The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on August 7 imposed sanctions on cryptocurrency exchanges Shelbit and Aban Tether, along with Iranian national Siavash Kayvanpour and companies associated with him. Authorities stated the platforms enabled illicit cryptocurrency transactions and helped Iranian entities bypass financial restrictions.

The designations form part of a broader effort known as the Economic Fury campaign, aimed at limiting Iran’s access to international financial channels during ongoing military tensions with the United States. Officials said the Iranian government has turned to digital assets and less-regulated platforms to move funds.

Details of the Designations

OFAC alleged that wallets connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps transferred more than $1 million in cryptocurrency to addresses linked to Shelbit. In turn, Shelbit-linked wallets moved more than $2 million to addresses controlled by the IRGC. Wallets owned or controlled by Kayvanpour reportedly sent over $2 million to Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, which had been sanctioned earlier.

Aban Tether, based in Iran, was accused of processing millions of dollars in transactions involving previously sanctioned Iranian exchanges, including Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex. Those four platforms were designated in June for assisting restricted entities in accessing digital asset markets.

Kayvanpour was described as the operator of a network of front companies connected to Shelbit. The sanctions extend to firms tied to him in Georgia, Poland and the United Arab Emirates. Treasury officials said Iranian actors used exchanges with limited oversight, corporate structures and an online gambling operation to transfer digital assets.

Bessent also noted that the Iranian regime’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks provides further evidence that the Economic Fury campaign is having an effect. A parallel action the same day targeted a network of foreign exchange houses, shell companies and individuals said to have moved hundreds of millions of dollars, including proceeds tied to overseas oil sales.

Prior Enforcement Actions

The latest measures continue a series of steps taken in 2026 against Iran-linked cryptocurrency activity. In January, OFAC sanctioned the exchanges Zedcex and Zedxion. In June it blacklisted Nobitex and several other Iranian platforms. In July, authorities designated four wallets associated with Iran’s central bank; Tether subsequently froze approximately $131 million in USDT held in related addresses.

Treasury has stated that nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency connected to Iranian exchanges and wallets has been seized or frozen since the campaign intensified. Blockchain transparency has allowed investigators to trace flows that would be harder to follow in traditional banking channels.

Shelbit previously faced enforcement by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, including actions in 2025 and again in 2026. The exchange’s former management has said it stopped accepting new business in December 2025 and completed a customer wind-down the following month. Nobitex has denied any direct contractual relationship with the IRGC or Iranian government bodies.

Implications for Market Participants

U.S. persons and companies are prohibited from dealing in property or interests in property of the designated parties. Entities owned 50 percent or more by blocked persons are also covered. Foreign exchanges, stablecoin issuers and payment providers face potential secondary sanctions exposure if they knowingly process transactions involving the sanctioned parties.

OFAC published specific Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron and Solana addresses as part of the action. Cryptocurrency firms are expected to incorporate the new identifiers into their screening systems. The designations are administrative rather than criminal convictions, but they freeze relevant assets that come under U.S. jurisdiction and raise compliance requirements across the sector.

The actions underscore continued pressure on digital asset platforms to monitor and block transfers connected to sanctioned Iranian networks while the broader U.S.-Iran confrontation persists.