The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges, Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex, on June 2, 2026, under the Trump administration’s “Economic Fury” campaign.
Together, the four platforms accounted for at least 72% of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025. Four Iranian nationals were also individually designated, including Nobitex’s chairman and three additional executives.
What Got Sanctioned: The Full Scope
This was not a single-exchange action. The designations, issued under Executive Orders 13224 and 13902, hit the entire upper tier of Iran’s domestic crypto infrastructure simultaneously.
| Exchange | 2025 Iran Inflow Share | Key Allegation |
|---|---|---|
| Nobitex | 50%+ | IRGC, Central Bank stablecoin access, ransomware, blackout-era asset transfers |
| Wallex | 12% | IRGC-linked transactions, sanctions evasion |
| Bitpin | 10% | IRGC-linked investors, millions in sanctioned transactions |
| Ramzinex | Not specified | $2.45B total processed since 2018, IRGC and govt-backed entity ties |
All four are now on the Specially Designated Nationals list. US persons are barred from transacting with them. Foreign institutions face secondary sanctions exposure if they continue dealing with any of the four.
Check live: Crypto Price Today
The Four Individuals Designated
| Name | Role | Basis for Designation |
|---|---|---|
| Amir Hossein Rad | Chairman & co-founder | Reconstituted Nobitex operations after June 2025 hack |
| Seyed Mohammad Ali Aghamir Mohammad Ali | Co-founder | Kharrazi family, Khamenei inner circle |
| Seyed Mohammad Aghamir Mohammad Ali | Co-founder | Kharrazi family, registered under obscured surname |
| Seyed Ali Khoee | Current CEO | Former head of product and marketing |
The Kharrazi family connection runs deep, the two co-founding brothers are members of one of the Islamic Republic’s most politically connected dynasties, with documented ties to Ayatollah Khamenei’s inner circle. Corporate records showed the brothers were initially registered under a rarely used variant of their family name.
What Nobitex Actually Did, Per OFAC
Treasury’s filing is specific on the alleged conduct:
- Processed 50%+ of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025
- Helped Iran’s Central Bank access hundreds of millions in USDT stablecoins to prop up the rial
- Facilitated transactions linked to IRGC-affiliated ransomware actors
- Enabled regime insiders to reach international exchanges and move wealth across jurisdictions
- Continued processing transactions during government-imposed internet blackouts following the commencement of US combat operations in Iran, shielding regime assets when conventional finance was disrupted
That last point is significant. Continued operations during a state-imposed blackout isn’t an accident of infrastructure. Treasury treating it as intentional facilitation suggests US intelligence had visibility into Nobitex’s operational decisions, not just its transaction flows.
The $90 Million Hack That Didn’t Stop It
One detail buried in the OFAC filing: Nobitex was hacked in June 2025. Pro-Israel group Predatory Sparrow breached the exchange and drained roughly $90 million across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and multiple other chains, deliberately sending funds to burn addresses to make them unrecoverable. The attack also exposed Nobitex’s full source code.
Amir Hossein Rad was specifically designated for rebuilding the exchange’s operations after that attack. The fact that Nobitex reconstituted quickly enough to keep processing state-linked transactions through a wartime internet blackout is part of what made it a designation target.
The Broader $1 Billion Campaign
Tuesday’s action is the latest step in a running seizure campaign. The scale of what’s already been taken is striking.
| Date | Action | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| April 24, 2026 | Tether froze two Tron wallets linked to Iran’s Central Bank and IRGC | $344.2M USDT |
| May 29, 2026 | Bessent confirmed total Iranian crypto seized under Economic Fury | ~$1B |
| June 2, 2026 | Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, Ramzinex designated | 72%+ of Iran inflow capacity blocked |
The April Tether freeze, $213M in one wallet and $131M in the other, was identified by Chainalysis as consistent with known IRGC wallet patterns and aligned with same-day OFAC designations. It remains the largest single on-chain freeze of Iranian sovereign crypto reserves on record.
Iran’s broader crypto shadow economy is estimated at roughly $7.8 billion. Before intensified enforcement, the regime was reportedly routing $400–500M per month through USDT alone.
Reuters Investigation Came First
The sanctions followed a Reuters probe published May 1, 2026, which documented Nobitex’s role as a central node in Iran’s parallel financial system. That investigation found Nobitex had moved more than $2 billion on the Tron network and at least $317 million on BNB Chain since January 2023. Iran’s central bank alone purchased over $500 million of USDT on Tron between November 2024 and June 2025, with $347 million of that routed through Nobitex.
Nobitex denied government ties in a statement to Reuters in April. The exchange said any illicit funds moved through its platform without management knowledge or approval. That position is now difficult to sustain against a formal OFAC administrative record.
$15 Million Reward on the Table
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of IRGC financial mechanisms, a signal that enforcement is shifting toward intelligence-gathering, not just asset blocking.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the Nobitex action explicitly: “As promised, Treasury will continue to follow the money in support of Economic Fury, whether it is through the banking system or through digital assets, to prevent the regime from developing a nuclear weapon.”
Read Next: India Among 60 Nations in USTR Section 301 Probe as India-US BTA Deadline Looms
FAQ
Q: Is Tether still processing transactions from Iranian wallets after these sanctions?
Tether froze $344.2M in USDT across two IRGC-linked Tron addresses on April 24, 2026, acting in coordination with OFAC. Stablecoin issuers including Tether and Circle now face renewed pressure to demonstrate real-time blocking of all newly designated Nobitex-linked addresses.
Q: What happened to user funds on Nobitex after the June 2025 $90 million hack?
Predatory Sparrow sent the stolen funds, roughly $90 million across BTC, ETH, Dogecoin, XRP, SOL, and Tron, deliberately to burn addresses, making them permanently unrecoverable. Nobitex continued operating after the breach, rebuilding under Amir Hossein Rad, who is now personally sanctioned for that reconstitution effort.
Q: Can foreign companies still do business with Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, or Ramzinex?
All four are subject to secondary sanctions. Foreign financial institutions and individuals who engage in certain transactions with the four designated exchanges now face potential US penalties, not just US persons. This closes off any indirect routing through non-US intermediaries.
OFAC issued a new Iran-related FAQ numbered 1257 alongside Tuesday’s designations. No wind-down period or compliance deadline was included. The designations are in effect immediately and indefinitely.
