Woofun AI reports that blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs identified over $3.84 billion moving through CoinEx from wallets linked to sanctioned Iranian entities since 2019. Approximately 60 Iranian platforms were connected to these funds, establishing the exchange as a primary conduit for bypassing US economic restrictions. The data reveals a concentrated flow where $2.7 billion circulated specifically between CoinEx and Nobitex, Iran's largest domestic cryptocurrency exchange, averaging roughly $1 million daily since 2018.

By 2024, CoinEx had become Nobitex's dominant external counterpart, handling nearly nine times the volume of the next-largest exchange. TRM Labs characterized this disparity as "inconsistent with independent market behaviour," suggesting a structured relationship rather than organic trading. This finding emerged three weeks after the US Treasury sanctioned four Iranian crypto exchanges under its "Economic Fury" campaign, marking a significant escalation in enforcement.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated days before the sanctions that the department had seized $1 billion in cryptocurrency from Iranian exchanges and wallets since the war began. In response, CoinEx issued a statement on X denying any commercial ties to the Iranian government or domestic exchanges, asserting it never provided funding channels to sanctioned parties. The exchange further disputed TRM Labs' interpretation, arguing that on-chain fund flows do not prove a platform's knowledge of or participation in illicit activity.

Woofun AI data shows that most major Iranian domestic exchanges route between 5% and 10% of their trading volume through CoinEx, a pattern TRM Labs described as a "coordinated arrangement rather than organic adoption." Furthermore, CoinEx's share of illicit transaction volume stands at nearly 8%, significantly exceeding the 0.3% threshold observed at other compliant exchanges. This statistical anomaly reinforces concerns regarding the exchange's role in the broader sanctions evasion network.

Beyond direct exchange flows, CoinEx-affiliated mining pool ViaBTC accounted for an additional $154 million in traced exposure to Nobitex through mining payouts. The pool also supplied emergency liquidity to Nobitex following a $90 million hack by the group Predatory Sparrow in June 2025. Chainalysis reported in June that Nobitex served as the center of Iran's "digital dollar pipeline," handling approximately 50% of the country's total crypto trading volume.

The geopolitical stakes intensified in May when reports linked Nobitex to members of a powerful family with ties to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Earlier in January, the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned UK-registered entities Zedcex and Zedxion for acting as front companies for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. These coordinated actions highlight a systemic effort to integrate sanctioned state actors into global crypto infrastructure.