coordinated efforts to obscure the origin and destination of funds.

U.S. authorities have increased enforcement of virtual asset activity involving Iran, pursuing seizures of digital assets and targeting services alleged to route funds for sanctioned parties.