US Treasury sanctions Iran crypto exchange BitBank

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sanctions on Iranian cryptocurrency exchange BitBank. The Treasury said the exchange processed transit fee payments for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz and supported transfers worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Treasury said the exchange is owned by Iranian financier and OFAC-sanctioned figure Babak Zanjani. The sanctions also cover the exchange, its developer, and associates linked to Zanjani. The sanctioned Iranian BitBank is a separate company from Japan’s cryptocurrency exchange bitbank.