The US Treasury Department has added Iranian cryptocurrency exchange BitBank to its sanctions list, accusing the platform of helping move funds tied to Iran and of operating within a business network linked to sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani.

According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, BitBank was used to process payments connected to the already-designated Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority and to facilitate large Bitcoin transfers allegedly sent to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps between June and July.

BitBank named in broader Iran crackdown

The designation was announced as part of a wider US effort aimed at Iran’s financial networks. OFAC said BitBank is controlled by Zanjani, an Iranian businessman who has already been sanctioned by the United States, and described the exchange as part of a digital asset network built around him.

Treasury said the sanctions fall under Executive Order 13902, which targets parts of Iran’s economy, including the digital asset sector. The department also indicated it intends to keep using those authorities against crypto platforms and other businesses it believes help Iran bypass US restrictions.

Alleged transfers tied to Hormuz Safe and the IRGC

In its statement, OFAC said BitBank was used to transfer payments received by the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, an entity that had already been designated by the US. Treasury said those transfers began in June.

US officials further alleged that BitBank played a role in moving hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin to the IRGC between June and July. The Treasury announcement presented those claims as part of the basis for the sanctions action.

Developer and executives also designated

The sanctions action did not stop at the exchange itself. OFAC also designated Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, identified as BitBank’s developer, along with three executives linked to Zanjani: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, and Seyed Adel Heidari.

Treasury described those individuals and the developer as members of Zanjani’s digital asset network, extending the action beyond the exchange’s operating brand to the wider corporate structure around it.

Background on Zanjani and what comes next

Treasury said BitBank has operated as an Iranian digital asset exchange since at least 2024. It also pointed to social media promotion by Zanjani and to BitBank being listed as a partner by other companies connected to his network as signs of that relationship.

Zanjani has previously faced legal action in Iran, including a 2016 death sentence over the embezzlement of funds from the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company. That sentence was commuted in 2024, and US officials now say he has rebuilt a business network that includes digital asset companies.

The latest designations come under Operation Economic Outcast, launched in August 2026 to limit Iran’s access to international financial channels. The next confirmed step from Washington is continued enforcement using the same sanctions powers against crypto-related entities and other firms it says support sanctions evasion.

Source: cryptopotato.com