At least $676 million in crypto moved from the unlicensed Dubai exchange Shelbit to Binance since May 2024, with about $540 million of that flowing after Dubai regulators cracked down on Shelbit in January 2025. Binance says it cannot match the $676 million figure reported by Reuters, but claims its compliance program investigated, froze relevant accounts, and reported them to law enforcement when users associated with Shelbit interacted with the platform.
The $676 million question
Independent blockchain researcher Rich Sanders warned Binance about Shelbit in October 2025. Yet funds continued to move after the warning. Binance stated that Shelbit never held an account on its platform and has never been sanctioned. The exchange said it took action against users linked to Shelbit, but the timing of those actions relative to the warning remains unclear.
Shelbit has no website. Its listed Dubai address is a locked door with a sign for 'Velorix Watches Trading LLC', owned by founder Siavash Kayvanpour. At least $4 billion flowed through Shelbit since May 2024, with roughly $125 million coming directly from Iran's central bank. Shelbit also dealt with wallets that Israel links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Binance's compliance record
This isn't Binance's first brush with sanctions-related scrutiny. The exchange pleaded guilty in November 2023 to breaking US money-laundering and sanctions laws and paid $4.3 billion, one of the largest corporate penalties in US history. As part of that plea deal, Binance had to hire an independent compliance monitor for three years. The monitor is still active.
In the earlier case, Binance had allowed more than $898 million in trades between US and Iranian users from January 2018 to May 2022. The Shelbit situation raises questions about whether the compliance improvements promised in the plea deal are working as intended.
Inside Shelbit's operation
Shelbit's biggest customers were more than 2,000 Farsi-language betting sites. Gambling is illegal in Iran. Another counterparty was Nobitex, Iran's largest crypto exchange, which the US Treasury sanctioned in June 2025 for handling over half of Iran's crypto inflows and helping regime insiders reach global exchanges.
Reuters could not establish who inside Iran controlled Shelbit or where most of the crypto ended up. The mix of betting sites, central bank funds, and IRGC-linked wallets makes the flow hard to trace.
What regulators are doing
Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) issued a notice on July 24, 2025, citing anti-money-laundering and terrorism-financing laws, stating Shelbit threatens the integrity of the UAE's financial system. OFAC listings in 2025 have triggered stablecoin freezes within hours, and the US Treasury says it is taking the Shelbit claims seriously.
Whether Binance's actions satisfy regulators — and whether the compliance monitor will flag the Shelbit episode — are open questions. The Treasury hasn't said what steps it might take next.
