by Coinstrooper Crypto Articles
Quick Take
  • At least $676 million in crypto moved from an unlicensed Dubai exchange onto Binance since May 2024, Reuters reported.
  • Investigators say the exchange, Shelbit, sits at the center of an Iranian sanctions evasion network.
  • About $540 million of that moved after Dubai regulators cracked down on Shelbit in January 2025.
  • Rich Sanders is an independent blockchain researcher who tracks Iran.

What Happened

At least $676 million in crypto moved from an unlicensed Dubai exchange onto Binance since May 2024, Reuters reported. Investigators say the exchange, Shelbit, sits at the center of an Iranian sanctions evasion network.

“When users associated with Shelbit interacted with our platform, our compliance program operated as it should have: it investigated, froze the relevant accounts, and reported them to law enforcement,” Reuters reported, citing Binance.

Shelbit started up about six months into that term. Its cooperation with US investigators has since become a point of dispute.

Investigators still traced at least $4 billion through Shelbit since May 2024. Roughly $125 million came straight from Iran’s central bank.

Market Context

Its listed Dubai address sits behind a locked door. The sign reads “Velorix Watches Trading LLC.” That firm belongs to Shelbit’s founder, Siavash Kayvanpour.

Why It Matters

The exchange also said an outside analytics firm did not flag the flows as risky. It did not name the firm.

Prosecutors found something specific. Binance had let more than $898 million in trades pass between US and Iranian users. Those trades ran from January 2018 to May 2022.

Details

About $540 million of that moved after Dubai regulators cracked down on Shelbit in January 2025. Binance says it cannot match that number.

The Warning That Changed Nothing

Rich Sanders is an independent blockchain researcher who tracks Iran. He said he warned Binance about Shelbit in October 2025.

The money kept coming. Funds moved from Shelbit to Binance after that warning, the data reviewed by Reuters shows.

Binance did not say what it did about the warning. It said Shelbit never held an account and has never been sanctioned.

That defense meets an awkward record. Binance pleaded guilty in November 2023 to breaking US money-laundering and sanctions laws. It paid $4.3 billion, one of the largest corporate penalties in US history.

The deal came with conditions. Binance had to hire an independent compliance monitor for three years.

Watches, an Empty Office and $4 Billion

Shelbit has no website. There is no visible way for the public to trade on it.

A Reuters reporter visited the three-room office in early July. Inside were 13 battered watches, a cash-counting machine and three staff. None had heard of Kayvanpour. The watches were not for sale.

Shelbit also dealt with wallets Israel links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Another counterparty was Nobitex, Iran’s biggest exchange.

Washington sanctioned Nobitex in June, using the legal power reserved for terrorist financiers. Treasury said Nobitex handled over half of Iran’s crypto inflows in 2025. It also helped regime insiders reach global exchanges.

Shelbit is accused of the same job, from outside Iran.

Where the Money Starts

The cash begins with gambling. Shelbit’s biggest customers were more than 2,000 Farsi-language betting sites.

Reuters mapped that network with cybersecurity firm Infoblox. Gambling is illegal in Iran and carries prison and lashes. The law was updated in 2023 to cover online betting.

The sites still plug into Iran’s domestic payment system. Iran’s central bank controls that system.