The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned Tehran-based cryptocurrency exchange BitBank and its software developer, alleging the exchange moved hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated BitBank, a Tehran crypto exchange set up in 2024, along with Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, the software firm that built it. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the designations show that "efforts to finance the Iranian regime using cryptocurrencies are not beyond OFAC's reach."
According to OFAC, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — the branch of Iran's armed forces that controls much of the country's economy and is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. — received hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin routed through BitBank.
Treasury also said that since June, BitBank has processed fees collected by Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, an entity sanctioned on July 29 that Iran uses to charge tankers between $1 million and $2 million for "safe passage" through the Strait of Hormuz. Known as HormuzSafe, the outfit was developed by Iran's economy ministry and advertises insurance, traffic control and emergency response to vessels that pay. Shipping lawyers have called the arrangement a violation of transit rights under the Law of the Sea, OFAC said.