TRM Labs: $3.84 billion in Iran-linked crypto moved through CoinEx since 2019
The crypto exchange CoinEx, once a favored platform for Iranian users including those with ties to the Islamic Republic, said Tuesday it is shutting down. The exchange attributed the closure to a prolonged downturn in the cryptocurrency market and rising compliance costs, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs found that wallets with an identifiable link to Iran moved more than $3.84 billion through CoinEx starting in 2019. The exchange was also a destination for illicit crypto acquired by Iran’s Central Bank, which investigators traced back to $1.5 billion that North Korean hackers stole from the crypto exchange Bybit, the Journal reported in June. Other wallets transacting with CoinEx were identified as having ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the Journal’s reporting.
CoinEx, founded by a former Tencent engineer in Hong Kong, moved to cut off Iranian users and implement new know-your-customer policies after the Journal’s June report. At the time, the exchange said it did not have a relationship with the Iranian government and would review the transactions linking funds to the Bybit hack.
CoinEx founder Haipo Yang said Tuesday that the decision to ultimately shut down was years in the making and was not the result of the exchange’s decision to curtail business from Iran. In a post explaining the shutdown, CoinEx cited “continuously rising regulatory requirements across major jurisdictions, as well as compliance costs” and other factors.
The U.S. has recently been trying to economically isolate Iran, raising the risks for any bank or crypto platform that officials determine is helping the Iranian government evade the restrictions, the Journal reported. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in August the U.S. would scale up its Iran sanctions actions as part of what he called “Operation Economic Outcast.” Since then, the Treasury Department has taken steps to cut off foreign banks and placed sanctions on individuals who it said helped Iran evade sanctions or otherwise supported the Iranian government, including through the use of digital assets.
In a statement responding to an inquiry about CoinEx’s closure, a department official said “Companies and foreign countries are getting on board” with the Treasury campaign. “Anyone supporting the Iranian regime, whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, is subject to action by the U.S. government,” the official added. “We recommend they take action to cut ties from Iran before we reach them.”
Some countries have moved to tamp down on the illicit use of crypto, even as the U.S. has struggled to pass legislation that would implement new safeguards while also seeking to allow blockchain technology to play a larger role in the financial industry. Prices on bitcoin, the world’s biggest digital currency, recently traded around $79,000. Even with a rebound in the last two weeks, it is still roughly 37% below its record of more than $126,000 in October 2025.