US Sanctions Iranian Crypto Exchange BitBank Over Alleged Regime-Financing Schemes

The U.S. Treasury has imposed sanctions on Iranian crypto exchange BitBank and its software developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, for allegedly routing hundreds of millions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

BitBank was also accused of using its platform to transfer funds collected by Iran's newly established Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority to regime entities.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that 'today's designations of Iranian digital asset infrastructure make perfectly clear that efforts to finance the Iranian regime using cryptocurrencies are not beyond OFAC's reach.'

The sanctions, part of the 'Operation Economic Outcast' initiative, aim to isolate Iran economically and disrupt its global financial networks.

Babak Zanjani, a key figure in Iran's sanctions-evasion networks, was sentenced to death by Iranian authorities in 2016 for embezzlement but had his sentence commuted in 2024.