Siavash Kayvanpour — OFAC-Designated Shelbit Founder
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anchored·Za6JMe…TxcaSummary
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
11 entities · 60 linked investigations- Ethereum→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
- Aban Tether→mentioned with→Nobitex(70%)
- Aban Tether→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
- Nobitex / Wallex / Bitpin / Ramzinex→mentioned with→Ethereum(70%)
- Nobitex / Wallex / Bitpin / Ramzinex→mentioned with→Bitcoin(65%)
- Nobitex / Wallex / Bitpin / Ramzinex→mentioned with→Nobitex(80%)
- Siavash Kayvanpour→mentioned with→Nobitex(80%)
- Siavash Kayvanpour→mentioned with→Binance(70%)
- Zedcex / Zedxion / Babak Morteza Zanjani (IRGC-linked exchanges)→mentioned with→TRON(70%)
- Binance→mentioned with→Ethereum(65%)
- + 28 more
Timeline(12 events)
2023
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 / ReutersMay 2024
Shelbit Exchange begins operations. TRM Labs traces blockchain flows from this date forward.
TRM Labs2 January 2025
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.
VARA17 September 2025
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 LabsOctober 2025
Researchers inform Binance about Shelbit's alleged ties to Iran. Binance disputes the allegations.
BeInCrypto / Reuters2026
Shelbit states it ceased operations. OFAC separately designates Zedcex and Zedxion under the 'Economic Fury' Iran sanctions campaign.
CoinDesk / CryptoTimesJune 2026
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.
CoinDesk24 July 2026
Dubai's VARA issues a second enforcement action against Shelbit, ordering a complete halt to unlicensed virtual-asset operations.
TRM Labs / VARA31 July 2026
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 CoinDesk7 August 2026
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 Treasury8 August 2026
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
- hash: GMxBxEn79wJdTmsYpCjsrsdhxCjzB6Mn3Q2GKVJjPmUK
- hash: HU8WoxFvqqcXatgNv156UBs8YpqLWZQkVyd75NA7j8U
- hash: Ak4YJkAmvVTkf6KnZg73dxKA7kbvcC4y3dm559Wukfzk
- hash: 6Ugj4c44eWMqvnq2tR52uBecBedEvgAUFmxxA99Dyu3t
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 events). 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: 8/25/2026, 7:34:09 PM
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