U.S. sanctions crypto exchanges tied to Iran for first time after brutal protest crackown

The U.S. Treasury Department, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), imposed sanctions on two UK-registered cryptocurrency exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion, marking the first time entire exchange entities have been blacklisted under Iran-specific financial sanctions. These actions are part of a broader response to Iran's brutal suppression of internal protests. OFAC alleges the exchanges processed over $94 billion in transactions since 2022 and facilitated financial activities for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU allies. Furthermore, the platforms are linked to Iranian businessman Babak Morteza Zanjani, who was convicted of embezzlement and allegedly used them to move funds supporting IRGC-linked entities. This designation freezes all U.S.-linked assets of the exchanges and bars American persons from dealing with them, representing a shift from previous sanctions targeting only individual wallet addresses or technology providers.

(Source：CoinDesk)