The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Iranian cryptocurrency exchange BitBank on September 17, 2026, along with its software developer Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company and three associates of sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani, as part of Operation Economic Outcast. The Treasury alleges Zanjani used BitBank to move hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) between June and July of this year, and that the previously sanctioned Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority has been routing maritime transit payments through the exchange since June.
The designations, announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, mark the latest escalation in the Trump Administration's campaign to sever Iran's digital asset channels. "Today's designations of Iranian digital asset infrastructure make perfectly clear that efforts to finance the Iranian regime using cryptocurrencies are not beyond OFAC's reach," Bessent said in the Treasury press release. "If you support the Iranian regime, the Department of the Treasury will sanction you."
The Network Behind BitBank
BitBank, established in 2024, is an Iranian digital asset exchange that OFAC described as a "priority digital assets venture" controlled by Zanjani. According to the Treasury, Zanjani advertised BitBank on his social media accounts since at least 2024, and the exchange was listed as a partner by multiple companies within his sanctions evasion network. The software behind BitBank was developed by Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, a subsidiary of Dot One Value Creation Group — an entity OFAC had already designated.
The three individuals added to the Specially Designated Nationals list are all executives within Zanjani's Dot One network. Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, described as Zanjani's principal lieutenant, was involved in most of his sanctions evasion activity, including Iranian oil exports and digital asset transfers that ultimately reached the IRGC. Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein managed Dot One's operations and served as CEO of Pishtaz Simorgh. Seyed Adel Heidari held the position of vice chairman on Dot One's board of directors.
Zanjani's Rise, Fall, and Return
The sanctions build on OFAC's earlier actions against Zanjani's network. On January 30, 2026, Treasury designated Zanjani, Zedcex and Zedxion — the first U.S. sanctions against digital asset exchanges for supporting the IRGC. TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics firm, identified approximately $1 billion in IRGC-linked activity through those two exchanges in its investigation. On July 24, additional Zanjani-linked entities were designated. The enforcement has since extended to Iran's broader domestic crypto ecosystem, with OFAC sanctioning Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex in June, and Shelbit and Aban Tether on August 7.
Zanjani's trajectory illustrates how sanctioned networks evolve. He was sentenced to death in Iran in 2016 for embezzling millions from the OFAC-designated National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). His sentence was commuted in 2024, and by 2025 he had publicly re-emerged as a backer of regime-linked economic projects. The Treasury described how Zanjani simultaneously operated public-facing commercial ventures and covert financial platforms that facilitated sanctions evasion and support to Iranian state-linked entities.
The Hormuz Link
The BitBank designation also ties into Iran's maritime toll operation in the Strait of Hormuz. The Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, which Treasury sanctioned in July, has used BitBank since June to transfer payments it collected from ships transiting the strait. Iran had targeted more than $10 billion in annual revenue from this platform, which was established as the U.S.-Iran conflict intensified. The maritime insurance scheme, first reported in May, offered coverage for vessels willing to pay in Bitcoin — with the proceeds routed through Zanjani's crypto infrastructure to the Iranian regime.
Enforcement and Secondary Sanctions
Under the September 17 action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Any entity owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons is also blocked. OFAC emphasized that non-U.S. persons are prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to violate sanctions, and from engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions.
The State Department described the action as part of a "whole-of-government campaign" to sever Iran's remaining economic lifelines, working with partners including the European Union, United Kingdom and Gulf states. Treasury warned that any entity facilitating money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran risks being cut off from the U.S. financial system.
Operation Economic Outcast, which Bessent announced on August 24 as a continuation of the Economic Fury campaign, represents a sustained six-month enforcement arc against Iran's digital asset infrastructure. The escalating designations — from exchanges facilitating direct IRGC activity to the infrastructure layer and individual operators — signal that secondary sanctions risk extends to any platform that continues processing transactions for these entities. Because the designations rely on E.O. 13902 rather than congressional legislation, they could theoretically be reversed by a future administration, though any such move would require its own formal action. It should be noted that BitBank, the Iranian exchange, is a separate entity from bitbank, a fully licensed Japanese crypto exchange acquired by SBI Holdings in June.
Sources
- [U.S. Department of the Treasury — Operation Economic Outcast Disrupts Digital Asset Exchange Enabling the Iranian Regime](home.treasury.gov) (September 17, 2026)
- [Reuters — US sanctions Iranian financier's crypto exchange, says it processes Hormuz payments](reuters.com) (September 17, 2026)
- [CoinTelegraph — US Sanctions Iran's BitBank Over IRGC Bitcoin Transfers](cointelegraph.com) (September 18, 2026)
- [TRM Labs — OFAC Sanctions BitBank, Expanding Action Against Babak Zanjani's Digital Asset Network](trmlabs.com) (September 18, 2026)
- [Unchained — US Sanctions Iranian Exchange BitBank Over Bitcoin Transfers to the IRGC and Hormuz Passage Fees](unchainedcrypto.com) (September 17, 2026)
