{"id":13431,"date":"2026-09-18T16:53:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T16:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=13431"},"modified":"2026-09-18T16:53:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T16:53:42","slug":"us-sanctions-bitbank-and-its-software-developer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=13431","title":{"rendered":"US sanctions BitBank and its software developer"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

The US sanctioned Iranian crypto exchange BitBank, widening its campaign against digital-asset infrastructure allegedly used to finance the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).<\/p>\n

On Sept. 17, the Treasury Department\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that the sanctioned Iranian financier Babak Zanjani used BitBank between June and July to facilitate hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin transfers to the IRGC.<\/p>\n

Treasury also said Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, previously sanctioned over an alleged maritime-payment scheme in the Strait of Hormuz, had used the exchange since June to move receipts to the Iranian government.<\/p>\n

The action reaches beyond BitBank to Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, which developed the exchange\u2019s software, and three people tied to Zanjani\u2019s broader corporate network. OFAC described the group as part of Iran\u2019s digital-asset sanctions-evasion infrastructure and designated them under Executive Order 13902, which Treasury has expanded to cover Iran\u2019s digital-asset sector.<\/p>\n

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move demonstrates that crypto-based financing is \u201cnot beyond OFAC\u2019s reach,\u201d warning that parties supporting the Iranian government could also become sanctions targets.<\/p>\n

The designations deepen Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign Treasury launched Aug. 24 to cut Iran off from financial channels used to move oil revenue, evade sanctions and fund the IRGC. The program also widened secondary-sanctions exposure for companies outside the US that continue doing business with targeted Iranian entities.<\/p>\n

BitBank is the latest Iranian crypto platform swept into that effort. In June, OFAC sanctioned Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex as part of its earlier Economic Fury campaign. The pressure expanded again in August when OFAC designated Shelbit and Aban Tether.<\/p>\n

\n

Related Reading<\/span><\/p>\n

US sanctions exposed a $6.3 billion crypto pipeline linking Iran and Russia<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

<\/span> <\/div>\n

The accumulating designations show Washington increasingly treating Iranian crypto venues as parts of interconnected financing networks rather than isolated trading businesses.<\/p>\n

Treasury follows Zanjani\u2019s crypto network beyond the exchange<\/h2>\n

The BitBank action pushes that strategy further by targeting the developers, executives, and corporate infrastructure Treasury says allowed Zanjani\u2019s network to move funds.<\/p>\n