US Sanctions BitBank for Facilitating IRGC Crypto Transfers
The US Treasury has taken another step in its campaign to disrupt Iran's access to cryptocurrencies. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Iranian digital asset exchange BitBank, along with its software developer and associates of Babak Zanjani.
According to the Treasury, Zanjani routed hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin (BTC) to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) through BitBank between June and July. The IRGC is a powerful military force in Iran that has been subject to US sanctions for years.
The Treasury also designated Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, the developer of BitBank's digital assets software, as well as three Dot One executives who brokered transactions with the IRGC. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent framed the action as a warning to anyone financing Tehran: 'Today's designations make perfectly clear that efforts to finance the Iranian regime using cryptocurrencies are not beyond OFAC's reach.'