US sanctions Iranian financier's crypto exchange, says it processes Hormuz payments
Treasury said BitBank moved hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin to the IRGC and processed vessel payments through a maritime insurance scheme.
- On Thursday, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned the Iranian cryptocurrency exchange BitBank, alleging it facilitates payments for safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
- BitBank is controlled by financier Babak Zanjani, a key figure in sanctions-evasion networks who re-emerged in government projects following a commuted 2016 death sentence for embezzlement.
- Sanctions also hit Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, the developer behind BitBank, and three associates: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, and Seyed Adel Heidari.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized that the latest sanctions, part of 'Operation Economic Outcast,' make "perfectly clear that efforts to finance the Iranian regime using cryptocurrencies are not beyond OFAC's reach."
- Sanctions could jeopardize a fragile detente ahead of a September 24 meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington, though Treasury has yet to target Chinese banks.
97 Articles
97 Articles
U.S. Sanctions Crypto Exchange Tied to Iran’s Hormuz Transit Payments
The United States has sanctioned an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange that Treasury says was used to move payments collected from ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz into Iran’s financial system. The...
Cleveland Jewish News
Jewish News SyndicateUS sanctions Iranian crypto exchange for bitcoin transfers to Revolutionary Guards
“Today’s designations of Iranian digital asset infrastructure make perfectly clear that efforts to finance the Iranian regime using cryptocurrencies are not beyond” the reach of American sanctions, stated U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Zero Hedge
DecryptTreasury Sanctions Crypto Exchange Behind Iran's Bitcoin Tolls On Hormuz Ships
Treasury Sanctions Crypto Exchange Behind Iran's Bitcoin Tolls On Hormuz Ships Via Decrypt.co, The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned BitBank, naming the Iranian exchange it says carried the Bitcoin that shipping companies paid for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Since June, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said, the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority has used BitBank to pass the payments it collects on to the Iranian regime. That au…
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