US Can Now Sanction Anyone Operating in Iran's Crypto Sector

In brief

• OFAC has issued a sectoral determination covering digital assets, letting it sanction any person worldwide who operates in that part of Iran's economy.
• It is one of five determinations issued at once, and builds on earlier ones covering Iran's financial and petroleum sectors.
• Among nearly 60 designations, one shadow fleet broker is accused of processing more than $100 million in crypto payments for the IRGC's Qods Force.

The U.S. Treasury has given itself the power to sanction anyone in the world operating in Iran's digital asset sector, part of a campaign announced Monday that Secretary Scott Bessent has dubbed Economic D-Day.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued five sectoral determinations under Executive Order 13902, covering digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. The digital assets determination means OFAC can now designate any foreign person operating in or providing services to that sector, regardless of where they are based, a reach it previously held over Iran's financial and petroleum industries.

Treasury said the regime "increasingly turns to cryptocurrency as a tool of choice for sanctions evasion," pointing to transactions linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and regime insiders.