US targets UAE-based crypto exchange over alleged Iran sanctions evasion scheme

The U.S. Treasury has imposed sanctions on Shelbit, an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange based in the UAE, accusing it of facilitating millions of dollars in illicit crypto transactions for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other entities linked to the Iranian state. This action follows a Reuters investigation published on July 31, which identified Shelbit as a central player in a $4 billion scheme to evade Iranian sanctions.

The investigation revealed that Shelbit moved cryptocurrency on behalf of Iran's central bank, a major illegal online gambling network, and for addresses connected by the Israeli government to the IRGC. The U.S. Treasury also sanctioned Siavash Kayvanpour, the expatriate Iranian founder of Shelbit, and a network of associated companies for providing material support to the IRGC and Nobitex, Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange, which was previously sanctioned by the U.S. on June 2.

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Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat.

"Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat," stated Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. Despite Shelbit's website being down for months, the exchange reportedly continued to process money. The site reactivated shortly after the Reuters investigation was published.

In a statement on its reactivated website on August 1, Shelbit LLC categorically rejected any allegations of money laundering, terrorist financing, illegal gambling, or sanctions evasion. The exchange asserted that it knowingly did not participate in such activities and stated that it had ceased operations in January 2026. Neither Shelbit nor Kayvanpour immediately responded to requests for further comment.

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Shelbit LLC categorically rejects any suggestion that the company knowingly participated in money laundering, terrorist financing, illegal gambling activity, sanctions evasion, or activity on behalf of any sanctioned, military, or governmental organization.