The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Iranian cryptocurrency exchange, BitBank, accusing the platform of helping facilitate the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated BitBank and its developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, alongside 3 executives linked to Iranian financier, Babak Zanjani, as part of the Trump administration’s ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ targeting Iran’s sanctions-evasion networks.

 

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Treasury said Zanjani used BitBank between June and July 2026 to facilitate the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin to the IRGC. It also said the exchange had been used since at least 2024 and was promoted by Zanjani on social media.

 

“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,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

“If you support the Iranian regime, the Department of the Treasury will sanction you.”

 

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Treasury said the action also targeted three Zanjani associates,

  • Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein,

  • Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, and

  • Seyed Adel Heidari

describing them as key components of the network.

The department said BitBank’s software was developed by Pishtaz Simorgh, a subsidiary of OFAC-designated, Dot One Value Creation Group. Treasury has previously sanctioned other Zanjani-linked digital asset entities and facilitators in January and July 2026.

 

The latest action comes as Washington expands its use of sanctions against cryptocurrency infrastructure linked to Iran.

 

Treasury said its authorities give the department broader powers to disrupt the Iranian regime’s use of digital assets for sanctions evasion and warned international companies and individuals facilitating such activity could also face sanctions exposure.

Under the sanctions, property and interests in property belonging to the designated parties that are in the United States or controlled by U.S. persons are blocked. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from conducting transactions involving the designated entities and individuals without authorization from OFAC.

 

The action highlights a growing enforcement reality for crypto markets:

Sanctions authorities are increasingly targeting not only wallets and individuals, but also the exchanges, developers, and financial infrastructure that enable sanctioned actors to move digital assets.

 

 

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