Key Insights
- U.S. Treasury sanctioned BitBank over alleged Iran-linked crypto transfers and sanctions evasion.
- OFAC also designated BitBank developer Pishtaz Simorgh and three associates of financier Babak Zanjani.
- The action expands U.S. sanctions pressure on Iran’s digital-asset infrastructure under Operation Economic Outcast.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iranian digital-asset exchange BitBank on Sept. 17 over alleged cryptocurrency-based sanctions evasion.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control said BitBank formed part of a wider digital-asset network controlled by sanctioned Iranian financier Babak Zanjani.
Treasury alleged that Zanjani used BitBank between June and July to facilitate hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin transfers to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
OFAC also designated Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, which Treasury identified as the developer of BitBank’s digital-asset software, alongside Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein and Seyed Adel Heidari.
The action forms part of Operation Economic Outcast, Treasury’s broader effort targeting financial channels and intermediaries it says support Iran’s government and sanctions-evasion networks.
OFAC had already clarified that Iranian digital-asset exchanges qualify as Iranian financial institutions under U.S. sanctions rules. BitBank’s Sept. 17 designation adds an E.O. 13902 listing and explicit secondary-sanctions exposure.
The action does not create a general ban on cryptocurrency transactions. It applies existing Iran sanctions authorities to the named entities and connected financial activity.
Moses
Crypto journalist and market analyst covering digital assets, markets and financial technology.
