US Treasury designates Iran's digital asset sector as sanctionable under new economic campaign

The U.S. Treasury Department has launched Operation Economic Outcast, a sweeping campaign designating Iran's digital asset sector as a sanctionable industry under Executive Order 13902. Led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the initiative allows the Office of Foreign Assets Control to blacklist any global entity operating in Iran's crypto space. The crackdown also targets technology, gold, aviation, and shipping, while penalizing networks in China, Hong Kong, and the UAE for facilitating Iranian oil sales and military procurement.

OFAC Iran crypto sanctions

• ▪The U.S. Treasury Department stated that the Iranian regime increasingly uses cryptocurrency as a tool of choice for sanctions evasion to support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
• ▪The digital asset determination was issued under Executive Order 13902, exposing foreign exchanges, brokers, and custodians to secondary sanctions and the loss of U.S. dollar access.
• ▪The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a sectoral determination on August 24, 2026, allowing it to sanction any person globally who operates in Iran's digital asset sector.

Iran crypto sanctions evasion

• ▪The Office of Foreign Assets Control listed 30 digital asset addresses belonging to four Mabna Institute defendants charged by the Justice Department with stealing 31 terabytes of academic data.
• ▪Ivan Obukhov, a UAE-based Ukrainian vessel broker, was sanctioned for allegedly processing over $100 million in cryptocurrency payments since 2023 to facilitate oil sales for the IRGC-Qods Force.
• ▪According to Chainalysis data, Iran's crypto ecosystem reached $7.78 billion in 2025, with wallets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps receiving more than $3 billion.

Operation Economic Outcast scope

• ▪The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Singapore-based commodities group Wellbred Capital PTE. LTD. and its subsidiaries on August 24, 2026, under Operation Economic Outcast.
• ▪U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched Operation Economic Outcast on August 24, 2026, describing the comprehensive economic pressure campaign against Iran as an economic D-Day.
• ▪Operation Economic Outcast issued five sectoral determinations under Executive Order 13902, targeting Iran's digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping sectors.

Strait of Hormuz extortion

• ▪U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent characterized the Strait of Hormuz demands as an extortion tactic backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to profit from selling protection.
• ▪The Treasury alert named three designated entities operating in the Strait of Hormuz: the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company, and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority.
• ▪The U.S. Treasury Department issued an updated alert on August 24, 2026, warning mariners that responding to information requests from Iranian-linked maritime organizations could trigger sanctions.

China-Hong Kong Iran procurement

• ▪As of November 2025, the United States government had already sanctioned at least 366 entities in mainland China or Hong Kong for facilitating Iranian oil revenue and military supply chains.
• ▪The Trump administration sanctioned dozens of businesses in China and Hong Kong, including Sweet Ocean Industrial Limited, for helping Iran's military procure weapons components and move oil.

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