Key Highlights
- Blockchain investigators documented $3.84 billion flowing between CoinEx and Iranian entities under US sanctions across a seven-year period
- By 2024, CoinEx emerged as Nobitex’s primary international partner, displacing Binance from that position
- A sophisticated cross-chain laundering operation moved $67 million from Iran’s Central Bank through CoinEx
- The platform maintained direct connections to wallets associated with IRGC, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad
- Following June 2, 2026 OFAC sanctions on four Iranian platforms, CoinEx rotated its hot wallet infrastructure and saw transaction volumes plummet beneath $150,000
A Seychelles-registered cryptocurrency trading platform established in 2017 by ex-Tencent developer Haipo Yang has facilitated over $3.84 billion in transactions connected to Iranian organizations currently under international sanctions, based on findings from blockchain analytics company TRM Labs.
CoinEx steadily expanded its Iranian operations over multiple years. According to former staff members, the platform deployed business development representatives within Iran to expand its user base, though the company disputes these claims.
How CoinEx Overtook Binance in Iranian Market Share
Binance historically dominated as the preferred international exchange for Nobitex, Iran’s leading domestic cryptocurrency platform. This dynamic shifted around 2022 following US enforcement actions against Binance, partially triggered by the platform’s Iranian customer base.
CoinEx assumed this dominant position by 2024. Throughout 2025, over $763 million transferred between CoinEx and Nobitex, establishing CoinEx’s volume at approximately nine times that of the second-largest identified foreign exchange serving Nobitex.
Beginning in 2018, the platforms exchanged approximately $2.7 billion through roughly 6.2 million separate transactions — averaging $1 million daily.
Analysis reveals Nobitex transferred about $360 million more to CoinEx than it received in return, indicating crypto assets were flowing outward from Iranian territory to reach global markets.
Iranian Central Bank’s Multi-Chain Laundering Network
Investigators at TRM Labs discovered $67 million connected to Iran’s Central Bank entering CoinEx between June 2025 and June 2026. These funds traveled through an elaborate multi-tier operation utilizing both Tron and Ethereum networks, DeFi platforms, and blockchain bridges before ultimately reaching CoinEx.
This operation was orchestrated through the National Iranian Exchange utilizing a program internally designated “National–Tether.” Reports indicate CoinEx also supplied transaction fee funding that facilitated these laundering operations.
Additional investigation this year revealed connections between these Central Bank wallets and the $1.5 billion Bybit exchange theft attributed to North Korean cyber operatives.
TRM’s research extended beyond the Central Bank, identifying CoinEx connections to over 60 Iranian cryptocurrency businesses, including Wallex, Ramzinex, BitPin, and numerous smaller operations. Each major Iranian platform consistently directed approximately 5–10% of total transaction volume through CoinEx — a uniform pattern TRM analysts interpret as evidence of organized coordination rather than organic market activity.
The exchange maintains documented blockchain connections to addresses associated with the IRGC ($6 million), Palestinian Islamic Jihad ($374,000), and Hezbollah operations.
Enforcement Actions Trigger Operational Changes
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated four Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges on June 2, 2026: Nobitex, BitPin, Wallex, and Ramzinex. These platforms collectively represented approximately 78% of Iran’s estimated $9.9 billion cryptocurrency trading volume in 2025.
Following these designations, CoinEx implemented hot wallet rotation procedures. Transaction volumes between CoinEx and Iranian-linked entities collapsed to under $150,000.
Prior to sanctions enforcement, typical transaction amounts between CoinEx and Nobitex averaged around $435. Following escalating tensions between the United States, Iran, and Israel in late February 2026, average transaction sizes surged to $2,110, with larger consolidated transfers representing an increasing proportion of overall activity.
Yang announced CoinEx would halt onboarding Iranian customers and initiate removal of current Iranian account holders. The platform simultaneously implemented IP-based blocking for new registrations from Iranian addresses. CoinEx maintains it did not knowingly process transactions for sanctioned organizations.
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