CoinEx Denies $3.84B Iran Gateway Claims as TRM Labs Traces Sanctioned Flows

Quick overview

TRM Labs published evidence Wednesday showing CoinEx processed $3.84 billion through sanctioned Iranian crypto entities over seven years. CoinEx came back Thursday with the standard denial: blockchain is open, transactions flow without our knowledge, we don’t control what moves through us.

The real number that should scare people? $2.7 billion flowed between CoinEx and Nobitex, Iran’s biggest exchange. TRM identified direct transactions with 60-plus Iranian crypto platforms. Not accidents. Pattern.

CoinEx’s defense is technically true. Blockchain transactions are traceable by everyone. Platform operators don’t directly “facilitate” in the same way banks do. Money doesn’t require permission to move across chains. But that’s exactly why exchanges exist – to be the on/off ramps where regulatory oversight would normally happen.

TRM also found transactions connecting CoinEx to wallets tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). About $6 million worth. Plus $374,000 linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad. That’s not accidental flow. That’s designated terrorist organizations moving money.

CoinEx says it never had commercial relationships with Iranian government entities. Maybe technically true about direct contracts. But $3.84 billion in volume over seven years wasn’t random. Someone was processing Iranian transactions at scale.

The timing’s interesting. US Treasury sanctioned multiple Iranian exchanges at the start of June – Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, Ramzinex. All cited in TRM’s report. CoinEx suddenly announced it’s “exiting Iran-related exposure” after those sanctions hit. Closing the barn door after the horses left.

That exit announcement is basically admitting they were doing business there. Nobody rushes to exit something they claim they weren’t involved with in the first place.

CoinEx’s argument about blockchain analytics variance is fair. Different platforms trace differently. But $3.84 billion is a big number. Even accounting for tracking errors, you’re not getting to zero.

The regulatory angle matters. CoinEx operates from Seychelles, which has basically zero enforcement capacity. Perfect location if you want to process sanctioned Iranian money without interference from authorities that actually matter.

This isn’t unique to CoinEx. Most crypto exchanges built business models around being “neutral pipes” that don’t verify who’s moving money through them. That neutrality works great until someone traces billions flowing to terrorist-designated entities.

The irony? Crypto was supposed to bypass corrupt banking systems. Instead it became the corrupt banking system – moving money for sanctioned entities faster and cheaper than traditional finance ever could.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR See More

Sophia Cruz

Financial Writer - Asian & European Desks

Sophia is an experienced writer, reporter and newsdesk member, mostly on the financial sectors. For the past 5 years Sophia has covered a wide variety of topics such as the financial markets, economics, technology, fin-tech and trading. Sophia has been a part of the FX Leaders team since 2017 and works on producing valuable content and information for traders of all levels of experience.

CoinEx at 7: 10 Million Users, $2.23 Billion Daily Volume, and 25% CET Growth

2 years ago

Save