Catenaa, Thursday, August 13, 2026- The US Treasury Department has sanctioned Iranian crypto exchanges Shelbit and Aban Tether, widening Washington’s “Economic Fury” campaign targeting digital asset and financial networks linked to Iran.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Friday the exchanges were used to move large amounts of cryptocurrency, evade sanctions and support Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other US-designated groups.
OFAC also sanctioned Shelbit operator Siavash Kayvanpour and several companies under his ownership or control in Georgia, Poland and the United Arab Emirates.
The latest action extends US scrutiny of cryptocurrency infrastructure allegedly used to move Iranian funds outside conventional banking channels.
Treasury alleged that wallets associated with the IRGC sent more than $1 million in cryptocurrency to Shelbit and received more than $2 million from the exchange.
Wallets linked to Kayvanpour allegedly transferred more than $2 million to Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, which Washington sanctioned in June.
Treasury also accused Shelbit of servicing more than 2,000 gambling websites that allegedly formed part of a network laundering tens of millions of dollars.
The sanctions follow a Reuters investigation that reported Shelbit processed at least $4 billion over two years through transactions involving Iranian gambling operations, the country’s central bank and entities linked to the IRGC.
At least $676 million allegedly moved from Shelbit-linked wallets to Binance during the period.
Binance previously disputed parts of those findings. It said Shelbit did not maintain an account on its platform and that accounts associated with Shelbit users had been investigated, frozen and reported to authorities.
Shelbit had already attracted regulatory attention outside the United States.
Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority fined the operation in January 2025 for conducting unlicensed activity. The regulator issued another enforcement action in July and ordered Shelbit to stop operating without authorization.
OFAC separately sanctioned Aban Tether, which Treasury alleged processed millions of dollars involving Nobitex and other sanctioned Iranian platforms, including Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex.
The measures build on Washington’s earlier sanctions against Nobitex and indicate that crypto exchanges, wallet infrastructure and cross-border transaction routes are becoming increasingly central to US financial enforcement against Iran.
The strategy also demonstrates how blockchain transactions can create an enduring financial trail.
Unlike opaque cash networks, cryptocurrency movements can often be traced across public ledgers, allowing investigators to map transactions between wallets, exchanges and intermediaries.
For crypto companies operating internationally, the latest sanctions increase pressure to identify not only sanctioned entities but also wallets and counterparties potentially connected to them.
