US Treasury Sanctions 8 Canadian Money Services Over Iran Crypto Ties

The US Treasury on Nov. 6 announced sanctions on eight Canadian money services businesses. The department says they helped the Iranian regime evade restrictions by converting Iranian rials into digital assets and back. The action is part of Operation Economic Outcast.

Details

The designated firms are Million Exchange, Amin Exchange and its affiliate Top PC Technician Inc, NIA Nations Currency, Farah Exchange, CCC Inc, B Galaxy Inc (doing business as Cryptoyal) and Darvish Exchange. Most are registered in Ontario, two in British Columbia. The legal basis is Executive Order 13902, which targets Iran's digital asset sector.

According to the Treasury release, the firms:

• dealt with Iranian exchanges Nobitex, Wallex, Ramzinex, Bitpin, Aban Tether Exchange and Shelbit, several of which are already sanctioned;
• handled transfers worth hundreds of thousands of dollars tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and to addresses the department links to terrorism;
• in the cases of Amin Exchange and Million Exchange, laundered drug proceeds in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal; Farah Exchange sent millions to addresses linked to narcotrafficker Ryan Wedding, Treasury says.

The firms' property in US jurisdiction is blocked and US persons are barred from dealing with them, with civil and criminal penalties for violations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: "Canada cannot be a safe haven for illicit financial facilitators that provide sanctions evasion services to the Iranian regime and its proxies."

What it means for the market

It is another step in Treasury's pressure on Iran's crypto channels. Days ago the department cut MEXC off from the US financial system, and in October Bessent announced a planned seizure of about $1B in Iran-linked crypto. This time the targets are intermediaries in a Western country.

For users the takeaway is practical: exchangers and P2P venues that deal with Iranian or sanctioned counterparties risk losing access to US banks and stablecoin issuers. We did not measure any market reaction to the news; for the live bitcoin price see the daily brief.