The US Department of the Treasury sanctioned Nobitex, Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange, on 2 Jun as part of the Trump administration's "Economic Fury" maximum pressure campaign, roughly three months after the US began combat operations against Iran.
US Sanctions Iran’s Largest Crypto Exchange Nobitex
3 June 2026 - 10:28 CEST
Sanctions evasion
Nobitex allegedly acted as a key conduit enabling the Iranian regime to move funds despite broad international sanctions.
The platform processed more than 50% of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025, and helped the Central Bank of Iran access hundreds of millions of dollars in dollar-pegged stablecoins – cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a steady value, usually $1 – while enabling regime insiders to evade sanctions, according to the US Treasury.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – the agency responsible for administering and enforcing economic and trade sanctions – also sanctioned three other Iranian digital asset exchanges: Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex. OFAC added Nobitex leaders to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which blocks US individuals from most dealings with listed entities and freezes their US-based assets. These are designations based on US government findings under counterterrorism and Iranian financial sector authorities.
Exchange leadership sanctioned
OFAC designated Amir Hossein Rad – Nobitex's chair, co-founder and former CEO – along with current CEO Seyed Ali Khoee and co-founders from the Aghamir family. This prohibits US citizens from engaging in transactions involving the exchange's property or interests.
Following the late February start of US combat operations, Nobitex played a role in protecting and moving assets and funds out of Iran to shield regime wealth despite internet blackouts, the Treasury said. It added that the exchange has provided significant support to the regime, including facilitating payments tied to Iran's terrorist activities and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – Iran's elite ideological military force with extensive economic reach – linked transactions.
Bypassing banking systems
Nobitex allegedly facilitated activity associated with IRGC-affiliated ransomware actors and allowed regime insiders to access international digital asset exchanges. In Iran's heavily restricted economy, crypto assets and stablecoins often serve as practical alternatives to traditional banking rails.
The three-month gap between the escalation of combat operations and the 2 Jun designations comes despite long-standing public reports of Iranian crypto usage for cross-border transfers. This action parallels prior OFAC efforts, such as 2022 and January 2026 designations targeting Iranian individuals and platforms linked to the IRGC for sanctions evasion.
"While Iran's economy is in free fall, the regime has chosen to co-opt digital asset technologies for its own corrupt agenda, including evading sanctions and transferring wealth out of the country," said US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
