TITLE: U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control Designates Iran's Largest Digital Asset Exchange for Sanctions Evasion
BODY:
On June 2, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Nobitex, Iran's largest digital asset exchange, along with three other Iranian digital asset exchanges—Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex—pursuant to counterterrorism authority Executive Order 13224, as amended, and Executive Order 13902, which targets persons operating in Iran's financial sector.
OFAC designated Nobitex for materially assisting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and operating in Iran's financial sector. The exchange processed more than 50 percent of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025 and facilitated payments tied to Iran's terrorist activities, sanctions evasion efforts, and IRGC-linked transactions, including activity associated with IRGC-affiliated ransomware actors. Nobitex also helped the Central Bank of Iran access hundreds of millions of dollars in stablecoins and enabled regime insiders to access international digital asset exchanges across multiple jurisdictions. OFAC also designated Nobitex's chairman and co-founder Amir Hossein Rad, alongside other company leaders including current chief executive Seyed Ali Khoee.
Wallex, Iran's second-largest digital asset exchange by volume, received 12 percent of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025 and facilitated numerous IRGC-linked transactions. Bitpin received 10 percent of Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025 and processed millions of dollars in transactions linked to the IRGC. Ramzinex, founded in 2018, processed over $2.45 billion in transactions, including those linked to the IRGC and Iranian government-backed financial institutions.
All property and interests in property of designated persons in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked. U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions involving designated persons unless authorized by OFAC or exempt. Violations may result in civil or criminal penalties. The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $15 million for information disrupting Iran's IRGC financial mechanisms.