The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Friday against two Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges, Shelbit and Aban Tether, accusing them of facilitating financial transactions for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The action broadens the Trump administration's "Economic Fury" sanctions campaign targeting Iran.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated both exchanges for processing substantial volumes of digital assets designed to evade international sanctions and channel funds to the IRGC and other US-designated terrorist organizations, according to the official Treasury press release. Being added to OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list means any assets under US jurisdiction are frozen, and US persons — including businesses — are generally prohibited from transacting with the designated parties, with potential secondary sanctions exposure for foreign entities that continue dealing with them.

OFAC Sanctions Shelbit Founder and Linked Entities

OFAC also imposed sanctions on Siavash Kayvanpour, the founder of Shelbit, along with his affiliated companies registered in Georgia, Poland, and the United Arab Emirates.

According to OFAC, Shelbit processed over $1 million in cryptocurrency transactions and withdrew more than $2 million from wallets linked to the IRGC. Wallets controlled by Kayvanpour allegedly transferred over $2 million to Nobitex, Iran's largest domestic crypto exchange, which the Treasury added to its sanctions list in June.

Aban Tether, the second blacklisted exchange, was designated for facilitating millions of dollars in transactions on behalf of Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex — all of which are already on the US sanctions list.

US Traces $4 Billion in Iranian Crypto Flows

Beyond alleged money laundering for the Iranian government, OFAC accused Shelbit of providing services to a network exceeding 2,000 gambling websites operated by two Iranian social media influencers. The exchange reportedly processed tens of millions of dollars in transactions for this network.

These findings align with a Reuters investigation published one week earlier, which revealed that Shelbit had moved at least $4 billion through its platforms over a two-year period. According to the investigation, these funds were transferred through Iranian gambling operations, the Iranian central bank, and the IRGC.

A portion of the $4 billion reportedly flowed through Binance. At least $676 million moved from Shelbit-connected wallets onto the exchange, including approximately $540 million transferred after Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) penalized the Iranian exchange in January 2025 for operating without a license. As previously reported by Cryptopolitan, the US and Tether froze $131 million in Iran-linked USDT on the Tron network. Dollar-pegged stablecoins like USDT have become a focal point in sanctions enforcement because they combine the speed and borderless reach of crypto with the stability of the world's most heavily used reserve currency, making them attractive for cross-border value transfer outside traditional banking channels.

VARA imposed an additional fine on Shelbit in July and ordered the exchange to cease operations.

Binance has rejected claims of holding any Shelbit-controlled accounts. The exchange stated that the $540 million figure was inaccurate and that any accounts associated with Shelbit users had already been frozen and reported to relevant authorities.

US Continues to Escalate Sanctions Pressure

The designations of Shelbit and Aban Tether represent the latest action in the Treasury's year-long effort to isolate Iran's financial sector. In January, OFAC identified Zedcex and Zedxion as the first-ever targets under the US Iran-specific sanctions framework. Nobitex was added to the list in June, followed last month by four wallets tied to Iran's central bank. Tether's stablecoin operation froze approximately $131 million in response to those designations.

On Friday, the Treasury also designated a group of foreign exchange trading firms, shell companies, and individuals accused of facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions for Iran, including those connected to oil exports.

"The Iranian regime's growing reliance on digital assets and shadow banking is yet another sign that Economic Fury is working," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "Whether transacting in dollars, rials, or crypto, the Department of the Treasury will continue to identify and dismantle the networks that fund the Iranian regime."

The sanctions come amid an ongoing economic and geopolitical confrontation between the US and Iran. The measures have intensified pressure on the Iranian rial, while exchanges and stablecoin issuers face mounting demands to filter out transactions originating from Iranian users. The sequential targeting of Iran-linked crypto venues mirrors Treasury's earlier approach to North Korea's Lazarus Group and other state-aligned illicit crypto actors, where successive designations of wallets, mixer services, and exchanges have progressively constrained available liquidity channels. As blockchain transactions remain publicly visible, OFAC continues to monitor on-chain activity to identify new sanction targets.