The United States (US) has imposed new sanctions on Iran's largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, as part of President Donald Trump's administration's ongoing efforts to increase economic pressure on Iran.
The US Treasury Department announced that four Iranian digital asset exchanges have been blacklisted, including Nobitex, which handled about half of all crypto transactions in Iran in 2025.
In addition, the company's chairman and several senior Nobitex officials were also sanctioned.
According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Iranian government is accused of using digital asset technology to circumvent international sanctions and transfer wealth abroad.
The US believes that Iran's use of crypto is not just for normal economic activities, but also to help the country mitigate the impact of financial sanctions imposed by the West.
Iran's crypto market, estimated to be worth $7.8 billion, has become increasingly important in recent years.
Many Iranians are using cryptocurrencies as an alternative way to store and transfer money as the country faces economic stress, high inflation and financial instability.
Interest in cryptocurrencies has increased further after the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran that erupted in late February.
Previous reports have also shown that transaction flows from Nobitex and several Iranian exchanges were once processed through Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange.
In 2023, Binance agreed to pay more than $4 billion to settle charges related to violations of sanctions and anti-money laundering laws in the United States.
The latest move is part of the Trump administration's economic pressure campaign dubbed 'Economic Fury'.
The main goal of the sanctions is to force Iran to return to the negotiating table and accept US demands.
However, Iran has so far refused to meet Washington's demands despite facing a series of increasingly stringent economic sanctions since 2018, after Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal reached during the Barack Obama administration
