A UK-registered crypto exchange that processed nearly $1 billion in transactions has been linked by blockchain investigators to Iran’s most powerful military force — and UK authorities are now moving to shut it down.
What happened
- TRM Labs, which tracks on-chain flows, says Zedxion Exchange and an affiliated platform, Zedcex, moved roughly $1 billion in funds tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In 2024, payments linked to the IRGC accounted for about 87% of the two platforms’ activity; that share dropped to roughly 48% in 2025, but the dollar volumes tied to the group remained substantial.
- The discovery prompted action from regulators. Britain’s Companies House has opened a compulsory strike-off procedure against Zedxion Exchange Ltd, alleging the company filed false information when registering — including naming a director who appears never to have existed.
Fake identities and shadow directors
- Company records listed a supposed director, “Elizabeth Newman,” identified as a Dominican Republic citizen. An OCCRP investigation traced the woman’s image in Zedxion marketing back to a stock photo, suggesting the director may have been fabricated.
- Before “Newman” appeared, a director listed as Babak Morteza held the post. Investigators say Morteza’s details match those of Babak Zanjani, an Iranian businessman who was previously sentenced to death in Iran over embezzlement claims; that sentence was reduced in 2024 and Zanjani resumed business activities.
Links to broader networks and sanctions
- Zanjani is reported to run DotOne Holding Group, a conglomerate with interests across crypto, foreign exchange, logistics, and telecoms — industries that have previously been used to circumvent sanctions.
- The UK action follows US Treasury sanctions announced in January by OFAC, which named both Zedxion and Zedcex and accused Zanjani of funding projects that supported the IRGC and the Iranian government more broadly.
Red flags on- and off-chain
- Company filings for Zedxion and Zedcex showed dormant bank accounts — a mismatch with the huge transaction volumes TRM Labs traced on-chain. That contrast highlights the ways bad actors can exploit opaque corporate registrations and crypto rails to move large sums.
- The case is one of the first high-profile tests of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, passed by the UK in 2023, which expanded Companies House’s powers to verify director identities and probe whether firms are set up for lawful purposes.
Why it matters
- The Zedxion case underscores the persistent risk of sanctions evasion using crypto platforms, the importance of robust on-chain analytics, and the role of corporate registry reforms in disrupting illicit finance networks. Regulators in the UK and US are increasingly combining traditional corporate enforcement with blockchain tracing to close those gaps.
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