US Sanctions Iranian-Linked Crypto Exchange for Alleged Sanctions Evasion

The US Treasury has sanctioned an Iranian-linked cryptocurrency exchange called Shelbit for allegedly processing millions of dollars in crypto transactions on behalf of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other groups linked to the Iranian state.

The designation comes after a Reuters investigation published on July 31 identified Shelbit as the hub of a $4 billion Iranian sanctions evasion scheme, which involved moving crypto on behalf of Iran's central bank, one of the world's largest illegal online gambling networks, and to addresses linked by the Israeli government to the IRGC.

The US Treasury also sanctioned Siavash Kayvanpour, the expatriate Iranian founder of Shelbit and a network of other companies, for providing material support to the IRGC and Nobitex, Iran's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, which was previously sanctioned on June 2 for enabling the Iranian government to circumvent Western sanctions.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US will 'hunt down and dismantle' illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat. Shelbit had been inactive since January but reactivated its website after the Reuters investigation was published, claiming it had ceased operations in January 2026.