U.S. Sanctions Georgia-Based Cryptocurrency Company for Supporting IRGC

August 12, 2026 | Policy Brief U.S. Sanctions Georgia-Based Cryptocurrency Company for Supporting IRGC August 12, 2026 | Policy Brief U.S. Sanctions Georgia-Based Cryptocurrency Company for Supporting IRGC Even as Tbilisi says it seeks a reset in relations with Washington, it is turning a blind eye to financial schemes that benefit Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). On August 7, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a Georgia-based cryptocurrency company and its operator, accused of transferring millions of dollars to and from IRGC-controlled addresses. The designation follows EU and British sanctions in July and May, respectively, against Georgia-registered cryptocurrency platforms accused of facilitating Russian sanctions evasion. The country’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, has faced repeated warnings that Russian and Iranian actors are exploiting Georgia as a permissive environment for sanctions evasion. Yet it has failed to address the problem seriously. Tbilisi’s appeals for renewed engagement with Washington have not been accompanied by the change in behavior that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said such a reset would require. Georgia-Registered Shelbit Facilitated IRGC Transactions According to Treasury, Iranian national Siavash Kayvanpour operated the Shelbit Exchange through Georgia-based SHPS Shelbit as part of a network facilitating illicit cryptocurrency activity and sanctions evasion. IRGC-controlled cryptocurrency addresses allegedly sent more than $1 million in digital assets to Shelbit addresses and received more than $2 million from them. Likewise, Kayvanpour-controlled addresses transferred more than $2 million to Nobitex, a previously sanctioned Iranian cryptocurrency exchange. Treasury also said Shelbit serviced a large Persian-language online gambling network through which tens of millions of dollars in digital assets were laundered. Treasury sanctioned Kayvanpour and SHPS Shelbit pursuant to a 2001 executive order designed to counter terror finance. In response to the designations, Georgia’s National Bank claimed that SHPS Shelbit had never applied to register as a virtual-asset service provider and that its corporate registration had been canceled. However, Tbilisi has not announced any investigation into how the company used its Georgian registration as part of an IRGC-linked financial network. Russian and Iranian Networks Exploit Georgia Shelbit is not an isolated case. In May, the United Kingdom sanctioned three Georgia-registered companies — Arvix, Rapira Group, and Aifory — describing them as Russia-focused cryptocurrency exchanges seeking to evade sanctions. In July, the European Union extended its transaction ban to three Georgia-registered cryptocurrency platforms — two of which the United Kingdom had already sanctioned — for helping Russia circumvent sanctions. Beyond cryptocurrency, a 2024 investigation by Georgian nongovernmental organization iFact found that sanctioned dual-use goods, including drones, computer processors, GPS devices, and memory cards, were reaching Russia through Georgia and traced one Georgian company’s involvement in 365 shipments worth $24 million. Shelbit is particularly concerning given Iran’s broader commercial, political, and religious footprint in Georgia. By 2025, nearly 13,000 Iranian companies were registered in the country, many at suspicious shared addresses. Between 2022 and 2025, 72 Georgia-registered companies imported Iranian petroleum products. At least eight of those firms were linked to Georgian Dream donors. Iran also maintains a significant religious and intelligence network in Georgia, including several branches of Iran’s Al-Mustafa International University, which Washington has sanctioned for serving as a “recruitment platform by the IRGC-QF for intelligence collection and operations.” Iranian-Georgian political ties have likewise deepened over the past few years, with senior Georgian officials making multiple trips to Tehran, most recently for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral. Washington Should Increase Pressure on Georgian Dream Despite appealing for a reset with Washington, Georgian Dream has chosen to expand ties with Tehran rather than crack down on Iranian networks in Georgia. Washington should increase pressure on Georgian Dream, including through targeted financial and visa sanctions against officials and affiliated business figures responsible for the country’s democratic deterioration and for supporting hostile foreign powers. No reengagement should occur unless Georgian Dream first ends its embrace of U.S. adversaries — not only Tehran but also Beijing. The ruling party must also accept real democratic reform, beginning by releasing political prisoners, dropping its assault on Georgia’s opposition, and ending its pressure on independent media and civil society. Keti Korkiya is a research analyst in the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Keti and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.