The US Treasury Department sanctioned Iranian crypto exchanges Shelbit and Aban Tether, expanding its ‘Economic Fury’ campaign against financial networks linked to Iran. The Office of Foreign Assets Control said the platforms moved large cryptocurrency volumes, helped evade sanctions, and supported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Treasury also sanctioned Shelbit operator Siavash Kayvanpour and companies tied to him in Georgia, Poland, and the United Arab Emirates.
Treasury said IRGC-linked wallets sent more than $1 million in cryptocurrency to Shelbit and received over $2 million from the exchange. It also said Kayvanpour-controlled wallets transferred more than $2 million to Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, which Washington sanctioned in June.
Treasury further accused Shelbit of serving more than 2,000 gambling websites connected to a network that laundered tens of millions of dollars. Reuters previously reported that Shelbit processed at least $4 billion over two years through transactions involving Iranian gambling operations, Iran’s central bank and IRGC-linked entities.
According to that investigation, at least $676 million moved from Shelbit-linked wallets to Binance. Binance disputed parts of the findings and said Shelbit held no account on its platform. It added that it investigated, froze, and reported accounts linked to Shelbit users.
Shelbit had already drawn regulatory action in Dubai. The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority fined the operation in January 2025 for unlicensed activity. The regulator later issued another enforcement action in July and ordered Shelbit to stop operating without authorization.
The Treasury also sanctioned Georgia-based SHPS Shelbit under a 2001 executive order used to counter terrorist financing. Georgia’s National Bank said SHPS Shelbit never applied to register as a virtual-asset service provider. It also said authorities canceled the company’s corporate registration.
The National Bank did not announce an investigation into how the company used its Georgian registration in the alleged IRGC-linked network. The designation followed separate British and European Union sanctions against Georgia-registered crypto platforms accused of facilitating Russian sanctions evasion.
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OFAC separately sanctioned Aban Tether. Treasury said the exchange processed millions of dollars involving Nobitex and other sanctioned Iranian platforms, including Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex.
The latest measures extend US scrutiny from individual wallets to exchanges and cross-border crypto routes. Public blockchain records can also help investigators map transfers among wallets, exchanges and intermediaries across several jurisdictions.
How far can sanctions enforcement reach when crypto transactions cross several jurisdictions and connect with larger global exchanges? For international crypto companies, Treasury’s action increases pressure to identify sanctioned entities, linked wallets and counterparties connected to restricted financial networks.
The US Treasury sanctions widened enforcement against Iran-linked cryptocurrency infrastructure by targeting Shelbit, Aban Tether, Kayvanpour and related businesses. Treasury connected the networks to millions of dollars in alleged IRGC-linked transfers, gambling activity and sanctioned exchanges, while regulators had already taken action against Shelbit outside the United States.