Treasury Sanctions Iran's BitBank Over Alleged $100sM Bitcoin Transfers

The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on BitBank, an Iranian digital asset exchange, for allegedly facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin transfers to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that cryptocurrency-based financing does not sit outside the Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) enforcement reach and that parties supporting the Iranian government will be sanctioned.

The sanctions target BitBank, its developer Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, and three associates linked to Babak Zanjani, an Iranian financier. The exchange is accused of facilitating payments connected to sanctioned Iranian entities since at least 2024.