The US Treasury sanctioned Dubai-based crypto exchange Shelbit and its founder for allegedly moving millions of dollars for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The designation follows a Reuters investigation that tied Shelbit to a $4 billion Iranian sanctions-evasion scheme, and it comes after Washington already sanctioned Iran's largest exchange, Nobitex, on June 2.
The US Treasury sanctioned an unlicensed multi-state cryptocurrency exchange on Friday, alleging it processed millions of dollars of crypto for Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other groups linked to the Iranian state. The Office of Foreign Assets Control named the Dubai-based platform, Shelbit, as its target.
A $4 billion sanctions-evasion hub
The designation follows a Reuters investigation published on July 31 that identified Shelbit as the hub of a $4 billion Iranian sanctions-evasion scheme. That investigation found the exchange moved crypto on behalf of Iran's central bank, one of the world's largest illegal online gambling networks, and addresses the Israeli government has linked to the IRGC.
Treasury also sanctioned Shelbit's founder, expatriate Iranian Siavash Kayvanpour, and a network of other companies, for providing material support to the IRGC and Nobitex, Iran's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. The US sanctioned Nobitex on June 2 for enabling the Iranian government to circumvent Western sanctions, also after a Reuters investigation.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement: "Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat."
Site reactivated a day after the Reuters report
Shelbit's website had been down for months, with no way for customers to carry out transactions, but the exchange continued to process money even during the US and Israeli war against Iran. The site reactivated the day after the Reuters investigation ran.
Shelbit then said in a statement that it categorically rejected any suggestion it knowingly participated in money laundering, terrorist financing, illegal gambling activity, or sanctions evasion, and that it had ceased operations in January 2026.
Funds traced to mining and gambling networks
Tens of millions of dollars of the crypto that passed through Shelbit came from a suspected Iranian bitcoin mining operation, Reuters reported. Many millions more were tied to an illegal gambling network run by two high-profile Iranian social media influencers, according to the investigation. Treasury said in its statement that the regime's willingness to allow the gambling network to operate exposes its hypocrisy and corruption.
The OFAC designation came soon after Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or VARA, issued a notice on July 24 alleging Shelbit had violated money-laundering and terrorism-financing laws, shortly after Reuters approached the regulator for comment. VARA said the exposure it identified extends beyond consumer protection to cross-border transactions that could affect the integrity of the UAE financial system. Neither Shelbit, Kayvanpour, nor VARA responded to requests for comment.
Source: Investing.com
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