U.S. Treasury Sanctions Crypto Exchanges for Laundering Millions for Iran

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned two crypto exchanges for allegedly laundering millions for Iran's Revolutionary Guard on August 7. The action is part of the "Economic Fury" campaign. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the Iranian regime's reliance on digital assets indicates the campaign's effectiveness. The main figure is Siavash Kayvanpour, who operated a network from the UAE and Georgia through his firm SHPS Shelbit, which ran Shelbit Exchange. Treasury claims that wallets linked to Iranian armed forces sent over 1 million dollars in crypto to Shelbit, which then transferred over 2 million dollars back to Iranian wallets and an additional 2 million dollars to Nobitex, an already sanctioned Iranian exchange. Shelbit is also accused of laundering tens of millions from a Persian-language online gambling network. The UAE's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority previously took action against Shelbit but it continued operations. The second exchange, Aban Tether, processed millions in transactions with other designated Iranian platforms. Both exchanges are now on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, blocking their U.S.-touching assets. The State Department's Rewards for Justice program is offering up to 15 million dollars for information disrupting the financial mechanisms of the IRGC. Since the campaign began, the U.S. has frozen 131 million dollars in Iran-linked crypto and seized approximately 1 billion dollars.