Iranian Bitcoin Users Are Already Being Affected By New US Sanctions

On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that two bitcoin addresses tied to Iran residents Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan were being added to its Specially Designated Nationals sanctions list, a first for the office.

Hours later, Telegram channels across Iran began to light up with chatter about privacy and the security of bitcoin wallets.

Iranian sources have told CoinDesk that some of them are no longer able to access the cryptocurrency swap platform ShapeShift, even when using virtual private networks (VPNs). As such, the sanctions appear to be already impacting Iranians who want to make lawful use of cryptocurrencies.

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