Crypto exchange CoinEx came out swinging on Thursday, rejecting allegations that the Seychelles-based platform knowingly served as a pipeline for billions of dollars in sanctioned Iranian money. The exchange pushed back against a report that leaned heavily on analysis from crypto analytics firm TRM Labs.
In a blog post, TRM Labs drew connections between CoinEx and more than 60 Iranian platforms. Among them was Nobitex, which was hit with U.S. sanctions earlier this month over allegations that it facilitated terrorist financing, sanctions evasion, and ransomware payments.
The exchange's ties to Iran's biggest platform
According to TRM, CoinEx has for years maintained a close link with the platform widely known as Iran's largest crypto exchange. In the process, it gained on-chain exposure to Iranian military entities and also stood as Nobitex's single largest external counterparty.
CoinEx anchored its defense in neutrality. The exchange says it operates as a global platform serving ordinary users around the world, with no official ties to Iranian authorities or to any sanctioned entities.
In a post on X, CoinEx said,
We firmly reject any narrative that conflates ordinary user activity with state-level sanctions evasion, and any inference that equates on-chain fund flows with platform knowledge of, support for, or participation in illicit activity.
The $3.84 billion in transfers
TRM said its data shows that over the past seven years, more than $3.84 billion has moved between CoinEx and a mining pool owned by the exchange's parent company, ViaBTC. The firm called CoinEx the single biggest lifeline for Iran's cryptocurrency ecosystem.
CoinEx, which launched nearly a decade ago in Hong Kong, has transaction exposure to more than 60 entities operating in Iran. That level of connectivity, TRM argued, is unlikely to be independent market behavior.
On top of that, TRM alleged that CoinEx's platform was caught up in a year-long money laundering scheme that ended this month. During it, the exchange received $67 million derived from Iran's central bank through a web of transfers spread across several blockchains.
What CoinEx says it has done
On X, CoinEx said it moved quickly once Nobitex was sanctioned. The exchange tightened the way it identifies Iranian users, rolled out comprehensive geo-fencing, set up systems to detect suspicious transactions, and stepped up action against accounts using the platform for illicit activity.
U.S. seizes $1 billion in crypto
Recent accounts suggest the Iranian government has accepted Bitcoin as payment for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the route through which 20% of the world's oil supplies once flowed. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the U.S. government has been proactive on the issue.
Days before Nobitex was sanctioned alongside three other exchanges, Bessent said the U.S. had seized $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency from entities linked to Iran. At the time, he suggested that some individuals might not have realized that their wallet had been grabbed.
