US Sanctions Iranian Crypto Exchange BitBank Over Alleged IRGC Ties
The U.S. Treasury Department has taken action against Iranian cryptocurrency exchange BitBank, alleging it was used to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
On September 17, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated BitBank alongside its software developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, and three associates of Iranian financier Babak Zanjani.
The Treasury Department claims that between June and July, Zanjani used BitBank to facilitate transfers of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin to the IRGC. The agency also links BitBank to Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, a previously sanctioned Iranian digital platform linked to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The action is part of Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury campaign launched on August 24 targeting financial channels and businesses that assist Iranian sanctions evasion. The repeated use of sanctions against exchanges and their associated corporate structures suggests Treasury is concentrating increasingly on the infrastructure that allows digital assets to move between Iranian businesses and international counterparties.