It was revealed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has transferred approximately $1 billion worth of funds through two cryptocurrency exchanges registered in England since 2023. The report, reported by the Washington Post and prepared by Blockchain analysis company TRM Labs, reveals that the transactions in question were designed to circumvent international sanctions. The analysis indicates that Iran has moved cryptocurrencies away from individual experiments and turned them into a more systematic financial infrastructure tool. The investigation shows that London-based financial control systems are also indirectly involved in this network.
Network Established through UK Registered Exchanges
According to TRM Labs’ findings, two cryptocurrency exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion, effectively operated as extensions of a single operation run under different brand names. It was found that 56 percent of the total transaction volume on these platforms during the 2023–2025 period came from IRGC-linked wallets. The majority of transactions were carried out with Tether’s USDT stable crypto asset used on the Tron network.
The volume of IRGC-related movements has increased markedly in a short time. Transfers, which remained at 24 million dollars in 2023, increased to 619 million dollars in 2024 and created an additional volume of 410 million dollars in 2025. According to experts, the figures reveal that Iran is positioning the cryptocurrency market not only as an alternative means of payment, but also as a shadow banking system that operates against sanctions.
In the research, it was stated that small amounts of deposits and withdrawals were made to analyze the internal wallet structure of the exchanges, and then the fund flows were monitored in detail. With this method, transactions linked to 187 different wallet addresses, which were declared by Israeli authorities to be under IRGC control, were mapped.
Cryptocurrency Funds, Arms Trade and Legacy Sanctions Networks
Among the transfers monitored was a $10 million payment from an IRGC-linked wallet to addresses controlled by a Yemeni individual. The person in question was sanctioned by the USA in 2021 on the grounds that he financed the Houthis by illegally selling Iranian oil. This example reveals that cryptocurrency transfers are actively used in financing regional proxy groups.
TRM Labs also linked the exchanges in question to Babek Zanjani, a businessman who helped Iran evade oil sanctions in the past. Zanjani was convicted of corruption due to the financial network he established on behalf of the Iranian administration of the period, his death sentence was later commuted to prison, and he was recently released. The findings show that old sanctions evasion methods are being revived through digital assets.
Both exchanges claim on their websites that they comply with anti-money laundering rules. While Zedcex lists Iran among the banned countries, Zedxion does not offer a similar restriction. Neither the stock exchanges nor Iran’s mission to the United Nations and the British Treasury’s Sanctions Office responded to questions.
