Reuters finds Iran crypto flows crossed Trump-linked blockchain networks

Iran’s biggest crypto exchange moved at least $2.3 billion since 2023 through Tron and BNB Chain, showing how the same blockchain rails can carry sanctioned funds, political capital and mainstream finance at once.

More than $2 billion flowed through Tron and at least $317 million through BNB Chain in the period examined. Those networks were built by Justin Sun and Changpeng Zhao and have also lent credibility to World Liberty Financial, Donald Trump’s flagship digital-asset venture, which says on its own site that USD1 and WLFI operate across multiple blockchains, including BNB Chain, and that it uses Chainlink CCIP for bridging.

The overlap matters because Nobitex sits at the center of Iran’s sanctions-avoidance machinery. Chainalysis estimated Iran’s crypto ecosystem reached $7.78 billion in 2025, and said activity tends to spike around political events and conflict. That pattern has been visible in wartime data: after the February 28, 2026 U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, roughly $10.3 million in crypto outflows left Iran in the first days after the attacks, while Elliptic said Nobitex outflows surged 700% within minutes of the first strike.

The exchange has also shown how quickly crypto infrastructure can be destabilized. On June 18, 2025, Chainalysis said Nobitex was hacked and more than $90 million in assets was stolen, temporarily taking the platform offline. Elliptic has warned that Nobitex’s exposure creates compliance risk because Iran is under comprehensive sanctions.

The broader policy backdrop is familiar to U.S. officials. The Treasury Department has repeatedly described Iranian shadow banking and cryptocurrency use as tools for sanctions evasion, and Office of Foreign Assets Control actions in recent months have said Iranian networks move tens of billions of dollars tied to sanctions evasion and terrorism financing.

There is no suggestion the Trump family knew of Nobitex’s use of Tron or BNB Chain. The White House dismissed the effort to connect Trump to Iran’s banking system, and a World Liberty spokeswoman said the company has no relationship with Nobitex and follows U.S. law. Even so, the reporting exposes a structural problem that reaches far beyond one political figure: blockchain networks designed to be neutral and borderless can also become shared infrastructure for sanctioned states, lightly regulated finance and politically connected ventures, all at the same time.