A blockchain analytics agency discovered that just about 90% of cash processed by a UK-registered crypto alternate in 2024 was linked to Iran’s strongest army group.
A Billion {Dollars} And A Pretend Boss
TRM Labs, which tracks cryptocurrency flows, reported that Zedxion Alternate and a associated platform known as Zedcex moved roughly $1 billion tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In 2024, IRGC-linked funds made up about 87% of all transactions the 2 exchanges dealt with. Whilst that share fell to roughly 48% in 2025, the uncooked greenback quantities linked to the Iranian army group remained huge.
Now the UK is shutting the alternate down.
Britain’s Corporations Home — the federal government physique that registers companies — has began a obligatory strike-off in opposition to Zedxion Alternate Ltd. Authorities say the corporate filed false data, together with itemizing a director who by no means existed.
Inventory Picture, Pretend Identify, Actual Cash
The fictional director was registered underneath the identify Elizabeth Newman, listed as a citizen of the Dominican Republic.
An investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Challenge (OCCRP) discovered that the girl behind the identify was seemingly manufactured completely — her picture in firm advertising and marketing movies traced again to a inventory photograph.
Babak Zanjani, an Iranian billionaire accused of corruption, beforehand voiced satisfaction in his position serving to Iran sidestep oil sanctions in periods of financial pressure. Supply: https://www.iranintl.com/
Earlier than Newman appeared in firm information, a person named Babak Morteza held the director place. His particulars matched these of Babak Zanjani, an Iranian businessman who had beforehand been sentenced to demise in Iran for stealing state oil funds.
That sentence was decreased in 2024, and Zanjani resumed enterprise operations. Morteza was listed as director and the particular person with important management of Zedxion from October 2021 to August 2022.
Zanjani can be stated to go DotOne Holding Group, a conglomerate with operations throughout cryptocurrency, international alternate, logistics, and telecommunications — sectors which have been used previously to sidestep worldwide sanctions.
Washington Acted First
The UK crackdown follows US sanctions imposed in January by the Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Belongings Management (OFAC).
Each Zedxion and Zedcex have been named in that motion. OFAC stated Zanjani helped fund initiatives supporting the IRGC and the Iranian authorities extra broadly.
Firm filings for the 2 exchanges additionally confirmed dormant accounts, a element that stood in sharp distinction to the big transaction volumes blockchain analysts traced via them.
The UK handed the Financial Crime and Company Transparency Act in 2023, giving Corporations Home new authority to confirm the identities of administrators and examine that registered companies have been arrange for lawful functions.
The Zedxion case marks one of many extra seen makes use of of these powers.
Featured picture from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
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