US sanctions Iranian crypto exchange BitBank for IRGC-linked bitcoin transfers

The designation places renewed scrutiny on cryptocurrency's involvement in Iranian sanctions evasion — a concern likely to keep exchanges and wallets with any indirect connection to Iranian-linked flows under pressure. It directly ties into the Hormuz corridor issue, given that the already-sanctioned Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority is said to have used BitBank to process payments from its bitcoin-based transit scheme for vessels crossing the strait. Iran had reportedly aimed to generate over $10 billion in revenue from that arrangement. For oil and shipping markets, the practical impact is incremental rather than immediate, since targeting a single exchange is unlikely to severely disrupt Iran's broader sanctions evasion network, though it adds another data point to the pattern of US economic pressure alongside the military standoff in the Gulf. Bitcoin's price has shown little reaction, in line with the market's established view that Iran-related designations affect geopolitical risk premia more than crypto valuations.

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The US government has imposed sanctions on an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange accused of moving hundreds of millions in bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Summary:

• OFAC designated BitBank, an Iranian digital asset exchange, on Thursday as part of an action Treasury is calling Operation Economic Outcast
• Treasury alleges BitBank was used to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps between June and July
• Also designated were BitBank's software developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, and three associates of Iranian financier Babak Zanjani, who Treasury says controls the exchange
• Treasury said the OFAC-designated Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority has used BitBank since June to transfer payments tied to a bitcoin-settled scheme covering vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz
• Zanjani was previously sanctioned by OFAC and was sentenced to death in Iran in 2016 over embezzlement linked to the National Iranian Oil Company
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the designations show that financing the Iranian regime through cryptocurrency is