Treasury Sanctions BitBank Over Iranian Crypto Sanctions-Evasion Network

TL;DR

• U.S. Treasury has sanctioned Iranian digital asset exchange BitBank.
• OFAC says the platform was part of a network tied to sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani.
• Treasury alleges the infrastructure helped move hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin connected to the IRGC.

The U.S. Treasury has targeted another part of Iran’s crypto infrastructure, this time placing digital asset exchange BitBank under sanctions.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated BitBank as part of what Treasury describes as a sanctions-evasion network tied to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani.

Treasury also sanctioned BitBank developer Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company and several individuals linked to Zanjani’s wider business network.

The allegations are substantial.

OFAC says Zanjani used BitBank between June and July to facilitate the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Those are U.S. government allegations underlying the sanctions designation, not a criminal conviction.

Crypto Infrastructure Moves Higher Up The Sanctions List

The action is part of a broader Treasury campaign against Iran-linked financial infrastructure.

In previous enforcement rounds, OFAC has targeted banks, exchanges, facilitators and digital asset businesses it says help sanctioned actors move money outside conventional banking channels.