US Treasury don sanction crypto exchanges wey get link wit Iran, talk say IRGC don move $94B
US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) don expand sanctions on Iran on January 30 and dem include cryptocurrency exchanges for di first time, targeting two UK-registered platforms — Zedcex Exchange Ltd. and Zedxion Exchange Ltd. — wey dem claim get link to businessman Babak Morteza Zanjani. Treasury officials talk say Zedcex don process over $94 billion transactions since 2022 and don route funds to entities and wallet addresses wey connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). OFAC also designate Iran interior minister Eskandar Momeni Kalagari plus other people and organisations accused of repressing protests and evading sanctions. Dis action na part of bigger US enforcement push wey include earlier Justice Department seizures of assets tied to illicit crypto services and a wider 2025 campaign wey dey flag hundreds of entities. Sanctions block property under US jurisdiction, create strict compliance risk for financial institutions and exchanges, and signal further enforcement against networks wey dey use digital assets to evade sanctions. Traders suppose note say regulatory risk don increase for exchanges and services wey linked to Iran, fit lead to delistings or frozen flows, plus higher compliance scrutiny wey fit reduce liquidity and increase counterparty risk for tokens wey dem route through affected platforms.
Bearish
Dis action fit dey mostly bearish for assets and services wey directly connect to the designated exchanges and for any tokens wey depend on those platforms for liquidity. OFAC first time designation of crypto exchanges wey get link to Iran dey raise regulatory and compliance risk across on- and off-ramps, dey increase chance say exchanges go delist, funds go freeze, and transactions go block. For short term, expect volatility and selling pressure on affected tokens and any counterparties wey dey do business with the flagged platforms as market participants reduce exposure to sanctions risk. Medium-term effects include reduced liquidity for routes wey dem dey use these services before, higher compliance costs for exchanges and custodians, and tighter KYC/AML scrutiny wey fit slow down flows into privacy-focused or Iran-linked markets. Long-term, the action signal more aggressive enforcement against sanction-evasion through digital assets; exchanges and traders likely go avoid counterparties wey dem see as risky, push volume to larger, regulated venues. Overall, price pressure go concentrate on assets with significant exposure to the designated platforms or Iran-related flows, while broader market impacts depend on contagion to major venues and trading pairs.