US authorities have sanctioned an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange accused of facilitating more than $6 billion in illegal blockchain transactions over the past two years. Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs published a report on August 7 detailing how Shelbit, a Dubai-registered operation, functioned as a conduit for illicit funds rather than a legitimate exchange. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned founder Siavash Kayvanpour, along with a network of affiliated entities across the UAE, Poland and Georgia, as well as separate Iran-based exchange Aban Tether.
Shelbit enabled approximately $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency flows between May 2024 and March 2026, with transactions linked to wallets controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to the TRM Labs analysis. Roughly 88% of the activity—around $5.6 billion—moved on the TRON blockchain, almost exclusively in dollar-pegged stablecoins, at an average of about $54,500 per transfer. The platform's wallets held virtually no balances, with inbound and outbound amounts matching to within 0.1%, a pattern TRM Labs said is consistent with a settlement conduit rather than an exchange holding customer funds. In September, Shelbit reportedly transferred over $2 million in four transactions on a single day to a wallet under Hamas control, and TRM traced $318 million to A7, a sanctioned Russian payment network.
TRM Labs found that Shelbit rebuilt its wallet infrastructure every one to four months across two years of operation, a rotation pattern the firm said is consistent with deliberate efforts to limit traceability. The report identified Shelbit's main customers as a Farsi-language online gambling network of more than 2,000 websites. Two Iranian social media figures—Sasha Sobhani, son of a former senior Iranian diplomat, and Pooyan Mokhtari, an influencer and singer—publicly front the sites, both advertising conspicuous wealth to audiences in the millions, with links to betting sites pinned at the top of their profiles, according to TRM. Both Sobhani and Mokhtari deny wrongdoing, with Sobhani categorically rejecting any involvement in money laundering, sanctions evasion or terrorism financing, stating his role was limited to paid advertising, while Mokhtari denies the allegations and says he has no affiliation with the IRGC. TRM traced around $72.6 million in exposure between Shelbit and online gambling services across 55 separate platforms, with the largest single relationship accounting for approximately $46.4 million.
The sanctions reflect Washington's broader effort to disrupt what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as Iran's reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks. "Whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat," Bessent said in a statement. The TRM Labs report also found that Shelbit was exposed to Grinex, Rapira and other sanctioned Russian and Central Asian services, indicating the conduit served more than one sanctioned economy. The platform's infrastructure allowed funds to move rapidly across borders with minimal traceability, exploiting the speed and pseudonymity of blockchain networks to circumvent traditional financial controls. Regulators now face the challenge of tracking increasingly sophisticated networks that layer gambling platforms, social media influencers and rotating wallet infrastructure to obscure the ultimate destination of funds, making enforcement a moving target that demands real-time intelligence and cross-border coordination.