The US authorities have sanctioned an Iranian firm accused of moving over $6bn in illegal blockchain flows over the past two years.
Shelbit was a crypto exchange in name only, argued blockchain analytics company TRM Labs, in a blog published on August 7.
The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also sanctioned founder Siavash Kayvanpour, and a network of affiliated entities across the UAE, Poland and Georgia, as well as separate Iran-based exchange Aban Tether.
Shelbit was cited for money flows to wallets controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with the unlicensed Dubai-registered cryptocurrency exchange enabling some $6.3bn between May 2024 and March 2026.
In a statement issued by the US Department of the Treasury, Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent said, “The Iranian regime’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that Economic Fury is working. We will continue to increase the economic pressure. Whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat.”
Read more on crypto sanctions: Leaked Database Sheds Light on Iranian Crypto Sanctions Evasion
TRM Labs explained that Shelbit's wallets held virtually no balances.
"Value entering the platform left almost immediately, with inbound and outbound amounts matching to within 0.1% – a pattern consistent with a settlement conduit rather than an exchange holding customer funds,” said TRM Labs.
Approximately 88% of activity, around $5.6bn, moved on TRON, almost entirely in dollar-pegged stablecoins, at an average of roughly $54,500 per transfer. Shelbit rebuilt its wallet infrastructure every one to four months across two years of operation, a rotation pattern consistent with deliberate efforts to limit traceability.”
In September, Shelbit apparently sent over $2m in four transfers on a single day to a wallet under the control of Hamas.
TRM also traced $318m to A7, a sanctioned Russian payment network. It said Shelbit was also exposed to Grinex, Rapira, and other sanctioned Russian and Central Asian services, indicating the conduit served more than one sanctioned economy.
Gambling Network Behind Crypto Outflows
Shelbit’s main customers were a Farsi-language online gambling network of more than 2000 websites, the report claimed.
“Two Iranian social media figures front the sites publicly: Sasha Sobhani, son of a former senior Iranian diplomat and government minister, posting from a villa in Madrid; and Pooyan Mokhtari, an influencer and singer. Both advertise conspicuous wealth to audiences in the millions, with a link to a betting site pinned at the top of the profile,” TRM explained.
“Sobhani and Mokhtari deny wrongdoing. Sobhani says he categorically rejects any involvement in money laundering, sanctions evasion, or terrorism financing, and that his role was limited to paid advertising. Mokhtari denies the allegations made against him in Dubai and says he has no affiliation with the IRGC. Both say they did not know Kayvanpour and were unfamiliar with Shelbit. Kayvanpour has not responded to requests for comment.”
TRM traced around $72.6m in exposure between Shelbit and online gambling services, across 55 separate platforms, with the largest single relationship accounting for approximately $46.4m.