Exposing Iran's Nobitex Exchange: The Founder Is Actually a Power Elite Family, Revolutionary Guard's Secret Funding Chain Revealed

The Iranian exchange Nobitex is alleged to have been founded by the elite Kharrazi family, who used pseudonyms to conceal their identities. The platform is viewed as a parallel financial system designed to evade sanctions, with extensive fund flows involving Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Shadow of a wealthy family? The Kharrazi dynasty behind the Agamir surname

Founded in 2018, Nobitex has since grown into Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, controlling roughly 70% of the country’s market trading share.

According to an in-depth investigation by Reuters, this digital-asset giant, which has more than 11 million users, was founded by brothers Ali Kharrazi and Mohammad Kharrazi. In their early records of business ventures, the brothers intentionally used the relatively rare surname “Aghamir” to obscure the deep ties between their family and the core of Iran’s highest centers of power.

Image source: Israel Hayom The founders behind Nobitex are brothers Ali Kharrazi and Mohammad Kharrazi

The Kharrazi family wields extraordinary influence in Iran’s political and religious spheres. Their grandfather once served as a member of the Assembly of Experts and even mentored Mojtaba Khamenei, the successor to the current Supreme Leader. Their father, Ayatollah Bagher Kharrazi, is also the founder of Hezbollah in Lebanon and participated in the early construction of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). With such an elite background, Nobitex was able to rapidly transform—amid the environment of long-term international economic sanctions facing Iran—from a campus startup into a key conduit supporting the country’s economic operations.

A national-level financial network, a secret funding chain from the central bank to the Revolutionary Guards

The exchange has been identified as Iran’s “parallel financial system” for evading international sanctions. Investigations show that Nobitex has substantial fund flows with sanctioned state entities, including Iran’s Central Bank (CBI) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Data from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic shows that in just six months at the beginning of 2025, the Iranian central bank transferred roughly $347 million worth of cryptocurrency to Nobitex, accumulating more than $507 million in Tether (USDT). In addition, Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani—who was convicted for fraud—leaked several wallet addresses during a public dispute with the central bank, enabling analysts to trace at least $20 million in national funds flowing through.

Image source: Elliptic researchers used Elliptic Investigator to tally the CBI crypto asset wallet flows

Several former employees confirmed to the media that sanctioned national funds are indeed continuing to move through the platform. The investigation even found that the exchange’s fund flows are linked to Iran-backed overseas proxies such as the Houthis in Yemen. Its early main investor, Mohammad Bagher Nahvi, also has a company involved in supplying drones to Russia, which has been sanctioned by the U.S.

Cryptographic technology becomes a shield against economic sanctions

To ensure that funds stored on the platform can effectively evade tracking by Western governments, Nobitex developed a sophisticated suite of obfuscation technologies. In their annual reports, the founder brothers admitted that, in response to international sanctions pressure, they developed multiple encryption tools to blur connections between wallet addresses and actively instructed users to conduct layered transactions using multi-wallet setups, increasing the difficulty of tracing.

Despite the various pieces of evidence, Nobitex officials have consistently insisted on its identity as a “private and independent company,” claiming there are no formal agreements with the government or the Revolutionary Guards.

To demonstrate its independence, the exchange even mentioned experiencing domestic pressure from the Iranian government—for example, the Revolutionary Guards reportedly searched Tehran offices multiple times and arrested the then-CEO Amir Hosein Rad.

However, analysts believe these so-called conflicts may be necessary dramatizations for survival within Iran’s unique political and economic environment. The platform currently claims that the illegal funds involved account for less than 3% of total trading volume, but regulators warn that mixing ordinary civilians with regime funds on the same platform makes enforcement exceptionally difficult.

Geopolitical tensions trigger capital flight! Global regulatory red lights amid sanctions escalation

Geopolitical instability has further increased the frequency of cryptocurrency use in Iran. After recent U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Tehran, Nobitex’s outflows surged by 700% within just a few minutes, with single-day outflow amounts reaching as much as $10.3 million.

• Related news: Using cryptocurrency for emergency hedging? In the few minutes after U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, Iranian exchange outflows surged 700%

This shows that when facing internet blockades and domestic instability, crypto assets have become the preferred tool for the Iranian regime and the public to transfer capital overseas. In response, the U.S. government launched a financial crackdown called “Operation Economic Fury,” seizing $500 million worth of crypto linked to Iran, while the stablecoin issuer Tether also froze about $344 million in assets.

• Related news: TRON’s $344 million USDT frozen! Tether cooperates with law enforcement to block sanctions-evading addresses

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said this is a loud warning: digital assets have become an alternative channel to challenge the U.S.-dominated global financial system. Although experts analyze that Iran’s Bitcoin mining capacity accounts for less than 1% of the global total—and that even if electricity is interrupted, it would not deal a catastrophic blow to global computing power—Nobitex’s role as a “shadow bank” undoubtedly creates unprecedented challenges for global crypto regulation.