BitcoinKE

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Nobitex, accusing the platform of helping Tehran evade Western sanctions and move funds tied to state institutions, marking one of Washington’s most significant actions yet against Iran’s digital-asset sector.
The sanctions also target Nobitex Chief Executive Amir Hossein Rad and several individuals alleged to be connected to the exchange’s ownership structure. Treasury officials said Nobitex facilitated transactions linked to Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both of which are subject to extensive U.S. sanctions.
The move comes as the Trump administration intensifies economic pressure on Tehran amid the ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States. Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said Iran has increasingly turned to digital assets to shield wealth, bypass financial restrictions, and maintain access to international markets despite years of sanctions.

“While Iran’s economy is in free fall, the regime has chosen to co-opt digital asset technologies for its own corrupt agenda, including evading sanctions and transferring wealth out of the country. Iran’s current economic chaos is proof that President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign has been a success,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
“As promised, Treasury will continue to follow the money in support of Economic Fury, whether it is through the banking system or through digital assets, to prevent the regime from developing a nuclear weapon.”

United States has Seized ~1 Billion in Iranian Crypto Assets, Says Treasury Secretary

Nobitex occupies a dominant position in Iran’s crypto ecosystem, processing a substantial share of the country’s digital-asset transactions. A Reuters investigation published in May described the exchange as a key hub in a parallel financial network that allegedly handled hundreds of millions of dollars for sanctioned Iranian entities.
The Treasury action extends beyond Nobitex. U.S. authorities also sanctioned Iranian exchanges Bitpin, Ramzinex and Wallex, warning that foreign financial institutions could face penalties for conducting certain transactions with the designated firms.


The sanctions underscore Washington’s growing focus on cryptocurrency infrastructure as a tool of sanctions enforcement. U.S. officials have increasingly argued that digital-asset platforms are being used by sanctioned states and organizations to move money outside the traditional banking system.

2025 RECAP | Illicit Stablecoin Activity Surged to 5-Year High in 2025 with Over 80% Used for Sanctions Evasion
Illicit goods and services, human trafficking, and industrial laundering networks: These showed near-total stablecoin adoption, reflecting a need for price stability… pic.twitter.com/ghcEVz6Jlk
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 20, 2026
Nobitex has denied direct ties to the Iranian government and previously said any illicit activity conducted through the platform occurred without management approval or knowledge. In a statement to customers after the sanctions were announced, the exchange said it had long prepared for the possibility of additional international restrictions on its operations.

GEOPOLITICS | Iran’s Largest Crypto Exchange Has Processed Over $100 Million During the Wartime Period

The latest U.S sanctions come just one week after the United Kingdom (U.K) imposed sactions on a leading crypto exchange, a stablecoin issuer, and a network of Russia-linked payment firms in what officials described as one of the country’s toughest crackdowns yet on the use of digital assets to evade sanctions tied to the war in Ukraine.
The measures, announced by the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, targeted 18 entities and individuals allegedly connected to Russia’s ‘illicit financial infrastructure,’ including payment processors, crypto exchanges, and stablecoin issuers accused of helping move funds outside the traditional banking system.
Among the sanctioned firms were
Huobi Global S.A., operator of HTX, along with
Rapira Group,
Aifory,
Open Joint Stock Company
Arvix, and
peer-to-peer crypto platform, Bitpapa.
The latest move expands a growing Western effort to target crypto-based sanctions evasion networks. In early 2026, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on two exchanges accused of facilitating transactions tied to Iran’s financial sector marking Washington’s first use of Iran-specific sanctions authorities against crypto trading platforms.

REGULATION | The U.K Imposes Banking Sanctions on Leading Crypto Exchange, Stablecoin Issuer for the First Time




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PayPal has frozen and permanently restricted a number of accounts held by Kenyan users citing concerns linked to anti-money laundering compliance and fraud prevention measures, according to affected customers and reports by local media.
The payments company has informed some users that it can no longer offer services to them after reviewing account activity with notices stating that decisions may be based on factors including regulatory requirements, internal risk assessments and obligations to banking partners.

FINTECH AFRICA | Why Use PayPal in the Age of Crypto? Frustrated Users Propose African Alternatives
Awidely shared post by Kenyan fintech expert, Robert Kingori, has struck a nerve with many African users who feel increasingly sidelined by @PayPal‘s new policies.
One of the… pic.twitter.com/WBOZIMLjFy
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) March 21, 2025
Several account holders reported losing access to their funds and payment services without prior warning. In some cases, PayPal requested additional documentation to verify identities, business activities, and sources of income before determining whether accounts could remain active.
The restrictions come as global financial firms face mounting pressure to strengthen controls against money laundering, fraud, and sanctions evasion. Kenya’s placement on the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list has increased scrutiny of financial transactions originating from the country, prompting international payment providers to adopt stricter compliance procedures.

REGULATION | Kenya Retained on FATF Grey List – Crypto, Fintech Firms Face Rising Compliance Demands

PayPal says it monitors accounts for unusual transaction patterns including sudden spikes in activity, large transfers, and behavior that may indicate fraudulent or prohibited activity. Accounts flagged by its systems can be limited, suspended, or permanently restricted pending review.
The latest wave of restrictions has affected freelancers, online merchants, and digital workers who rely on PayPal to receive payments from clients abroad highlighting the growing impact of compliance-driven enforcement on cross-border digital commerce.
PayPal did not immediately comment on the affected accounts.


FINTECH AFRICA | Why Use PayPal in the Age of Crypto? Frustrated Users Propose African Alternatives




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全球匯款公司MoneyGram推出了自己的美元支持穩定幣MGUSD，這標誌着其在將跨境支付和結算轉移到區塊鏈基礎設施上的重大進展。
該穩定幣建立在Stellar區塊鏈上，最初在美國可用，將集成到MoneyGram應用中，讓用戶能夠持有以美元計價的餘額、全球轉賬資金並轉換爲當地貨幣。
該公司計劃在2026年晚些時候將服務擴展到國際市場。

南非高等法院裁定，比特幣應在該國的外匯管制制度下被視爲‘資本’，支持南非儲備銀行打擊未經批准的跨境加密流動，並下令沒收與此案相關的約R6百萬。
這個案例涉及加密貨幣交易員Square Mangundhla和Fungai Dangaiso，試圖推翻南非儲備銀行（Sarb）與轉移價值約R182百萬的比特幣相關的沒收令。Mangundhla使用他的Luno賬戶將約1,680個比特幣轉移到一個註冊在南非以外的加密交易所錢包。

一位加密貨幣交易員將2480美元的投資轉變爲超過1200萬美元，在八個月內持有一個鮮爲人知的幣安智能鏈迷因幣，這在大多數投機性代幣迅速消失於市場的情況下，是一個異常成功的押注。
根據鏈上分析師Ember CN引用的區塊鏈數據，這位交易員在2025年10月項目上線的幾分鐘內購買了1850萬個幣安生命（BianRensheng）代幣，僅花費了2.14 BNB，當時約值2480美元。該頭寸的平均價格約爲每個代幣0.00013美元。

南非監管機構明確區分了加密資產和貨幣，聲明比特幣和穩定幣既不是法定貨幣，也不被視爲該國支付框架下的貨幣形式。
南非儲備銀行(SARB)和金融部門行爲管理局(FSCA)聯合聲明，表示用於國內交易的加密資產不在國家支付系統法的範圍內，即使它們被用於支付商品和服務。

根據區塊鏈安全公司CertiK的數據，由於加密貨幣黑客攻擊、漏洞和安全 breaches，2026年5月的損失急劇下降，較上個月下降近90%，降至約$68.3百萬。
此次下跌緊隨2026年4月的極其高昂損失，屆時與加密貨幣相關的損失飆升至約$650百萬，成爲近年來該行業最糟糕的月份之一。根據CertiK的數據，如果不計2025年2月的創紀錄$1.5億Bybit黑客攻擊，2026年4月標誌着自2022年3月以來行業的最高月度損失。

關於穩定幣的辯論可能忽視了銀行內部正在發生的更大轉變。
在克羅地亞的中央銀行會議上，英格蘭銀行的政策制定者梅根·格林認爲，代幣化存款（即傳統銀行存款的鏈上版本）可能在五年內超越穩定幣，並預測市場最終可能會‘想知道我們當初爲什麼要討論穩定幣’。
評論強調了代幣化存款是如何迅速從理論變爲商業銀行的戰略重點。

最大的加密貨幣在美國現貨比特幣交易所交易基金經歷了創紀錄的10個交易日淨流出後繼續下跌，近30億美元流出這些產品，依據SoSoValue的數據。
提款潮是自2024年1月現貨比特幣ETF推出以來最長的一次，同時比特幣在市場最火熱的交易：人工智能中 struggling。資金持續流入AI基礎設施、半導體和內存芯片股票，儘管加密市場疲軟，仍幫助主要股指向新高攀升。

美國法院命令USDC發行商Circle凍結超過$12.6百萬的USDC，這些資金存在與隱私協議Zama相關的智能合約中，這成為法律機構能深入去中心化金融基礎設施的重大試金石。
這次凍結是作為圍繞Overnight Finance的訴訟的一部分下令的，根據鏈上調查員的說法，這有效地困住了多個用戶的資金，因為Circle將Zama的機密USDC (cUSDC)合約列入黑名單。


雖然穩定幣發行商之前曾凍結過個別錢包地址，但這次的行動更進一步，針對的是一個作為用戶尋求機密交易的共享基礎設施的智能合約。這一舉措突顯了主要穩定幣內嵌的集中控制如何可以覆蓋許多去中心化金融應用所依賴的運營中立性。

UniCredit警告稱，歐洲可能不如美國有能力應對未來與加密貨幣行業相關的銀行危機，這引發了對歐盟標誌性加密監管框架潛在脆弱性的擔憂。
意大利UniCredit的副董事長Elena Carletti和其董事會風險委員會負責人表示，歐洲缺乏美國監管機構在2023年硅谷銀行和簽名銀行崩潰期間使用的一些緊急工具，這些事件引發了加密市場的動盪。

根據Arkham情報，美國政府持有大約328,372個比特幣（BTC），使其成爲全球已知最大的比特幣國家持有者。
按照當前價格，這筆資金的估值約爲250億美元。
美國財政部長Scott Bessent最近在一個論壇上表示，美國已經通過‘直接抓取錢包’從伊朗沒收了十億美元。
上述內容證實了財政部長在2025年8月的聲明，當時他說政府正在考慮在不購買額外比特幣的情況下增加其加密資產儲備。

美國已扣押近10億美元的與伊朗相關的加密貨幣，標誌着華盛頓最大規模的數字資產執法行動之一，同時加大對德黑蘭的金融壓力。
財政部長斯科特·貝森特表示，這些資金是作爲特朗普政府“經濟憤怒”制裁戰略的一部分被扣押的，該戰略針對的是被指控用於伊朗轉移石油收入和在傳統銀行系統之外資助運營的網絡。

“我認爲在五個半到六週之間，經過一場極爲成功的軍事行動和經濟憤怒行動，我們確實切斷了他們的資金。他們現在在財務上正處於Tether的盡頭，”他說。

摩根大通的首席執行官傑米·戴蒙加大了與Coinbase首席執行官布萊恩·阿姆斯特朗的公開鬥爭，警告稱美國主要銀行將反對當前版本的CLARITY法案，並指責Coinbase首席花費巨資影響華盛頓的立法者。
戴蒙在福克斯商業的採訪中表示，銀行“不會接受”當前版本的立法，認爲這將允許加密公司在穩定幣持有中提供類似利息的獎勵，而不受傳統貸款機構所需的相同保護和監管要求的約束。

比特幣的市場結構開始看起來更像華爾街，而不是加密貨幣。
在2026年5月26日，黑石集團的黑石現貨比特幣ETF IBIT進行了一筆2920萬股的區塊交易，約合12.6億美元的敞口，在一個打印中完成——比特幣幾乎沒有反應。

換句話說，一筆價值12.6億美元的交易，依靠IBIT的訂單簿深度、桌面流動性和套利機制剛剛發生，而ETF保持了其價格。

市場分析 | 截至2026年2月，比特幣ETF佔比特幣整體市值的約6%

存管信託與清算公司 (DTCC) 正在將其區塊鏈雄心延伸至私募市場試點之外，宣佈計劃將其平臺上的代幣化證券連接到 Stellar 網絡，這是華爾街加速擁抱數字資產基礎設施的最新跡象。
DTCC 作爲清算和結算美國證券交易的大多數，表示通過其存管信託公司保管的代幣化資產可能在 2027 年上半年在 Stellar 上可用。該倡議最初將重點關注高度流動的資產，包括美國國債、交易所交易基金和與主要指數相關的股票。

一位未知的比特幣持有者永久性銷燬了107個比特幣，價值約820萬美元，通過五筆獨立交易將這些幣發送到比特幣最著名的銷燬地址，這一舉動讓鏈上分析師們 scrambling for answers。
這些轉賬最初由區塊鏈研究員Sani標記，被髮送到錢包地址“1111111111111111111114oLvT2”——這是一個沒有已知私鑰的地址，意味着這些資金實際上永遠損失了。

一位老年公民如何在沒有黑客攻擊的情況下損失了3.3億美元的比特幣被盜

David Machuche的帖子，nTZS創始人

沙盒到底是什麼

坦桑尼亞中央銀行的沙盒並不是一個橡皮圖章。

這是一個結構化、監督的測試環境，中央銀行在批准完全許可之前評估新的金融產品是否安全、技術上可行，並且真正對坦桑尼亞人有利。
我們首先啓動100個試點用戶。每一個流通中的nTZS必須由保存在獲得許可的商業銀行的專用賬戶中的真實坦桑尼亞先令一對一支撐。我們每天上午10點向坦桑尼亞中央銀行提交儲備報告。中央銀行隨時可以實時訪問我們的儲備監控儀表板。

NALA，一家全球穩定幣支付基礎設施公司，今天宣佈已通過Mars Growth Capital獲得高達5000萬美元的信貸融資，Mars Growth Capital是Liquidity和MUFG銀行有限公司之間的合資企業，Liquidity是一家全球人工智能驅動的私人信貸和技術提供商。
初始的2500萬美元融資設施提供至少5000萬美元的擴展選項，以提供流動資金，支持NALA持續的全球擴張、產品開發和運營規模化，打造下一代數字銀行，依託其全球穩定幣基礎設施。

肯尼亞立法者支持一項提案，增加對國家反洗錢監管機構的資金，警告稱資金不足可能會延誤將這個東非國家從全球金融犯罪‘灰名單’中移除的努力。
議會財政委員會支持對金融報告中心（FRC）額外撥款的呼籲，官員表示該機構缺乏滿足金融行動特別工作組要求的運營資金。

監管 | 肯尼亞仍在FATF灰名單上 – 加密貨幣和金融科技公司面臨日益增長的合規要求