The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated four Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges — Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex — for allegedly facilitating terrorist financing, sanctions evasion, and ransomware payments.
Nobitex, Iran's largest digital asset exchange, was identified as processing more than 50% of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025. According to the Treasury, the platform facilitated payments tied to Iran's terrorist activities, sanctions evasion efforts, and transactions linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including IRGC-affiliated ransomware actors. The exchange also reportedly helped the Central Bank of Iran access hundreds of millions of dollars in stablecoins used to support the declining value of the Iranian
rial.
Wallex, Iran's second-largest digital asset exchange by volume, was found to have received 12% of Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025. Bitpin, which accounts for 10% of such inflows, faced sanctions due to investors reportedly linked to Iranian sanctions evasion efforts. Ramzinex, a Tehran-based digital asset exchange founded in 2018, processed over $2.45 billion in transactions, according to the Treasury's announcement.
Four individuals connected to Nobitex were also sanctioned. These include chairman and co-founder Amir Hossein Rad, who reportedly helped reconstitute the exchange's operations following a $90 million hack in June 2025. Two co-founders, Seyed Mohammad Ali Aghamir and Seyed Mohammad Aghamir Mohammad Ali, are members of the Kharrazi family, which is part of Supreme Leader Khamenei's inner circle. Current Nobitex CEO Seyed Ali Khoee, who previously served as director of product and marketing, was also designated.
Monday's sanctions represent the latest enforcement action in the Treasury's ongoing campaign against Iranian crypto assets. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated last week that his department had seized approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency from Iranian exchanges and wallets since the campaign began. In April, stablecoin issuer Tether froze $344.2 million in stablecoins held across two wallets attributed to the Central Bank of Iran.
"As promised, Treasury will continue to follow the money in support of Economic Fury, whether it is through the banking system or through digital assets, to prevent the regime from developing a nuclear weapon," Bessent said in a statement.
Why it matters
The designations cover Iran's largest crypto platforms by inflow volume, meaning a significant share of the country's digital asset activity is now subject to U.S. sanctions restrictions.
OFAC targeted individual founders, co-founders, and executives — including members of a family tied to Supreme Leader Khamenei's inner circle — signaling that enforcement is directed at ownership and management networks, not only the platforms themselves.
Tether's April freeze of $344.2 million in stablecoins attributed to the Central Bank of Iran illustrates how stablecoin issuers can participate directly in sanctions enforcement actions.
