Iranian Crypto Platform BitBank Faces US Sanctions Over Alleged 'Hormuz Safe' Bitcoin Transactions
The US Treasury Department reports that the Iranian cryptocurrency platform handled payment processing for Iran's Strait of Hormuz maritime program and facilitated the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the IRGC.
On Thursday, United States authorities revealed sanctions targeting BitBank, an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange, with allegations that the platform processed Bitcoin payments from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, BitBank was utilized by the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority as of June to transfer received payments to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Treasury claims this forms part of the infrastructure employed by Iranian financier Babak Zanjani for moving hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the IRGC.
Previous allegations by Treasury have identified Hormuz Safe as a component of an IRGC-supported scheme that compels vessels to purchase maritime insurance for safe passage, which includes protection against seizures by Iran itself.
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.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
This designation represents the most recent Treasury measure designed to separate Iran from the global financial system, which includes sanctions targeting digital asset exchange platforms.
The OFAC designations encompass BitBank, along with its developer Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company and three individuals associated with Zanjani, whom the Treasury has identified as "key components of the Iranian regime's digital assets-based sanctions evasion infrastructure."
Cointelegraph reached out to BitBank for comment.
The Iranian entity BitBank is distinct from bitbank, inc, a fully licensed cryptocurrency exchange established in 2014 in Japan, which SBI Holdings acquired in June. According to Treasury's designation, BitBank was founded in 2024.
Last August, the US imposed sanctions on two digital asset platforms, Shelbit and Aban Tether, with accusations that they aided the Iranian regime in evading sanctions. In June, Treasury also sanctioned four cryptocurrency exchanges, including Nobitex, the country's largest platform.
During July, the US government issued orders to freeze over $130 million in USDt contained in wallets connected to Iran.
Reports indicate that Iran has attempted to reduce the impact of increasingly stringent financial restrictions. The Financial Times reported earlier this month that Iran's central bank relaxed foreign currency controls as a means to incentivize businesses to repatriate overseas earnings home, including via cryptocurrency, in response to tightening US sanctions.