Iran's IRGC Moves $1 Billion via UK Crypto Exchanges, TRM Labs Reports

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) transferred approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency through two UK-registered exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion, between 2023 and 2025, according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. The findings were also reported by The Washington Post.

TRM's analysis showed that IRGC-linked activity accounted for 56% of total transaction volume on both platforms during this period. Transfers increased sharply from $24 million in 2023 to $619 million in 2024—representing 87% of all activity—before declining to around $410 million in 2025 as non-IRGC transactions grew.

Researchers determined that the two exchanges functioned as a single business despite separate UK corporate registrations. Nearly all transfers used Tether's USDT stablecoin on the Tron blockchain, providing deep liquidity at low cost. Tether has previously frozen wallets linked to illicit activity, stating a zero-tolerance policy toward terrorist financing.

Corporate filings link the exchanges to Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani, sanctioned by the US and EU in 2013 for facilitating oil sales under restrictions. Zanjani was convicted in Iran for embezzling over $2 billion from the National Iranian Oil Company and sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted in 2024 after repayment. UK records show a Babak Morteza, matching Zanjani's birth date, served as director of Zedxion Exchange Ltd from May 2021.

Blockchain data indicates that over $10 million flowed directly from Zedcex and IRGC-linked wallets to Sa'id Ahmad Muhammad al-Jamal, a Yemeni businessman sanctioned in 2021 for funding the Houthis. On-chain analysis also traced funds from Zedcex to major Iranian exchanges including Nobitex, Wallex, and Aban Tether; Nobitex was hit by an $82 million cyberattack in June 2025. Israeli crypto analysis firm Nominis linked at least $150 million of IRGC activity to the exchanges.

TRM Labs noted that sanctioned Iranian actors appear to be testing resilient crypto infrastructure. The UK Treasury, Iran's UN mission, and the exchanges declined to comment.