The United States has imposed sanctions on the Iranian crypto exchange BitBank for processing payments for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

It was part of a scheme used by Iranian financier Babak Zanjani to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in BTC for the IRGC. The sanctions also cover BitBank’s developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic, and three of Zanjani’s associates. The U.S. Treasury called them key components of the Iranian regime’s sanctions evasion through digital assets.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that their financing via cryptocurrencies is under U.S. scrutiny. This month, Iran’s central bank loosened currency controls amid tightening U.S. sanctions.