Dubai Unlicensed Exchange Shelbit Handles Over $4 Billion in Iran Sanctions Evasion Funds
Reuters investigation shows that Dubai's unlicensed crypto exchange Shelbit has handled at least $4 billion in funds since May 2024, becoming a central hub for Iran sanctions evasion activities.
The exchange, operated by Iranian expatriates, connects over 2,000 illegal Persian gambling websites, the Central Bank of Iran, and wallets suspected to be linked to the IRGC, transferring at least $676 million to platforms like Binance; Dubai's regulatory authority VARA has ordered it to cease unlicensed activities and launched an investigation.
In the crypto and sanctions enforcement market, illegal funds enter global exchanges through unlicensed intermediary platforms, prompting compliant platforms to enhance freezing and reporting; Iranian-related entities gain access to fiat channels, while regulated exchanges and law enforcement agencies are pressured by ongoing monitoring demands, benefiting gambling networks and intermediary service providers from high traffic.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Shelbit, as an unlicensed platform, has rapidly processed large amounts of Iran-related funds since mid-2024, continuing the previous path of Iran evading sanctions through Turkish gold or other exchanges, and relocating nodes after being exposed like CoinEx.
In terms of capital flow, funds are gathered from the Central Bank of Iran, mining, and over 2,000 gambling websites into Shelbit, then flowing to large exchanges like Binance; resources are mobilized through a Dubai office address and Iranian operators, motivated by the aim to exploit regulatory lag for large-scale money laundering and currency exchange.
Similar patterns can be seen in the 2016 dismantling of the IRGC's gold-for-oil network and the transfer models after several Iranian-related exchanges were sanctioned in recent years. Currently, sanctions evasion is in a phase of "rapid node reconstruction and regulatory lag."
Structural judgment belongs to regulatory changes: when traditional financial channels are blocked, unlicensed crypto intermediaries become alternative pipelines, forcing regulation to shift from targeting single platforms to tracking the entire chain, with pricing power temporarily shifting from evasion networks to law enforcement and compliant exchanges.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
- Unlicensed nodes always regenerate in regulatory gaps
- The stricter the sanctions, the higher the intermediary premium
- Gambling networks are the best shell for disguising funds.