Key Highlights
- Reuters linked Dubai-based exchange Shelbit to a $4 billion crypto network that allegedly helped Iran move funds through digital assets.
- Investigators traced the operation to Iran’s central bank, IRGC-linked wallets, and a network of over 2,000 gambling websites
- U.S. authorities and Tether have frozen nearly $475 million in crypto linked to Iran’s central bank.
A crypto exchange operating from a small office in Dubai has come under the spotlight after an investigation managed to link it to a multi-billion-dollar network that allegedly helped Iran move money despite international sanctions.
According to Reuters, the exchange, known as Shelbit, is accused of processing at least $4 billion in cryptocurrency since May 2024, while serving clients linked to Iran’s central bank and operating through global crypto markets, an operation now under investigation by authorities in the United Arab Emirates.
In the report, Reuters said that Shelbit operated without a license from an office in Dubai’s Deira district. Blockchain records reviewed by Reuters, together with two crypto investigative firms and independent blockchain investigator Rich Sanders, showed the exchange handled billions of dollars in digital assets over the past year.
Investigators said the transactions involved Iran’s central bank, other sanctioned entities, and a large Farsi-language betting network that used cryptocurrency to move funds across borders.
A massive gambling network comes into focus
The most surprising finding the scale of the betting operation. Reuters was able to identify a network of more than 2,000 websites promoted by Iranian social media personalities Sasha Sobhani and Pooyan Mokhtari.
The two men were convicted in Iran in 2023 in an illegal gambling case alongside Shelbit founder Siavash Kayvanpour. Both influencers denied taking part in money laundering, sanctions evasion, or handling funds for the Iranian government.
Both influencers denied taking part in money laundering, sanctions evasion, or handling funds for the Iranian government.
The blockchain analysis also found that cryptocurrency reached Shelbit from wallets connected to Iran’s central bank, Nobitex, and wallets that the Israeli government has linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Some of the funds were also traced to Iranian Bitcoin mining operations. Iran legalized licensed Bitcoin mining in 2019, and Reuters reported that investigators believe some of the newly mined cryptocurrency later entered international markets through Shelbit.
Rich Sanders, who reviewed the blockchain data, said the transaction patterns strongly pointed to state involvement.
“It’s an IRGC operation, and that’s plain as day,” he told Reuters. At the same time, Reuters said it could not independently confirm who controlled Shelbit or determine where much of the cryptocurrency ultimately ended up.
Dubai authorities take action
The investigation also revealed that Dubai regulators had already taken action against the exchange. Reuters said the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) confirmed it penalized Shelbit in 2025 for operating without a license.
On July 24, the regulator ordered the company to stop all unlicensed virtual asset activities, warning that the case raised concerns about possible money laundering and terrorism financing.
Former Iranian officials and people familiar with the country’s financial system told Reuters that online betting platforms have become an important channel for moving money out of Iran. According to the investigation, the IRGC gradually expanded its influence over the sector by taking control of large gambling networks and using them to connect Iran’s domestic payment system with international crypto markets.
John Wojcik, a former United Nations gambling investigator who now works at TRM Labs, described the operation as “by far the biggest Iranian illegal gambling network ever discovered and one of the biggest in the world.”
Binance told Reuters that Shelbit never had a Binance account and was not under sanctions. The exchange said its compliance systems investigated accounts linked to Shelbit, froze accounts when necessary, and reported relevant activity to law enforcement.
U.S. increases pressure on Iran’s crypto activities
Meanwhile, the U.S authorities have been mounting pressure on Iran’s use of cryptocurrency, especially this year. Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) expanded its sanctions on the country’s Central Bank by adding four more cryptocurrency wallet addresses to its sanctions list.
According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, those wallets had received more than $165 million in stablecoins, with about $131 million frozen immediately by stablecoin issuer Tether after the sanctions update.
Moreover, in April, Chainalysis said Tether worked with U.S. authorities to freeze about $344 million in USDT linked to Iranian financial networks, including transactions connected to intermediary wallets associated with the Central Bank of Iran. With the latest sanctions, Tether has now frozen nearly $475 million worth of digital assets tied to wallet addresses identified by OFAC as belonging to Iran’s central bank.
Also Read: US Targets Iran’s Wartime Crypto Extortion Network in Strait of Hormuz
