Shelbit processed $4B for 2,000+ Iranian gambling sites since May 2024. $676M went to Binance. VARA issued a cease-and-desist in July 2026, more than two years after flows began.
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An unlicensed Dubai exchange called Shelbit processed at least $4 billion in cryptocurrency since May 2024 for a network of more than 2,000 illegal Iranian gambling websites. Blockchain investigators traced connections from the operation to the Iranian central bank and entities tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The scale makes it one of the largest sanctions evasion schemes uncovered since 2016, according to a Reuters investigation. The gambling network, promoted by Iranian influencers Sasha Sobhani and Pooyan Mokhtari, funneled proceeds through Shelbit. The exchange converted the crypto and moved it into global financial markets that sanctions are designed to block.
$676 million in crypto transactions went directly from Shelbit to Binance. Binance has reportedly taken steps to freeze accounts linked to those flows.
Sobhani and Mokhtari, along with associate Siavash Kayvanpour, were convicted in 2023 for illegal gambling. The financial infrastructure they helped build kept operating after those convictions.
Over the last decade, the IRGC expanded its control over online gambling as part of a broader shift in Iran's economic undercurrent, integrating these sites into Iran's payment systems to move funds overseas despite sanctions, Reuters reported.
Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) investigated Shelbit for money laundering and sanctions violations. VARA issued a cease-and-desist order on July 24, 2026, following earlier enforcement actions in 2025. The exchange had been processing billions since May 2024, more than two years before the order arrived.
The case exposes gaps in how crypto flows between unlicensed exchanges and major platforms. Dubai competes with Singapore and Hong Kong for crypto capital. A case this large, with connections to terrorism financing laws and sanctioned entities, may push some institutional players to reconsider where they base operations.
Blockchain analytics firms traced hundreds of millions in flows from Shelbit across the ecosystem. The episode reinforces that crypto transactions are more traceable than many bad actors assume.
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