Scott Bessent Says Crypto Aid to Iran 'Not Beyond' Treasury's Reach

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that new sanctions targeting a Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) exchange linked to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani showed that crypto-based efforts to finance the Iranian regime won’t escape Treasury’s reach.

Treasury Targets Zanjani’s Digital Asset Network

“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,” Bessent said in a post on X.

He added that the department will sanction those who support the regime.

The OFAC sanctioned BitBank, a digital asset exchange controlled by Zanjani, along with its developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company.

Three of Zanjani’s associates, Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad ​Mahdi Zaker Hossein​, and Seyed Adel ⁠Heidari, were also sanctioned.

The designation is part of “Operation Economic Outcast,” Treasury’s campaign launched in August to isolate Iran economically and disrupt its global financial, commercial, and logistical networks.

BitBank Moved Money to the IRGC

Treasury said Zanjani used BitBank between June and July to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.