A Reuters investigation has traced a sprawling sanctions-evasion network from Tehran’s financial system to one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, and the numbers are hard to ignore. At the center of it sits Shelbit, an unlicensed Dubai-based crypto exchange that processed at least $4 billion in digital assets since May 2024, acting as a financial bridge between Iranian state-linked entities, illegal gambling operations, and global crypto markets.
How the network worked
One of its biggest clients was an illegal Farsi-language gambling network spanning more than 2,000 websites. That operation was run by influencers Sasha Sobhani and Pooyan Mokhtari, both of whom were convicted in Iran on illegal gambling…