US Treasury sanctions Iranian exchange BitBank over Bitcoin payments tied to Strait of Hormuz

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control has added the Iranian cryptocurrency exchange BitBank to its sanctions list, along with Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, the firm behind the exchange's software. Washington alleges the platform was used to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in a case that touches one of the world's most sensitive shipping routes.

According to OFAC, BitBank has been promoted since at least 2024 by Babak Zanjani, an Iranian businessman already under US sanctions. Between June and July, Zanjani is alleged to have used the exchange to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin to the IRGC.

A payment system at Hormuz

The case is connected to a system Iran has set up along the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that carries a large share of global oil trade. Under this system, ships are required to pay for services described as safe passage, including insurance, traffic guidance, security and emergency assistance.

These payments are collected by the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, which accepts Bitcoin and other digital assets. OFAC had already sanctioned Hormuz Safe in an earlier action. The Treasury now alleges that since June, Hormuz Safe has used BitBank to forward the payments it receives to Iranian government agencies.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions against Iran's digital asset infrastructure make it entirely clear that attempts to finance the Iranian regime with cryptocurrency do not fall outside the reach of OFAC.

What the sanctions mean in practice

As a result of the designation, any assets held by BitBank that fall under US jurisdiction are blocked, and Americans are prohibited from doing business with the exchange. Unlike some previous sanctions actions against crypto entities, OFAC did not publish specific Bitcoin addresses linked to BitBank in this round.

The action adds BitBank and Pishtaz Simorgh to a growing list of Iranian entities targeted over the use of cryptocurrency to move funds tied to the Revolutionary Guard, extending a pattern of US enforcement that has increasingly focused on digital asset infrastructure rather than only the individuals and companies that operate it.