The US Treasury Department blacklisted several Iranian crypto exchanges, including its largest platform Nobitex, on Tuesday as part of its ongoing campaign against the Iranian government.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control announced that Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex, as well as some of these exchanges’ managers, were added to its global Specially Designated Nationals list, which prevents any US entities or companies and individuals using the US dollar financial system from providing financial services with the platforms.
The announcement came just days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that his department had seized about $1 billion in crypto from Iranian exchanges and wallets since the start of the war against Iran.
“While Iran’s economy is in freefall, the regime has chosen to embrace digital asset technologies for its own corrupt agenda, including evading sanctions and transferring wealth out of the country. Iran’s current economic chaos is proof that President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign has been successful,” Bessent said in a statement Tuesday.
The announcement linked Tuesday’s action to Nobitex’s alleged ties to “Iran’s terrorist activities, sanctions evasion efforts and transactions related to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which included ransomware payments.
Nobitex also helped move assets out of Iran after the US began bombing it earlier this year, the press release said.
The Treasury Department said the sanctions actions were part of its broader campaign against Iran.
“In addition, the Treasury Department recently warned of the sanctions risk associated with complying with Iranian demands for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, such as “toll” payments, including payments made via fiat currency, digital assets, offsets, informal swaps or other in-kind payments such as nominal charitable donations, and provided sensitive information in the press release.
Read more: US says it has seized about $1 billion in Iranian crypto as crackdown expands
