The US Treasury Department on Tuesday blacklisted several Iranian crypto exchanges, including its largest platform, Nobitex, as part of its ongoing campaign against the Iranian government.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced that Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex, as well as some of the executives of these exchanges, were being added to its global list of Specially Designated Nationals, prohibiting any US entities or companies and persons that use the US dollar financial system from providing financial services with the platforms.
The announcement came just days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that his department had seized around $1 billion in cryptocurrency from Iranian exchanges and wallets since the start of the war against Iran.
“While Iran’s economy is in free fall, the regime has chosen to co-opt digital asset technologies for its own corrupt agenda, including sanctions evasion and wealth transfer out of the country. Iran’s current economic chaos is proof that President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign has been a success,” Bessent said in a statement on Tuesday.
The announcement linked Tuesday’s action to Nobitex’s alleged association with “Iran’s terrorist activities, sanctions evasion efforts, and transactions linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” which included ransomware payments.
Nobitex also helped move assets out of Iran after the United States began bombing it earlier this year, according to the press release.
The Treasury Department said the sanctions were part of its broader campaign against Iran.
“Furthermore, Treasury recently warned of the sanctions risk associated with meeting Iranian demands for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, such as “toll” payments, including payments made using fiat currency, digital assets, offsets, informal exchanges, or other in-kind payments, such as nominally charitable donations, and the provision of sensitive information about vessels,” the press release said.
Read more: US says it seized around $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrencies as pressure campaign expands
