U.S. Sanctions Iranian Crypto Exchange Nobitex and Three Others

U.S. Treasury sanctioned four Iranian crypto exchanges on June 3, 2026, including Nobitex, the country’s largest platform. S.

Businesses and persons from providing services to the platforms. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions form part of the Economic Fury campaign, which began on April 14, 2026. -Israeli strikes opened the war in February 2026.

Bessent stated that one of Treasury’s top priorities is ending Iran’s nuclear programme. “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,” he said.

The Treasury reported that Nobitex has continued to facilitate payments for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other sanctioned entities.

It also said Nobitex has contributed to the repression of the Iranian people by facilitating state-linked surveillance of civilians. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis stated on June 3 that Nobitex sits at the center of Iran’s “digital dollar pipeline” and handles about 50 percent of the country’s crypto trading volume.

Nobitex’s CEO Seyed Ali Khoee and chairman Amir Hossein Rad were added to the OFAC sanction list the same day.

Four days earlier, Bessent disclosed that the Treasury had seized nearly $1 billion in crypto from Iranian crypto exchanges and wallets since late February. The Treasury said its broader efforts have cut off “tens of billions of dollars” worth of funding channels that would otherwise be accessible to the Iranian regime and its proxies.

Those efforts include actions against alleged shadow bank networks, foreign officials and companies supporting Iran’s oil trade and military activities.

Bessent also said that 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.