The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has widened its crackdown on Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges, adding Nobitex and smaller digital asset platforms such as Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex to its sanction list. According to OFAC, Nobitex alone accounted for half of all cryptocurrency inflows into Iran, with some funds linked to the Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
These platforms reportedly played a critical role in helping Iran bypass earlier sanctions imposed by the US. Beyond enabling sanctions evasion, the Treasury highlighted that Iran’s Central Bank utilized Nobitex to stabilize the rapidly declining Iranian rial, illustrating the government’s dependence on crypto markets to manage its economic challenges. As a consequence, top executives of Nobitex — Chairman Amir Hossein Rad, Founder Seyed Mohammad, and CEO Sayed Ali Khoee — have been personally sanctioned.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized the agency’s commitment to “follow the money” through both traditional banking systems and cryptocurrencies to prevent the Iranian regime from advancing its nuclear ambitions. He pointed out that Iran has co-opted digital asset technology for a “corrupt agenda,” including evading sanctions and transferring wealth abroad. Bessent also suggested that intensified pressure on Iran’s economy validates the effectiveness of prior US maximum pressure campaigns.
This expansion of sanctions follows a recent US seizure of approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency assets tied to the Iranian government, marking one of the largest crypto asset confiscations linked to state actors. The move came shortly after Iran proposed imposing tolls on Bitcoin transactions earlier this year, signaling Tehran’s growing interest in formalizing its involvement with digital currencies despite international scrutiny.
Iran’s embassy in Japan condemned the sanctions update, alleging it aims to collapse the nation’s economy and incite civil unrest. The embassy criticized Bessent’s framing of sanction circumvention as “corrupt,” calling the US actions “illegal and inhumane.”
The situation underscores how cryptocurrencies have evolved into a geopolitical tool amid ongoing Western-Asia tensions. The US Treasury’s actions challenge the narrative that digital assets are inherently non-sovereign or immune to geopolitical influence, raising ongoing debates about crypto’s role in global financial security and sanction enforcement.