U.S. Treasury Sanctions Tehran-Based BitBank, Says It Helped Move ‘Hundreds of Millions’ in Bitcoin to IRGC

The U.S. Treasury Department on Sept. 17 sanctioned an Iran-based cryptocurrency exchange called BitBank, escalating Washington’s campaign against Iran-linked digital-asset finance and alleging the platform helped move “hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin” to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, or IRGC, between June and July 2026. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added BitBank, identified on the sanctions list as “BITBANK” and based in Tehran, to its Specially Designated Nationals list.

Treasury also designated Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, which it described as the developer of BitBank’s software, along with three people it said were associates or executives in the network: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein and Seyed Adel Heidari. The action blocks any property or interests in property of those targeted that are in U.S. jurisdiction, and U.S. persons are generally barred from doing business with them. Treasury also warned that non-U.S. persons could face secondary sanctions for facilitating the sanctioned actors.

Treasury tied the action to Babak Zanjani, a previously sanctioned Iranian businessman long identified by the U.S. government as part of Iran-linked commercial networks. Treasury alleged that Zanjani used BitBank in June and July 2026 to facilitate the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the IRGC. The department presented that claim as part of its sanctions announcement; the allegation has not been independently verified.

The department also said Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, an entity already under U.S. sanctions, had used BitBank since June 2026 to transfer payments it received to the Iranian regime. Treasury sanctioned Hormuz Safe on July 29, describing it as part of an IRGC-linked maritime extortion and insurance scheme connected to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global chokepoint for energy trade. The BitBank designation therefore links Treasury’s crypto enforcement to a wider sanctions push targeting Iranian revenue channels tied to maritime activity.

The move fits into Treasury’s broader 2026 sanctions campaign against Iran’s economic networks, branded “Operation Economic Outcast.” It also extends a wider U.S. crackdown on Iran-linked crypto infrastructure. Earlier 2026 OFAC actions against other Iran-linked exchanges included published cryptocurrency wallet addresses, a detail often used by compliance teams and blockchain analytics firms to automate screening and flag exposure.

This time, OFAC did not publish wallet addresses for BitBank in its announcement or sanctions update. Industry reporting noted that the omission makes address-based screening harder than in some earlier Iran-linked crypto cases, potentially leaving exchanges, payment firms and other digital-asset businesses to rely more heavily on name-based controls and other investigative tools. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent underscored the message in the announcement: “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.” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott added a warning aimed at the private sector, saying companies in digital assets should “exercise vigilance and ensure their platforms are not exploited by the Iranian regime or its facilitators.”