Iran's Central Bank Tied to Stolen Crypto Funds via CoinEx

A recent Wall Street Journal report has shed light on the alleged use of stolen cryptocurrency funds by the Central Bank of Iran to evade U.S. economic sanctions.

The investigation found that some of the $1.5 billion in crypto assets stolen from Bybit, a virtual currency exchange, were moved through multiple transactions to CoinEx, a Chinese-linked exchange.

Blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs estimated that wallets linked to Iran have moved more than $3.84 billion through CoinEx since 2019 and directly transacted with accounts tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

CoinEx's founder, Haipo Yang, denied any ties to the Iranian government but acknowledged that the exchange was widely used by Iranian users.