CoinEx as a Gateway to Bypass Sanctions: $3.8 Billion from Iran Revealed by Analysts
A large-scale investigation by blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs has revealed that the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx has served as the primary channel for moving funds out of Iran for seven years, circumventing international sanctions. The total volume of identified flows exceeds $3.84 billion, with over 60 Iranian platforms involved. This is not about chaotic transactions, but coordinated and systematic activity.
Key Partner — Nobitex
The central link in the scheme is Nobitex, Iran's largest local cryptocurrency exchange. Transactions between CoinEx and Nobitex account for $2.7 billion of the total volume. The average daily flow has been around $1 million since 2018. By 2024, CoinEx had become Nobitex's dominant external counterparty, surpassing its nearest competitor by nearly nine times in volume. Each major Iranian exchange directs between 5% and 10% of its total turnover through CoinEx, indicating contractual relationships rather than natural market choice.
The share of illegal transactions on CoinEx reaches nearly 8% — critically higher than the 0.3% threshold typical for exchanges that comply with regulatory requirements. CoinEx-affiliated mining pool ViaBTC adds another $154 million in "traced connection" to Nobitex through mining payouts. Moreover, after a cyberattack by the Predatory Sparrow group in 2025, ViaBTC provided emergency liquidity to Nobitex, confirming that the CoinEx ecosystem has become critically important for the survival of Iran's crypto economy.
Connection with Sanctioned Entities
Analysts also recorded a direct on-chain link between CoinEx and sanctioned entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ($6 million), the Palestinian Islamic Jihad ($374,000), and Hezbollah. After OFAC sanctions were imposed on June 2, 2026, against Iranian exchanges Ramzinex, BitPin, Wallex, and Nobitex, volumes between CoinEx and Iranian platforms sharply dropped below $150,000.
Scheme Involving the Central Bank of Iran
Of particular note is a money laundering scheme involving the Central Bank of Iran (CBI). Approximately $67 million was sent to CoinEx addresses as part of a structured operation across multiple blockchains between June 2025 and June 2026. The CBI managed the infrastructure through the National Iranian Exchange (NIE) under a scheme internally named "National Tether."
The mechanism followed a uniform pattern: NIE wallets received large USDT deposits on the TRON network (often exceeding $5 million), broke them into structured portions, and routed them through cross-chain bridges to Ethereum. There, the funds entered Gnosis Safe multi-signature contracts and were converted into Aave protocol tokens to complicate freezing. The assets were then broken down again and transferred through bridges, after which the chain repeated. Finally, the funds were consolidated and directed for withdrawal through centralized exchanges, ultimately settling on CoinEx.
My analysis: The scale and duration of CoinEx's ties to the Iranian crypto ecosystem leave no doubt about the deliberate and organized nature of this activity. Without access to CoinEx's liquidity and infrastructure, Iranian platforms and regime-linked entities would lose one of their main pathways to global cryptocurrency markets. This is not just a sanctions violation — it is a systemic challenge to global financial security, demanding a strong response from regulators.