The United States on Friday sanctioned an unlicensed multi-state cryptocurrency exchange, alleging it processed millions of dollars of crypto for Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other groups linked to the Iranian state.
The designation follows a Reuters investigation published on 31 July that identified the Dubai-based exchange, Shelbit, as the hub of a $4 billion Iranian sanctions evasion scheme. The investigation found that Shelbit moved crypto on behalf of Iran’s central bank, one of the world’s largest illegal online gambling networks, and to addresses linked by the Israeli government to the IRGC.
The US Treasury also sanctioned the expatriate Iranian who founded Shelbit and a network of other companies, Siavash Kayvanpour, for providing material support to the IRGC and Nobitex, Iran’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange. The US sanctioned Nobitex on 2 June for enabling the Iranian government to circumvent Western sanctions.
“Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.
The Iranian regime’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that Economic Fury is working. We will continue to increase the economic pressure. Whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial… https://t.co/phPYBx4Zxr
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 7, 2026
