Siavash Kayvanpour — OFAC-Designated Shelbit Founder
Summary
Siavash Kayvanpour is an Iranian expatriate and founder of Shelbit, an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange that U.S. Treasury's OFAC personally designated on August 7, 2026 under Executive Order 13224 for materially supporting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Blockchain investigators traced over USD 6.3 billion in flows through the Shelbit network between May 2024 and March 2026, linking the exchange to IRGC-affiliated wallets, Iran's central bank, and one of the world's largest illegal online gambling operations. Kayvanpour holds citizenships in Iran, Dominica, and Afghanistan, complicating international enforcement of the designation.
Connected Entities
1 entities- + 2 more
Timeline(12 events)
2023-01-01
Siavash Kayvanpour, Sasha Sobhani, and Pooyan Mokhtari convicted in absentia by Iranian courts for illegal gambling activity. Kayvanpour received a three-month sentence for assisting the operation; Sobhani and Mokhtari received two-year sentences.
TRM Labs / Reuters2024-05-01
Shelbit Exchange begins operations. TRM Labs traces blockchain flows from this date forward.
TRM Labs2025-01-02
Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) issues cease-and-desist order against Shelbit General Trading LLC for operating without a license, failing KYC requirements, and marketing services in Dubai without authorization. VARA publishes a notice of fines.
VARA2025-09-17
Shelbit addresses send approximately USD 2 million to a wallet subsequently designated by Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing as Hamas infrastructure.
TRM Labs2025-10-01
Researchers inform Binance about Shelbit's alleged ties to Iran. Binance disputes the allegations.
BeInCrypto / Reuters2026-01-01
Shelbit states it ceased operations. OFAC separately designates Zedcex and Zedxion under the 'Economic Fury' Iran sanctions campaign.
CoinDesk / CryptoTimes2026-06-01
OFAC designates Nobitex, Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange, under the Economic Fury campaign. Kayvanpour's wallets had previously sent over USD 2 million to Nobitex.
CoinDesk2026-07-24
Dubai's VARA issues a second enforcement action against Shelbit, ordering a complete halt to unlicensed virtual-asset operations.
TRM Labs / VARA2026-07-31
Reuters publishes an investigative report identifying Shelbit as the hub of a USD 4 billion Iranian sanctions-evasion scheme and naming Siavash Kayvanpour as its founder. The report traces connections to the IRGC, Iran's central bank, and an illegal gambling network of over 2,000 websites.
Reuters via CoinDesk2026-08-07
OFAC personally designates Siavash Kayvanpour under Executive Order 13224, alongside five corporate entities (SHPS Shelbit, Shelbit General Trading LLC, Shelbit Technologies Ltd, Crypto Home DMCC, NFT Home DMCC). Aban Tether is simultaneously designated under Executive Order 13902. The action is coordinated with IRS Criminal Investigation.
U.S. Department of the Treasury2026-08-08
Major crypto news outlets and blockchain analytics firms including Chainalysis and TRM Labs publish analyses of the Shelbit designation. Shelbit's website is reported non-functional; the associated gambling network continues to operate.
TRM Labs / CoinDesk / CryptoTimesDecision Log
- #1publish⛓ pending8/9/2026, 12:19:47 PMhash: 6Ugj4c44eWMqvnq2tR52uBecBedEvgAUFmxxA99Dyu3t
15 of 15 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 8/9/2026, 12:19:37 PM
last updated: 8/10/2026, 1:21:31 AM
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