Iran's largest crypto exchange Nobitex has processed at least $2.3 billion since 2023 on Tron and BNB Chain blockchains, according to blockchain data analyzed by Reuters. The exchange, which is controlled by two brothers from a powerful Iranian family with close ties to the new supreme leader, has become a central node of a parallel Iranian financial system used to evade Western sanctions. Since the Iran war started in February, crypto worth at least $22.6 million has moved through Nobitex on BNB Chain, and at least $550,000 has moved via Tron. The exchange has processed more than $2 billion on Tron since January 1, 2023, and at least $317 million on BNB Chain since 2023. Blockchain analysts told Reuters the true volume of transactions connected to Nobitex could be significantly larger because the exchange frequently rotates wallet addresses to complicate tracking efforts. Independent crypto investigator Rich Sanders said only a portion of Nobitex-linked wallets are publicly identifiable.
The Trump family's crypto venture World Liberty Financial, co-founded by President Trump and his family, has received backing from both Sun and Binance. As reported by Reuters, Sun invested tens of millions of dollars in World Liberty's WLFI tokens after the company struggled to attract investors following its October 2024 launch. In early 2025, an Abu Dhabi investment firm, MGX, purchased a $2 billion stake in Binance, with the transaction being made in World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin. This acceptance of the Trump token gave credibility to the newly launched token and was cited by World Liberty as evidence of "extraordinary, worldwide demand" for USD1. Arkham blockchain data cited by Reuters showed Binance currently holds approximately $3.8 billion worth of USD1 stablecoins linked to World Liberty Financial. Members of the Trump family have launched a string of crypto businesses, including World Liberty, that generated hundreds of millions of dollars in income in 2025. MGX's acquisition could also yield millions of dollars annually for the Trumps, according to the Reuters report. MGX has said it chose USD1 after evaluating several stablecoins, and that Binance had requested the use of crypto in the transaction. Sun's current portfolio of 4 billion WLFI tokens is worth roughly $266 million, according to Reuters calculations based on the latest WLFI price. However, Sun's relationship with World Liberty has deteriorated in recent months, with Sun suing World Liberty in April alleging extortion tied to investments in the company's stablecoin project, and World Liberty later countersuing Sun for defamation.
According to Reuters analysis, the Central Bank of Iran bought more than $500 million of tether via Tron between November 2024 and June 2025, with around $347 million sent to Nobitex using Tron in the first six months of last year. Additional reporting from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic found that Iran's central bank acquired more than $500 million worth of Tether on the Tron blockchain between late 2024 and mid-2025, with hundreds of millions of dollars in those assets routed through Nobitex. The central bank, which was sanctioned by the United States in 2019 for allegedly providing billions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanon's Hezbollah, also converted tether to different coins and used other blockchains including BNB Chain to cover its tracks. Since its founding in 2018, Nobitex has processed between tens of millions and hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions linked to sanctioned groups including Iran's central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Tether, the company which issues the stablecoin by the same name, said it had frozen multiple wallet addresses associated with Nobitex at the request of Israel. Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing did not respond to a request for comment. One of the Iran specialists, independent researcher Rich Sanders, said the true volume was likely significantly higher because flows are visible only for wallet addresses known to be owned by Nobitex, as the Iranian company has publicly said it switches addresses to make tracing and intercepting transfers harder.
A spokeswoman for World Liberty told Reuters that the company has no relationship with Nobitex and follows U.S. law, stating that World Liberty "does not own, operate, or control Tron in any way, and has no authority over transactions conducted on it." Tron spokeswoman said the company is a technology provider and unable to "monitor and investigate every user and every transaction" or prevent trading. BNB Chain spokeswoman Ana Nicoara stated that "BNB Chain is a public, permissionless blockchain maintained by an independent global community of validators" and is not an exchange or company controlled by Binance. Corporate filings reviewed by Reuters showed continuing ownership links between Zhao and BNB Chain Technology Holding Limited. The U.S. Treasury Department, Iran's government, and its central bank did not respond to requests for comment about the ties between Binance, Tron and illicit Iranian funds. Nobitex, which is used extensively by sanctioned Iranian institutions and ordinary citizens, has publicly said it switches addresses to make tracing and intercepting transfers harder. In statements to Reuters, Nobitex denied having direct Iranian government connections or assisting the state, and said that any illicit funds moving through the exchange did so without management approval or awareness. The use of Tron and BNB Chain by Iranian entities has also drawn renewed scrutiny because both networks have historically been used for low-cost stablecoin transfers, with Reuters reporting in 2022 that about $7.8 billion moved between Nobitex and Binance between 2018 and 2022 despite U.S. sanctions on Iran, much of those flows involving Tron-based assets.
Former SEC chief John Reed Stark described the situation as "dramatic irony," noting that "the entities doing crypto financing through these platforms are the very ones that the president is trying to defeat in the war." Reuters reports that four crypto analysts, including two specialists in Iran's use of digital assets, reviewed the calculations and all said they were sound. However, the administration denies that Trump's businesses pose any conflict of interest, with White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly calling Reuters' attempts to link President Trump to Iran's banking system "totally laughable." Since taking office, Trump has launched crypto-friendly policies, with U.S. regulators pausing enforcement actions against crypto companies and moguls. In October 2025, Trump pardoned Zhao, the founder and former CEO of Binance, wiping away his federal conviction for failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program. Lawyers for Binance and Zhao have said there was no connection between the use of USD1 and the pardon. The Securities and Exchange Commission settled a lawsuit against Sun for alleged fraud in March for $10 million without Sun admitting any wrongdoing. The report surfaced as crypto markets continue to play an increasing role in sanctions evasion investigations globally, with the U.S. Treasury Department announcing additional sanctions targeting financial networks accused of helping Iran-backed groups move funds through digital assets.
