Middle East — 2026-06-03

US Treasury Sanctions Iran's Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange Nobitex and Three Others for Facilitating IRGC and Central Bank Transactions

BLUFSanctioning four exchanges handling over 72 percent of Iranian crypto inflows strips regime elites of pre-built capital-flight infrastructure precisely when U.S. military pressure makes preserving it existential.

OFAC on June 3 designated Nobitex and three other Iranian digital asset exchanges, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex, under counterterrorism and Iran financial-sector executive orders, and individually designated four Nobitex executives including its co-founders and current CEO 12. Treasury's press release states Nobitex processed over 50 percent of Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025, facilitated IRGC-linked transactions including ransomware payments, and enabled Iran's Central Bank to access hundreds of millions of dollars in stablecoins 1. The press release further states that following the start of U.S. combat operations, Nobitex moved assets out of Iran despite government-imposed internet blackouts 134. Two designated co-founders are identified in Treasury documents as members of the Kharrazi family, which Treasury describes as part of former Supreme Leader Khamenei's inner circle 134.

Analysis
The Kharrazi family ownership, obscured through variant surnames in corporate records, indicates Nobitex was structured as state-embedded wealth-preservation infrastructure from inception rather than a commercial platform that later acquired regime clientele. Operation through government internet blackouts, routing transactions while domestic connectivity was severed, indicates pre-arranged external network access consistent with deliberate regime planning before U.S. strikes commenced in late February. The four-exchange sweep targets the parallel financial system wholesale, though secondary outlets converge on ownership and operational claims without independent collection, limiting corroboration depth. The designations may function primarily as deterrence signaling to international exchanges in dollar-clearing networks rather than as operationally disruptive actions, given crypto flows' ease of rerouting through non-listed platforms.

4 sources

Economic Fury Targets Iran's Largest Digital Asset Exchange for Terror Finance and Sanctions Evasion - U.S. Department of the Treasury
U.S. sanctions Nobitex, other Iranian crypto exchanges amid ongoing war - CoinDesk
US blacklists Iran's largest crypto exchange for helping Islamic Republic skirt sanctions - Times of Israel
US imposes sanctions on Iran's largest crypto exchange over IRGC links - The National