When the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Iran needed to move massive amounts of money, it relied heavily on networks built by two major players in the digital asset industry. Interestingly, the same two players helped launch and validate World Liberty Financial, a high-profile digital currency venture founded by President Donald Trump and his family.
A new data analysis by Reuters shows that Nobitex, the top crypto exchange in Iran, processed at least $2.3 billion in transactions since 2023. These massive transactions moved directly through Tron and the BNB Chain. Crypto billionaire Justin Sun created the Tron network, while Changpeng Zhao founded the BNB Chain. Users pay specific fees to use these blockchains because they act as highly secure, tamper-resistant digital ledgers.
The flow of Iranian money across these two digital ledgers continued completely uninterrupted even after the United States and Israel launched their war against the Islamic Republic. This creates a highly complex situation in Washington. Both Justin Sun and Binance, the massive exchange owned by Zhao, are prominent financial backers of World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm co-founded by the Trump family.
There is absolutely no evidence suggesting that the Trump family knew Nobitex used the Tron and BNB Chain networks. However, these massive transactions involving Iran highlight a very serious conflict of interest. The sprawling business empire owned by the Trump family continues to pursue lucrative foreign deals while the president runs the country.
John Reed Stark, a former chief of the Office of Internet Enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, called the situation a dramatic irony. He noted that the specific entities using these crypto platforms to move money are the same people the president is currently trying to defeat in a shooting war.
The White House quickly denied any conflict of interest. Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for the White House, told reporters that the bizarre attempts by Reuters to link President Trump directly to the Iranian banking system are totally laughable. She directed all further questions straight to World Liberty Financial. A spokeswoman for World Liberty firmly stated that the company has no relationship with Nobitex and complies with all United States laws. She added that World Liberty does not own or control the Tron network and holds absolutely no authority over the transactions conducted on it.
Nobitex serves as a massive financial hub for both regular Iranian citizens and heavily sanctioned government institutions. According to public blockchain data from the crypto analytics firm Arkham, Nobitex has processed over $2 billion on the Tron network since January 1, 2023. Furthermore, since 2023, the Iranian exchange has processed at least $317 million on the BNB Chain, a network originally developed by Binance.
The money kept flowing even after the bombs started dropping. Since the Iran war officially started in February, crypto worth at least $22.6 million moved through Nobitex on the BNB Chain, while another $550,000 moved via Tron. Back in May, Reuters reported that two brothers from a powerful Iranian family control Nobitex. Under their direct leadership, the exchange transformed from a small startup into the central hub of a parallel Iranian financial system designed specifically to evade strict Western sanctions.
Four different cryptocurrency analysts reviewed the math provided by Reuters. They all agreed that the $2.3 billion estimate moving through the networks was entirely sound. Rich Sanders, an independent researcher who specializes in how Iran uses digital assets, said the true volume of money is likely much higher. Sanders explained that outsiders can only see the flow of money for wallet addresses publicly known to belong to Nobitex. The Iranian company publicly admits that it constantly switches its digital addresses to make tracing the transfers much harder for Western governments.
Representatives for both Binance and the BNB Chain told Reuters that Binance does not operate or control the BNB Chain. Ana Nicoara, a spokeswoman for the BNB Chain, stated that an independent global community of validators maintains the public network. However, corporate records filed in Abu Dhabi show ongoing, deep ties between Binance and the technology company that runs the BNB Chain interface. The legal filings show that Zhao, the founder of Binance, is the only listed shareholder for that technology company.
The Central Bank of Iran also uses these exact networks. The United States placed strict sanctions on the Iranian central bank in 2019 for allegedly providing billions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah. Despite the sanctions, the central bank bought more than $500 million in tether via the Tron network between November 2024 and June 2025.
The Trump administration strongly embraces the cryptocurrency industry. When World Liberty Financial struggled to attract early investors after its October 2024 launch, Justin Sun stepped in and invested tens of millions of dollars in the company. Shortly after that, Trump officially pardoned Zhao, wiping away a federal conviction related to money laundering failures at Binance. Since taking office, Trump has launched several crypto-friendly policies, and federal regulators quickly paused their strict enforcement actions against major crypto moguls like Sun.
