Here’s How CoinEx Became a Critical Gateway for Iran’s Crypto Economy

More than $3.84 billion in blockchain transactions have been traced between crypto change CoinEx and sanctioned Iranian entities over a interval of greater than seven years.

The findings come shortly after the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 4 Iranian exchanges, Nobitex, BitPin, Wallex, and Ramzinex, below Executive Orders 13224 and 13902.

TRM Maps CoinEx’s Expanding Iran Connections

According to the most recent report by TRM Labs, the 4 exchanges represented roughly $7.7 billion, or 78%, of Iran’s estimated $10 billion in attributed crypto exercise in 2025. Despite repeated enforcement actions, Iran’s annual crypto volumes have remained high. CoinEx, which was based in 2017 by Haipo Yang and operated via entities in a number of jurisdictions, has processed greater than $79 billion in buying and selling quantity.

The change has additionally confronted regulatory actions in a number of nations. TRM’s findings reveal that CoinEx is the biggest exterior counterparty of Iran’s greatest crypto change, Nobitex. Since late 2018, greater than $2.7 billion has moved between the 2 platforms via roughly 6.2 million blockchain transfers, averaging about $1 million per day. Nobitex has despatched round $360 million extra to CoinEx than it acquired, which means that funds are constantly shifting from Iran to worldwide markets via CoinEx.

Activity between the 2 exchanges rose from about $13 million in 2020 to $575 million in 2021. After declining in 2022 and 2023, volumes recovered to $714 million in 2024 and $763 million in 2025. In reality, CoinEx accounted for over 16% of Nobitex’s yearly transaction exercise.

TRM additionally recognized direct hyperlinks between CoinEx and greater than 60 Iranian crypto companies, together with Wallex, Ramzinex, BitPin, Aban Tether, Excoino, Bit24, Ompfinex, Sarmayex, and Exir. The report mentioned a comparable share of transaction volumes was routed via CoinEx throughout a number of Iranian exchanges, together with the gradual onboarding of platforms over a number of years, which factors to an organized relationship relatively than impartial market habits.

The blockchain intelligence firm additional discovered that round $67 million originating from the Central Bank of Iran reached CoinEx via a advanced laundering construction between June 2025 and June 2026. Funds reportedly moved via a number of blockchains, cross-chain bridges, Gnosis Safe contracts, and Aave tokens earlier than finally reaching CoinEx. The change additionally allegedly supplied transaction charges that helped assist these transfers.

ViaBTC, a mining pool operated by CoinEx’s guardian firm, was additionally intently tied to Iran. TRM traced greater than $154 million between ViaBTC and Nobitex-linked wallets, and most transfers flowed from the mining pool to Iranian wallets. Following the 2025 cyberattack on Nobitex, beforehand inactive mining wallets transferred about $2.7 million to a new Nobitex pockets. ViaBTC additionally appeared within the transaction chain, which signifies that mining reserves have been used to revive liquidity.

Conflict Altered Transaction Patterns

CoinEx’s publicity to wallets linked to the IRGC, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Garantex, Bitzlato, the CoinEx hack, BlackSuit ransomware, and the Wasabi mixing service was additionally discovered by TRM. Transaction patterns modified after the US-Iran-Israel battle intensified in early 2026. Average switch sizes elevated sharply, and bigger transactions turned extra frequent.

After OFAC sanctioned a number of Iranian exchanges earlier this month, transaction volumes between CoinEx and Iranian entities fell considerably, though the agency famous that non-public change accounts might nonetheless permit exercise to proceed outdoors public blockchain visibility.

Meanwhile, CoinEx denied having any relationship with the Iranian authorities or sanctioned entities and mentioned it has by no means supplied funding or assist to them. The change additional asserted that blockchain transactions don’t show involvement in criminal activity.

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