U.S. officials say a Tehran bitcoin exchange processed Strait of Hormuz tolls
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned BitBank, accusing the exchange of transferring hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin to the Revolutionary Guards and processing payments from vessels purchasing passage through a crucial global oil chokepoint.
— The Treasury targeted the Tehran-based cryptocurrency exchange and the software company behind it, alleging that BitBank moved hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
— OFAC said BitBank also handled some fees collected by the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, which has demanded $1 million to $2 million from tankers for “safe passage” through the Strait of Hormuz.
— The sanctions freeze BitBank’s assets under U.S. jurisdiction and warn foreign institutions that process its transactions that they could be cut off from the U.S. financial system, although the Treasury listed no cryptocurrency wallet addresses.
Iran has spent this year demanding between $1 million and $2 million from tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. Treasury says that since June, a portion of those payments has passed through a cryptocurrency exchange in Tehran.
A Thursday announcement identified the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designations of BitBank, a Tehran crypto exchange established in 2024, and Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, the software firm that developed it.
“Today’s designations targeting Iranian digital-asset infrastructure demonstrate that attempts to finance the Iranian regime with cryptocurrency remain within OFAC’s reach,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
OFAC accused BitBank of moving hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the branch of Iran’s military that oversees much of the national economy and is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States.
During the same period, the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority—the entity Tehran uses to offer ships “safe passage” insurance and which was itself sanctioned on July 29—began relying on BitBank to forward its collections to regime-linked entities.
Iran’s economy ministry developed HormuzSafe, which promotes insurance, traffic management and emergency assistance for paying vessels. According to OFAC, maritime lawyers have described the setup as a breach of transit rights under the Law of the Sea.
A designation freezes BitBank’s property within U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits Americans from conducting business with it. An even more significant element is the secondary-sanctions label applied to every party named in Wednesday’s action.
This broadens the risk for overseas companies: a Dubai exchange or Istanbul bank that handles BitBank transactions could itself lose access to the U.S. financial system, even if no American participates in the transfer.
For offshore platforms serving Iranian customers, the principal danger is the loss of dollar access rather than prosecution in a U.S. court.
Wednesday’s action, however, did not list a single wallet address. OFAC has disclosed bitcoin and Tron addresses in previous cryptocurrency sanctions, including seven Tron wallets when it designated Zedcex in January, and compliance teams use those strings in screening software.
As stablecoins enter regulated finance, the Asia-Pacific region is emerging as an important testing ground. This report outlines the region’s regulations and use cases, along with RLUSD’s role.
Why this matters:
As stablecoins become part of regulated finance, Asia-Pacific is turning into a key proving ground. The report examines the region’s rules and applications and explains the role of RLUSD.