The Wall Street Journal reported June 25 that Iran-linked entities moved $3.84 billion through crypto exchange CoinEx between 2019 and 2026, citing TRM Labs blockchain analysis. CoinEx denied any sanctions evasion the same day.
Roughly $2.7 billion ran through Nobitex, Iran's largest domestic exchange, with direct transaction exposure across more than 60 Iranian crypto platforms. TRM Labs found $6 million in transactions linked to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps wallets and $374,000 tied to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex on June 2 under its "Economic Fury" campaign targeting Iranian financial networks. By 2024, CoinEx had replaced Binance as Nobitex's largest foreign counterparty, per Crypto Briefing, with annual transaction volume between the two peaking at $763 million.
CoinEx, a Seychelles-based exchange founded in 2017, rejected the findings. "The fact that funds have passed through a platform onchain does not mean that the platform was aware of, supported, or participated in the related fund activity," the company told CoinDesk. The exchange denied establishing commercial relationships with Iranian government entities or the Revolutionary Guard, and said it has strengthened geo-fencing, sanctions screening, and transaction monitoring.
Earlier in 2026, two wallets linked to Iran's Central Bank showed unusual activity, with funds traced to assets stolen in the Bybit hack. The FBI has attributed the $1.5 billion Bybit theft to North Korean actors. The WSJ cited the convergence as a potential state-actor link between Iran-linked flows and North Korean cybercrime.
The exchange said it is reviewing and exiting Iran-related exposure.
