CoinEx denies $3.84B gateway role to sanctioned Iranian crypto firms
In brief
- TRM Labs traced $3.84 billion in flows between CoinEx and sanctioned Iranian crypto entities over seven years
- CoinEx became the single biggest trading partner of Iran's largest crypto exchange Nobitex, accounting for $2.7 billion
- CoinEx disputes the report, denying commercial relationships with Iranian government entities
TRM Labs' Findings
TRM Labs traced more than $3.84 billion in flows between CoinEx and sanctioned Iranian entities over a seven-year period. The blockchain intelligence firm identified CoinEx as the single biggest trading partner of Iran's largest crypto exchange Nobitex, which accounted for roughly $2.7 billion of the total flows.
The analysis also revealed CoinEx had direct transaction exposure with more than 60 Iranian crypto platforms. TRM Labs identified additional exposure to entities designated as terrorist-linked, including $6 million in transactions involving wallets associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and $374,000 of exposure associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The findings come after the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iranian crypto exchanges including Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex at the start of the month as part of its campaign against Iran's government.
CoinEx's Response
CoinEx rejected the report's core claims. The exchange stated it has never established any commercial relationships with Iranian government-related entities or domestic exchanges.
The platform argued that blockchain transactions are open, cross-platform, and traceable by nature, and that the mere passage of funds through a platform doesn't imply the platform was aware of or participated in the activity. CoinEx also pointed out that data from different third-party blockchain analytics platforms varies significantly.
CoinEx added that it began a review and exit process from all Iran-related exposure following the sanctioning of Iranian exchanges by the U.S.
