The US Treasury announced a new round of Iran-related sanctions targeting crypto channels used to move value across borders, with Treasury officials saying Iran has turned to digital asset tools to circumvent restrictions and maintain access to international funds.
New Iranian Sanctions on Crypto Exchanges
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury said On Tuesday, it named Nobitex, described as Iran’s largest digital assets exchange, along with three other Iranian exchanges, in an initiative dubbed “Economic Fury.”
Treasury positioned the designations as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reduce what officials call the threat posed by the Iranian regime.
According to the OFAC statement, Nobitex provided substantial assistance to the regime by processing more than half of all Iranian digital asset flows in 2025.
Treasury officials also said the platform facilitated payments related to Iran’s terrorist activities, sanctions evasion efforts and transactions linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Additionally, Treasury claims that Nobitex helped the Central Bank of Iran access “hundreds of millions of dollars” in stablecoins, which were used to support the fall in the value of the Iranian rial.
The exchange, the statement added, also allowed regime insiders to access international digital asset trading and evade sanctions in multiple jurisdictions.
Binance pushes back
In remarks related to the announcement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran’s economy was “in freefall” but that the regime had nonetheless sought to “co-opt digital asset technologies” for what he described as a corruption scheme, particularly to evade U.S. sanctions.
Bessent concluded his comments by saying that Treasury intends to continue to “follow the money” to prevent the regime from developing a nuclear weapon. He said this approach would extend beyond the traditional banking system and also reach “via digital assets”.
While OFAC designations have focused on Iranian exchanges, surveillance has extended beyond Iranian borders. Previously a Bitcoinist reported This attention has also trickled down to Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
In a February 24 letter to Binance co-CEO Richard Teng, Senator Richard Blumenthal cited reports suggesting the company had enabled “large-scale violations” of U.S. and international sanctions involving Iran.
Blumenthal wrote that Binance appeared to have ignored warnings and recommendations intended to prevent Iranian money laundering schemes. He alleged that the crypto exchange enabled approximately $1.7 billion in Iran-related transfers.
Binance, for its part, rejected the allegations ahead of the senator’s investigation. In a statement dated Feb. 22, the company said it conducted an internal review and found “no evidence of violations of applicable sanctions laws.”
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