US Sanctions Iranian Crypto Exchange Over Strait of Hormuz Payments

The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange called BitBank, which is accused of processing payments for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The exchange is controlled by Babak Zanjani, a 52-year-old Iranian billionaire and business magnate who was previously sanctioned in January for financially backing projects supporting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Treasury Department stated that BitBank has been used to transfer payments collected from vessels for passage through the Strait of Hormuz since June, when the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority came under US sanctions. The authority is also known as IRISL, and it was already designated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2018.

The sanctions block all property and interests in property of those designated while generally prohibiting US persons from doing business with them. This move is part of President Donald Trump's Operation Economic Outcast, which aims to sever Iran from foreign sources of funds and squeeze the country economically.