The United States Department of the Treasury has once again cut off crypto funding routes leading to Iran. On August 7, 2026, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) officially blacklisted two crypto exchanges, Shelbit and Aban Tether, for facilitating fund flows for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
This move is part of the ‘Economic Fury’ campaign amid escalating military conflict between the US and Iran. According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the government has seized or frozen nearly $1 billion in digital assets linked to Iran since the conflict erupted.
Cross-Border Masterminds and Military Fund Flows
OFAC’s investigation points to Siavash Kayvanpour as the primary operator of the Shelbit network. The Iranian national, who holds Dominican and Afghan passports, runs his operations from the United Arab Emirates and Georgia through the entity SHPS Shelbit.
On-chain data captured the movement of funds between the exchange and the military. Addresses affiliated with the IRGC sent more than $1 million in crypto to Shelbit. Conversely, wallets owned by Shelbit transferred over $2 million to addresses controlled by the IRGC. Additionally, wallets belonging to Kayvanpour moved over $2 million to Nobitex, the largest exchange, which controls around 50% of the crypto volume in Iran.
The military was not the only client. Shelbit is also suspected of laundering tens of millions of dollars from Persian-language online gambling networks. The UAE’s crypto authority (VARA) had actually cracked down on this exchange in January 2025 and July 2026, yet its operations continued. Shelbit denied the money laundering and terrorism financing allegations, and former management claimed their operations had already ceased since December 2025.
Secondary Sanctions Domino Effect
While Shelbit operated cross-border, Aban Tether acted domestically. The Iran-based exchange processed millions of dollars in transactions with previously sanctioned platforms, such as Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex.
These sanctions cascaded to other corporate entities. Shelbit Technologies in Poland, as well as Crypto Home and NFT Home DMCC in the UAE, were swept into the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. Their assets have been frozen, and foreign companies daring to transact with them now risk facing secondary sanctions.
To block these fund flows, OFAC released a list of involved Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, and Solana addresses. All crypto exchanges are required to include this list of addresses in their transaction filtering systems.
This case highlights gaps in global crypto regulation enforcement. The actions of local regulators in Dubai proved ineffective in stopping the exchange from channeling millions of dollars to military groups, forcing the US to deploy international sanctions instruments to cut off the flow.
Sourced from crypto.news.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
