US Sanctions Eight Canadian Crypto OTCs Over Iran and Cartel Cash

OFAC dropped sanctions on eight Canadian over-the-counter money service businesses, the first time Washington has tagged Canadian crypto OTCs as part of Iran's illicit financial plumbing. Treasury's sanctions arm says the firms moved millions in cryptocurrency for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, sanctioned Iranian exchanges and global criminal outfits.

The money trail, per OFAC's investigation: more than $6 million in inflows came from sanctioned jurisdictions. Of that, $3.7 million traced to sanctioned entities and $2.3 million to terrorist-financing actors including the IRGC, Hamas and the Houthis. On the Iranian exchange side, OFAC named Aban Tether Exchange, Nobitex, Ramzinex and Wallex. Wallets tied to sanctioned individuals Arash Estaki Alivand and Keyvan Fayyaz Gharen Blagh — both linked to IRGC cyberattacks and extortion — also sent funds through.

The OTCs weren't just a Tehran problem. OFAC found more than $6.8 million went to the Ryan Wedding Criminal Enterprise, the transnational drug cartel run by a former Olympic snowboarder. Another $2.5 million landed in other cartel-linked money laundering wallets. Wedding's crew, which reportedly worked with Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, used the OTCs to convert bulk cash from drug sales into stablecoins like USDT so the money could cross borders. The cartel is accused of moving roughly 60 metric tons of cocaine a year and generating $1 billion in revenue.

This is the first time Canadian crypto OTC providers have been targeted as part of Iran's illicit financial infrastructure. OFAC says the firms acted as intermediaries for two separate illicit economies at once, offering liquidity to Iranian regime-linked actors and global criminal organizations alike — and putting crypto services that double as laundering rails squarely in regulators' crosshairs.