US sanctions hit Nobitex and Iran crypto exchanges in “Economic Fury” drive

The US Treasury’s OFAC announced US sanctions on Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, under the “Economic Fury” campaign. On June 2, OFAC also sanctioned three other Iranian platforms: Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex, and named key executives personally, including Nobitex chairman Amir Hossein Rad and CEO Seyed Ali Khoee. OFAC said Nobitex handled more than 50% of Iran’s digital-asset inflows in 2025. The agency alleges the exchange supported transactions linked to the IRGC, ransomware activity, and stablecoin routes used by Iran’s central bank. The action is tied to US executive orders (including 13224 and 13902), which prohibit US persons from dealing with sanctioned parties and raise secondary sanctions risk for foreign firms that keep doing business. Nobitex claims it has over 11 million users (about one in eight Iranians). The exchange previously reported a June 2025 hack with losses of roughly $90 million. Separately, the Treasury said earlier steps had already frozen nearly $500 million in regime-linked digital assets, and the sanctions follow a recent US seizure of about $1 billion in crypto assets tied to Iranian government activity. For crypto traders, the key trading relevance is compliance and flow risk: US sanctions targeting Iran’s crypto on-ramps and rails can reduce accessible off-exchange liquidity, tighten OTC and counterparty checks, and increase volatility in any regional flows connected to sanctioned jurisdictions—especially around exchange access and stablecoin rails.