The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated BitBank and three associates of Iranian financier Babak Zanjani on Thursday for facilitating the transfer of Bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The US Treasury alleges the cryptocurrency exchange helped move hundreds of millions of dollars in digital assets to the IRGC and processed payments for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Sanctions also target BitBank's developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that these designations are part of Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign to sever the Iranian regime's sanctions evasion channels. BitBank is described as a priority digital assets venture controlled by Zanjani, a previously sanctioned financier. The move signals that cryptocurrency infrastructure used to fund the Iranian government is within the reach of US authorities.