More than $3.84 billion in blockchain-verified flows connected CoinEx with sanctioned Iranian entities over more than seven years, placing the Seychelles-based exchange inside a fresh sanctions-compliance dispute around Iran’s crypto economy.
TRM Labs identified activity across more than 60 Iranian platforms, with about $2.7 billion moving between CoinEx and Nobitex, Iran’s largest domestic cryptocurrency exchange. The same analysis placed Nobitex’s CoinEx activity at roughly $1 million per day on average since 2018 and described CoinEx as Nobitex’s largest external counterparty by 2024.
The Wall Street Journal’s investigation also tied the trail to wallets attributed to Iran’s central bank and funds connected to the $1.5 billion Bybit theft. The FBI attributed the Bybit hack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor actors, warning at the time that stolen assets were being converted and dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains.
CoinEx denied any commercial relationship with Iranian government-related entities, Iranian domestic exchanges, the Revolutionary Guard or sanctioned parties. The exchange said it has no office or operating entity in Iran and that its official domain has been blocked inside the country since 2021.
The exchange also pushed back on the interpretation of onchain flows. CoinEx said blockchain transactions passing through a platform do not prove platform knowledge, support or participation in the underlying activity. It also disputed the use of bidirectional flow aggregation as a clean measure of funds “processed” by the exchange.
CoinEx said transactions involving Alireza Derakhshan and Zedcex/Zanjani occurred before the relevant Treasury designations, based on information available to the company. On the Bybit theft, CoinEx said it assisted Bybit with account blocking and asset freezing after learning of the incident and will review the transactions referenced in the investigation.
The CoinEx dispute follows a major U.S. sanctions action against Iran’s domestic crypto infrastructure. OFAC designated Nobitex, BitPin, Wallex and Ramzinex on June 2, tying Nobitex to Iranian digital-asset inflows, IRGC-linked activity and stablecoin access for the Central Bank of Iran.
That sanctions backdrop has already kept Iranian crypto flows under market and compliance scrutiny. Nobitex’s public-chain activity had drawn attention before the latest CoinEx claims, including at least $317 million processed on BNB Chain as Iran-linked crypto flows faced sanctions pressure.
CoinEx said it has started a comprehensive Iran-related risk review and exit process after the sanctions on Iranian domestic exchanges. The measures include blocking registrations from Iranian regions, strengthening geofencing, enhancing Know Your Transaction monitoring for high-risk addresses and freezing transactions tied to sanctioned entities or abnormal onchain paths.
The case also extends the compliance pressure around crypto laundering infrastructure. U.S. authorities recently seized a Huione cloud account used in an alleged crypto laundering marketplace, while the Bybit theft continues to shape exchange-screening expectations after the North Korea-linked crypto theft wave intensified around the $1.5 billion Bybit breach.
CoinEx has not been named in a new U.S. enforcement action over the $3.84 billion flow claim. The exchange is now reviewing the cited transactions while maintaining that it has no Iranian government, IRGC or sanctioned-entity relationship, and that its Iran-related user controls, geofencing and AML monitoring are being tightened after the June sanctions.
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