Crypto
US Sanctions Tehran-Based BitBank for Alleged Bitcoin Transfers to Iranian Regime
The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on BitBank, a Tehran-based cryptocurrency exchange, for allegedly transferring hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
BitBank was established in 2024 and also worked with the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, which charges tankers $1-2 million for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The exchange processed payments from these ships using Bitcoin.
The sanctions freeze BitBank's assets under US jurisdiction and threaten foreign entities dealing with it with exclusion from the US financial system.