Two UK-registered cryptocurrency exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion, have been sanctioned by the US Treasury for processing transactions linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, marking the first time digital asset exchanges have been blacklisted under Iran-specific financial authorities.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control said the platforms facilitated large volumes of funds for IRGC-linked counterparties as part of a broader crackdown on Iran’s financial sector under the Trump administration.
“This includes the regime’s attempts to exploit digital assets to evade sanctions and finance cybercriminal operations,”
Said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement announcing the measures.
Treasury said Zedcex and Zedxion are linked to Iranian businessman Babak Morteza Zanjani, who was previously convicted of embezzling billions from Iran’s National Oil Company and is accused of bankrolling IRGC-linked projects after his release from prison.
Zedcex alone processed more than $94 billion in transactions since registering in August 2022, while blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs estimates the two exchanges handled about $1 billion in IRGC-linked funds since 2023, largely via Tether’s USDT on the Tron network.