Which Iranian exchanges did OFAC sanction?

Crypto Briefing reported that Nobitex was named alongside other Iranian crypto exchanges tied to the IRGC and to sanctions-evasion networks. The full list, along with wallet identifiers, sits in OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals update from Wednesday.

Do these sanctions affect US crypto users directly?

US persons are already barred from transacting with Iranian entities. The practical impact is on global exchanges and stablecoin issuers, who now must screen wallet activity against the new SDN entries or risk secondary sanctions exposure.

Will this move bitcoin or ether prices?

There was no visible reaction on the majors. Jurisdiction-specific sanctions that do not touch a US-listed issuer or a stablecoin backer historically do not drive spot. The impact shows up in Iranian P2P premiums and in exchange compliance costs.

US Treasury Sanctions Iranian Crypto Exchanges Nobitex and Others Over IRGC Ties

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a group of Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges on Wednesday, naming Nobitex among the platforms tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and to networks Washington says have been used to move funds around existing sanctions. The designations, disclosed in an OFAC action first reported by Crypto Briefing, cover the exchanges themselves and associated wallet infrastructure. Global venues now have to screen customer flows against a fresh set of addresses before US business hours open Thursday.

By Rahul Mehta· AI-assisted· Altcoins & DeFi

What happened

OFAC named several Iranian crypto exchanges, with Nobitex the largest, in a designation package published Wednesday afternoon in Washington. Crypto Briefing, which first flagged the action, reported that the Treasury tied the platforms to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and to broader sanctions-evasion networks that have moved value across borders using digital assets. Nobitex has been the dominant on-ramp for Iranian rial into crypto for years, and its inclusion is the sharpest US move yet against Iran's domestic crypto rails.

The designations reach beyond the exchange brands themselves. OFAC bundled in affiliated wallet clusters and enabling service providers, which means the on-chain footprint is what compliance desks care about, not just the corporate names. Any address rolled into the SDN list is off-limits for US persons and for any counterparty that wants to keep dollar access.

Why it matters

This is a jurisdictional message aimed at the global exchange stack, not just at Tehran. OFAC has spent the last three years building out its comfort with sanctioning on-chain infrastructure, from Tornado Cash in 2022 to the Garantex redesignation earlier this cycle. Wednesday's action extends that muscle to a sovereign-adjacent exchange operator.

The practical read: any venue serving international users now has a screening problem it needs solved before Thursday's US open. Compliance heads at tier-one exchanges will be running the newly published addresses against deposit and withdrawal histories tonight. If a Binance, OKX, or Bybit customer moved funds through a Nobitex-linked wallet in the last twelve months, that account is a live compliance issue.

US Treasury Sanctions Iranian Crypto Exchanges Nobitex and Others Over IRGC Ties

What happened

Why it matters

Market impact

What to watch

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