WASHINGTON — The United States announced new financial penalties Tuesday against Iran’s top cryptocurrency trading platform and three additional digital asset exchanges, continuing the Trump administration’s strategy to apply economic pressure on Iran amid current military conflicts with the U.S. and Israel.
The penalties target Nobitex, Iran’s biggest digital currency firm, along with its chairman and co-founder, Amir Hossein Rad. According to Treasury officials, Nobitex handled over half of all Iranian cryptocurrency transactions in the previous year and plays a key role in Iran’s extensive network for circumventing sanctions.
These financial restrictions arrive as two semi-official Iranian media outlets reported Tuesday that Iran has ceased discussions with intermediaries regarding extending a ceasefire in the conflict involving the U.S. and Israel.
U.S. President Donald Trump has challenged this assertion and stated that negotiations remain active.
Treasury officials allege that Nobitex has transferred assets and money overseas to protect government resources following the beginning of U.S. military actions in Iran. Attempts to contact Nobitex representatives via email were unsuccessful.
American authorities assert that Iran depends significantly on digital currencies and similar assets to bypass sanctions. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated at the Reagan National Economic Forum this month, “We have seized about a billion dollars of their crypto.”
The Trump administration’s newest action represents one of several steps designed to impose economic hardship on Iran. The administration has also established secondary financial penalties against nations conducting business with individuals, companies, and vessels under Iranian influence — including partners like the United Arab Emirates and rivals like China. Financial institutions have been cautioned about processing Iranian funds.
Additionally, last week the U.S. placed sanctions on Iran’s recently established Persian Gulf Strait Authority, an organization designed to oversee maritime traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Treasury officials describe this agency as a “scheme to extort international shipping.”
Simultaneously, U.S. military forces have intercepted commercial ships attempting to breach a U.S.-coordinated blockade of Iranian harbors. The U.S. initiated this blockade on April 17 following Iran’s effective closure of the strait after Middle Eastern hostilities commenced with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.
