US Sanctions BitBank for Alleged Bitcoin Transfers to Iran's Security Apparatus
The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added BitBank, an Iranian digital asset platform, to its sanctions list. The move is part of Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign aimed at cutting off financial channels used by the Iranian government and its affiliates.
According to OFAC, BitBank was used by Babak Zanjani, an Iranian financier already on the US sanctions list, to arrange bitcoin transfers worth hundreds of millions of dollars that ultimately reached the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) between June and July.
Treasury also designated Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, which developed BitBank's software, as well as Dot One Value Creation Group, a previously sanctioned firm. Three individuals linked to Zanjani were listed: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, and Seyed Adel Heidari.
The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the designations show that cryptocurrency platforms used to finance the Iranian government are not beyond OFAC's reach. 'If you support the Iranian regime, the Department of the Treasury will sanction you,' he said.