US Treasury Sanctions Crypto Exchanges Tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on cryptocurrency exchanges that helped Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launder money and evade sanctions.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced on Aug. 7 that it had sanctioned two digital-asset exchanges and the head of a front-company network used to support the Iranian regime, the IRGC and other terrorist groups while covertly accessing the international financial system.

The sanctions target Siavash Keyvanpour, who the Treasury said orchestrated illicit crypto activity through front companies established in Georgia, Poland and the United Arab Emirates, as well as his exchange, Sefbit, and the Iran-based exchange Avan Tether.

Sefbit transferred millions of dollars to and from cryptocurrency wallets owned by the IRGC, according to the Treasury. The exchange also sent large amounts to Nobitex, Iran’s biggest exchange, which had already been sanctioned.

Avan Tether also processed transactions worth millions of dollars with previously sanctioned Iranian exchanges including Nobitex, Wallex and Bitpin, the Treasury said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks showed US economic pressure was working. Washington will continue to track and dismantle illicit financial networks that sustain the Iranian regime, whether they use dollars, rials or cryptocurrencies, he added.

Under the measures, all US-based assets of the designated individuals and entities will be frozen. Transactions with US citizens and US companies will also be prohibited. The State Department plans to offer rewards of up to $15 million for information that could disrupt the IRGC’s money-laundering mechanisms.