A Dubai-based illegal gambling network described as one of the world's largest has been channeling millions of dollars in cryptocurrency through Shelbit, an unlicensed crypto exchange that U.S. and independent investigators say sits at the heart of a $4 billion Iranian sanctions-evasion operation, Reuters reported on Friday.

Этот случай подчеркивает, как криптовалюта, созданная для перемещения стоимости через границы без традиционных банковских посредников, стала важным инструментом для санкционированных государств, стремящихся обойти финансовую систему под руководством США. Дубай, который в 2022 году создал Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) для надзора за криптоактивами, превратился в крупный центр для бизнеса в сфере цифровых активов, однако нелицензированные операторы, такие как Shelbit, показывают, что регуляторные пробелы сохраняются даже в юрисдикциях, выстраивающих формальные рамки для крипторынка.

Сеть азартных игр, которая управляет более чем 2,000 платформ, является крупным клиентом Shelbit. По данным Reuters, Shelbit, которой управляет иранский экспатриант Сиаваш Кайванпур, служит узлом, через который сеть азартных игр, Центральный банк Ирана и другие санкционированные иранские структуры получают доступ к мировым рынкам криптовалюты.

Центральный банк Ирана находится под санкциями в соответствии с американскими антитеррористическими полномочиями с 2019 года из-за поддержки Исламского революционного корпуса стражей (IRGC), его силы «Кудс» и «Хезболлы».

Movement of Funds Through Major Exchanges

Shelbit has moved hundreds of millions of dollars to some of the most prominent crypto companies, including Binance, the world's largest exchange, Reuters reported. Binance stated that Shelbit had never held an account on its platform and that transactions linked to Shelbit were not considered high risk. The exchange added that it investigated users associated with Shelbit, froze relevant accounts, and reported them to law enforcement.

The flow of funds from an unlicensed exchange to the world's largest crypto platforms highlights a persistent challenge for the industry: while major exchanges maintain compliance programs, layering through intermediaries can obscure the origins of funds. Blockchain analytics firms such as TRM Labs and Chainalysis have documented how illicit actors use nested services — smaller exchanges or money services that operate under the accounts of larger platforms — to move proceeds through the regulated crypto ecosystem.

Shelbit also interacts directly with Iran's central bank, wallets linked to the IRGC by the Israeli government, and Nobitex, an Iranian exchange sanctioned by the U.S. government earlier this year following a Reuters investigation that revealed its ties to the Iranian government. Some of the cryptocurrency flowing to Shelbit originated from what two investigative firms described as an Iranian bitcoin mining operation that produces new digital coins. Iran has been a significant bitcoin mining hub, leveraging its energy resources to generate cryptocurrency that can be sold on global markets — a pathway that circumvents conventional financial restrictions.

Scale of the Operation

"This is by far the biggest Iranian illegal gambling network ever discovered and one of the biggest in the world," said John Wojcik, a former researcher at Infoblox who now serves as senior analyst at TRM Labs. Wojcik spent seven years investigating illegal gambling for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The network ranks among the largest Iranian sanctions-evasion operations uncovered since 2016, when the U.S. dismantled a roughly $20 billion IRGC gold-for-oil scheme based in Turkey. Separately, the U.S. seized approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency from Iran in May as part of an expanding pressure campaign.

"It's an IRGC operation, and that's plain as day," said Rich Sanders, an independent blockchain researcher and investigator focused on Iran, referring to Shelbit.

IRGC Connection

The IRGC, founded in 1979, is Iran's most powerful military, political, and economic institution, answering directly to the country's supreme leader, Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei. U.S. and independent investigators say the Shelbit operation appears closely tied to the IRGC, though Reuters noted it could not confirm whether the IRGC directly controls Shelbit or the gambling network. The disclosure adds to a growing body of U.S. enforcement actions targeting Iranian crypto-based sanctions evasion, including sanctions against Nobitex and multiple seizure actions in recent years, signaling sustained pressure on the financial networks that sustain Tehran's access to global markets.