U.S. Says Bitcoin Exchange Helped Iran Collect Strait of Hormuz Fees

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned BitBank, a Tehran-based cryptocurrency exchange it alleges was used to move hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and route payments collected from ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Treasury, tankers have been charged between $1 million and $2 million this year for passage through the strategically important waterway. Since June, a portion of those payments has allegedly been processed through BitBank.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control said Thursday it designated BitBank, which was established in Tehran in 2024, together with Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, the software company that developed the exchange.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action demonstrates that cryptocurrency infrastructure used to finance the Iranian regime remains within the reach of U.S. sanctions authorities.

OFAC alleges that BitBank transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Iranian military organization has significant influence over the country’s economy and is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S.

The Treasury also connected BitBank to the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority. The organization provides “safe passage” insurance to ships and was itself sanctioned by the U.S. on July 29.

OFAC said that, during the same period, HormuzSafe began using BitBank to move the funds it collected to entities associated with the Iranian regime.

HormuzSafe Services Under Scrutiny

Iran’s economy ministry developed HormuzSafe, which promotes insurance, maritime traffic management and emergency response services for vessels making payments.

OFAC said shipping lawyers have argued that the arrangement violates vessels’ transit rights under the Law of the Sea.

The sanctions freeze BitBank assets that fall under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit U.S. individuals and businesses from transacting with the exchange.

The action also imposes secondary-sanctions exposure, potentially affecting foreign companies that facilitate BitBank transactions. A financial institution in Istanbul or a cryptocurrency exchange in Dubai could face restrictions on its access to the U.S. financial system for processing BitBank-related flows, even without direct U.S. participation.

For offshore crypto platforms serving Iranian users, the principal threat is the potential loss of access to dollar-based financial services.

BitBank Wallets Not Identified

The Treasury announcement did not publish specific bitcoin or Tron wallet addresses linked to BitBank.

OFAC has included wallet addresses in earlier cryptocurrency sanctions cases. When it designated Zedcex in January, the agency published seven Tron wallet addresses.

Such blockchain identifiers are commonly used by compliance teams to screen transactions and identify activity associated with sanctioned entities.