US Treasury Freezes $1 Billion in Iranian Crypto Amid Sanctions Evasion

The US Treasury has launched Operation Economic Fury to combat Iran's use of cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets for sanctions evasion and military financing. The operation, which began in April 2026, has already frozen or seized nearly $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrency.

The Treasury has sanctioned four Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges: Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex. Nobitex is the largest exchange, handling approximately 50% of Iran's crypto trading volume, according to Chainalysis. The Treasury also added Nobitex CEO Seyed Ali Khoee and chairman Amir Hossein Rad to the OFAC sanctions list.

The investigation has exposed a significant loophole in crypto sanctions enforcement: while centralized exchanges can be frozen by issuers, decentralized protocols and cross-chain transactions continue to provide routes for moving value beyond government control. The case of CoinEx highlights this challenge: despite processing $3.84 billion in Iranian-linked flows since 2019, the exchange was not subject to new US sanctions until journalists reported it.