US-Iran standoff reaches crypto as Treasury sanctions exchanges

The US Treasury sanctioned two Iranian crypto exchanges, Shelbit and Aban Tether, on Friday for facilitating transactions for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This move expands the Trump administration’s “Economic Fury” campaign.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the two exchanges for processing large sums of digital assets through them to avoid sanctions and fund the IRGC and other terrorist groups designated by the US. 

OFAC names founder in sanctions

According to reports, Siavash Kayvanpour, the founder of Shelbit, was also sanctioned, along with his companies in Georgia, Poland, and the UAE. However, OFAC specified the amount of crypto transferred through Shelbit. It mentioned that the Iranian exchange processed over $1 million in crypto and pulled back over $2 million from wallets associated with the IRGC.

The wallets controlled by Siavash Kayvanpour allegedly moved more than 2 million to Iran’s largest local exchange, Nobitex, which the US Treasury added to the sanctions list in June. Aban Tether, an Iranian exchange, was blacklisted for facilitating millions of dollars in transactions for Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex, which are also on the sanctions list.

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