The United States has announced sanctions on an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange controlled by sanctioned Iranian financier Babak Zanjani, accusing it of processing payments for ships to transit safely through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports.
Treasury said BitBank had routed hundreds of millions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and described the exchange as a key component in Iran’s digital assets-based sanctions-evasion infrastructure. The exchange was used to transfer funds paid to Iran’s newly established Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, Treasury said in a statement.
The designation is part of Treasury’s Operation Economic Outcast intended to isolate Iran economically and disrupt Iran’s global financial, commercial and logistical networks, according to the statement. The strategy has targeted Iran’s illicit oil trade, financial intermediaries, exchange houses and shipping, aviation and front companies.
