Nobitex Risk Warning | Iran's Largest Crypto Exchange Suffers $90 Million Hacker Attack: Is It Safe?

1. Platform Background and Market Position

• Platform full name : Nobitex Exchange

• Founded : 2017

• Headquarters : Tehran, Iran

• Official website : https://nobitex.ir

• Market share : With over 70% of the user share in the Iranian market, it is the country’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform.

Nobitex was once considered the preferred channel for local Iranian cryptocurrency investors due to its convenient exchange of rials for crypto assets. However, due to geopolitical factors, international sanctions, and opaque local regulations, the platform has remained in a gray area of compliance.

2. A Complete Analysis of the $90 Million Hacker Attack

• Date : June 18, 2025

• Attacker : Predatory Sparrow , a hacker group suspected of being linked to Israeli intelligence.

• Scale of loss : approximately US$90 million. Crypto assets were transferred from Nobitex hot wallets to inaccessible wallet addresses, which is equivalent to "burning funds."

• Collateral damage : A large-scale Internet outage occurred in Iran that day, which is suspected to be directly related to the hacking operation.

👉 Related reports:
The Guardian reports

3. Investor Influence and User Feedback

1. Withdrawal freeze : After the incident occurs, the platform will close withdrawals for a short period of time, and user funds will be unavailable.

2. Market panic : Iran's crypto market trading volume dropped nearly 40% in an instant, with many users turning to non-local exchanges.

3. User voice :

• Some investors said on social media platforms that "funds were locked and customer service could not be contacted";

• A Telegram rights protection group was quickly established, with thousands of users joining to seek collective rights protection.

4. Trust collapse : Many users doubt whether the platform’s security capabilities are sufficient to continue to custody assets.

IV. Regulatory Deficiencies and Safety Hazards

• Regulatory status : Nobitex is not regulated by mainstream financial regulators such as the FCA, CySEC, and ASIC , and is only registered locally.

• Compliance risks : As Iran is under the global sanctions system, Nobitex cannot access international clearing and cross-border protection mechanisms.

• Technical vulnerabilities :

• Excessive reliance on hot wallet storage for funds;

• Lack of multi-signature protection;

• The security infrastructure is weak and cannot defend against attacks from nation-level hackers.

V. Historical Comparative Cases

1. Mt. Gox (2014) : A Japanese exchange lost 850,000 bitcoins after being stolen and eventually collapsed.

2. Coincheck (2018) : Lost $500 million in NEM tokens due to a security breach.

3. WazirX (2024) : An Indian exchange was stolen for $235 million and is still undergoing judicial liquidation.

These cases collectively illustrate that security vulnerabilities are the biggest fatal flaw of centralized exchanges , and even leading platforms are not immune.

VI. Risk Warning and Investment Advice

Investor advice :

• Do not deposit large amounts of funds on Nobitex or similar unregulated platforms;

• Store the main assets in a cold wallet ;

• If it must be used, it is recommended to only be used for small short-term transactions and not as a fund custody channel.

VII. Conclusion

Nobitex was once Iran's largest and most active crypto exchange, but the $90 million hack in June 2025 completely shook its credibility.
This incident once again reminds investors: no matter how big the platform is, it may collapse at any time if it lacks authoritative supervision and sufficient security protection .

⚠️Final advice : It is not recommended to continue depositing funds in Nobitex. It is only suitable for observation or small-scale testing.