Tensions between the US and Iran have been ongoing for months, and the Strait of Hormuz remains a critical point of contention between the two countries.
At this point, the latest move comes from the US, with the US Treasury Department adding the Iran-based cryptocurrency exchange BitBank to its sanctions list for allegedly helping Iran circumvent sanctions. The decision was announced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department.
OFAC alleged that BitBank processed payments related to transit through the Strait of Hormuz and was used to transfer Bitcoin to the Revolutionary Guard.
“The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added BitBank to its sanctions list as part of Operation Economic Exclusion, the Trump administration’s comprehensive economic campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its supporters.”
Allegations that Strait of Hormuz Payments are Processed via BitBank!
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority used BitBank to transfer payments it received starting in June to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Accordingly, OFAC alleges that BitBank transferred hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin to the IRGC, which controls a large part of Iran’s economy.
“…Since June of this year, Hormuz Safe Maritime Services Corporation, which is sanctioned by OFAC, has been using BitBank to transfer payments it receives to the Iranian regime.”
The organization in question had previously been sanctioned by the US in connection with its maritime services and insurance-like practices for commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The Treasury had previously announced that Hormuz Safe accepted payments in Bitcoin and other digital assets.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated, “Today’s findings regarding Iran’s digital asset infrastructure clearly demonstrate that the Iranian regime’s efforts to finance itself using cryptocurrencies are not outside the reach of OFAC. If you support the Iranian regime, the Treasury Department will impose sanctions on you.”
OFAC has recently added BitBank’s developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Commerce Company (Pishtaz Simorgh), and three partners of previously sanctioned Iranian financier Babak Zanjani – Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, and Seyed Adel Heidari – to its sanctions list, in addition to BitBank. OFAC stated, “The entities and individuals recently added to the sanctions list are key components of the Iranian regime’s digital asset-based sanctions evasion infrastructure.”
*This is not investment advice.