The US Department of the Treasury just dropped another round of sanctions on the network surrounding Babak Zanjani, the Iranian businessman who has become something of a recurring character in Washington’s financial enforcement playbook. Four individuals and nine entities now face designation for helping Zanjani evade existing sanctions, expanding a web that already ensnared two crypto exchanges earlier this year.

The Zanjani saga, explained

If you’re not familiar with Babak Morteza Zanjani, think of him as the financial plumber for Iran’s oil revenue. He was first designated by the Treasury back in 2013 for facilitating the movement of billions in Iranian oil money. Those sanctions were lifted in 2016 under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal that briefly thawed US-Iran relations.

Zanjani, who holds both Iranian and UAE nationality, eventually returned to the spotlight after his release from Iranian imprisonment.

On January 30, 2026, OFAC designated Zanjani again, this time alongside two digital asset exchanges: Zedcex Exchange Ltd. and Zedxion Exchange Ltd. Both were registered in the UK. That January action marked the first time OFAC had ever designated digital asset exchanges specifically linked to IRGC activities.

$94 billion in transactions

Zedcex and Zedxion reportedly processed over $94 billion in transactions since 2022, with the majority associated with IRGC-linked activity. The July 24 expansion of sanctions against four more individuals and nine additional entities suggests the Treasury views the Zanjani network as something far more sprawling than the initial designation captured.

Treasury officials emphasized that these designations are about disrupting the financial channels the Iranian regime uses to move money.

What this means for the crypto industry

The UK registration of these exchanges raises uncomfortable questions about regulatory gaps. If platforms allegedly moving IRGC-linked funds can set up shop in London, investors and users of other UK-registered exchanges might reasonably wonder what kind of due diligence is being performed.

For traders and investors, assets held on platforms that later get sanctioned can become effectively frozen. Users can find themselves unable to withdraw funds, and in worst-case scenarios, they might face their own legal exposure for transacting on designated platforms.

If a single network can funnel $94 billion through digital asset platforms, the transaction monitoring tools and KYC procedures at major exchanges need to be sophisticated enough to catch similar patterns.