The United States Treasury Department has designated Bitbank, an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange, along with its software developer and three associates of financier Babak Zanjani, citing alleged sanctions-evasion activity.
According to the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Zanjani used Bitbank between June and July to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite branch of Iran's armed forces. The designation also covers Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, which developed the exchange's software and is a subsidiary of the previously designated Dot One Value Creation Group.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated: "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. If you support the Iranian regime, the Department of the Treasury will sanction you."
Expanding Iran Sanctions Campaign
The Bitbank designation follows a series of Treasury actions targeting Iranian crypto infrastructure. In January, OFAC designated financier Zanjani and the U.K.-registered exchanges Zedcex and Zedxion. In June, Treasury expanded enforcement by designating Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex alongside four Iranian nationals, describing Nobitex as Iran's largest digital asset exchange.
These actions are part of Operation Economic Outcast, a government-wide campaign launched in August by Treasury to disrupt networks Iran uses to smuggle oil, evade sanctions, and fund terrorism. The initiative made Iran's digital asset sector subject to sanctions under Executive Order 13902.
Effects of Designation
Property belonging to the designated parties that enters the United States or comes under U.S. control is now blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Entities owned 50 percent or more by blocked persons are also blocked. U.S. persons generally cannot conduct transactions involving the designated parties without authorization or an exemption from OFAC. Civil penalties may apply on a strict-liability basis, meaning a violation can produce liability without proof of intent.
Foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions involving targeted sectors or blocked persons may face restrictions on their access to U.S. correspondent or payable-through accounts.
