US Blacklists Iran-Affiliated Crypto Exchange Shelbit for Sanctions Evasion
The U.S. Treasury Department has blacklisted Shelbit, an Iran-affiliated crypto exchange, for sanctions evasion. The exchange moved over $6.3 billion in crypto value from May 2024 to March 2026, according to TRM Labs' report.
Most of its trades ran over Tron, a blockchain popular with hackers and money launderers. The median transaction was nearly $56,000.
The sanctions also target Shelbit's founder, Siavash Kayvanpour, along with several other affiliated companies: Shelbit Technologies Ltd., Crypto Home, and NFT Home.
TRM traced over $5.6 million from Shelbit to wallets tied to the IRGC, and another $2 million to a wallet later linked to Hamas. Roughly $318 million tied to Russia's blacklisted A7 payment network moved through Shelbit-linked wallets.