BitBank hit with US sanctions over Bitcoin transfers

• US Treasury has sanctioned BitBank, alleging the Iranian crypto exchange helped transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) to the IRGC.
• OFAC has also sanctioned BitBank’s developer and three associates linked to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani.
• The action has blocked BitBank-linked property under US jurisdiction, while the alleged Bitcoin transfers remain claims by US authorities.

The US Treasury has sanctioned Iranian crypto exchange BitBank over alleged Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) transfers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Treasury has alleged that BitBank transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the IRGC between June and July.

“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,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control has also designated BitBank’s software developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company.

OFAC has additionally sanctioned three associates linked to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani, who Treasury says controls BitBank.

The agency has alleged that Hormuz Safe used BitBank to move payments collected from vessels travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.

US persons must block property linked to the designated entities, while Treasury has not published wallet addresses or transaction data confirming the alleged transfer amounts.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $77,424.76.