The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it would target Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, as part of a tranche of new sanctions addressing the nation’s ability to launder illicit funds.The measures come as part of Operation Economic Fury, Treasury’s parallel effort to the military’s Operation Epic Fury. The department previously blacklisted two U.K.-based cryptocurrency exchanges with ties to the Iranian regime after Tehran’s crackdown on protesters across the country in January.“While Iran’s economy is in free fall, the regime has chosen to co-opt digital asset technologies for its own corrupt agenda, including evading sanctions and transferring wealth out of the country,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the Tuesday press release. “Iran’s current economic chaos is proof that President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign has been a success.”
Cryptocurrency plays a major role in Iran’s strategy to evade sanctions and monetarily support its terrorist proxy network across the Middle East. The Iranian cryptocurrency ecosystem reached over $7.78 billion in 2025. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accounted for roughly half of the country’s blockchain activity during the fourth quarter of that year, according to analysis firm Chainalysis.
