Trump's Crypto Bank Built an Iran Sanctions Loophole, and Claude Wrote the Ad Copy | Disruption Banking
Skip to content
Facebook-f
X-twitter
Markets by Trading view
","library":"fa-solid"},"toggle":"burger"}" data-widget_type="nav-menu.default">
Search
Trump’s Crypto Bank Built an Iran Sanctions Loophole, and Claude Wrote the Ad Copy
Tim Tolka
July 16, 2026
A shell company used by the Trump family to buy its own Stablecoin<!-- wp:paragraph --><br><p>According to Investopedia, 'a stablecoin is a new class of cryptocurrencies that attempts to offer price stability and are backed by a reserve asset.'</p><br><!-- /wp:paragraph -->" href="https://www.disruptionbanking.com/Fintech Glossary/stablecoin/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>stablecoin also owns a Ghana-based fintech that advertised a sanctions-busting bank card. You can’t make this stuff up.<br>“Instantly get a Crypto Virtual Card that works in Iran. Fund it with Bitcoin<!-- wp:paragraph --><br><p>According to Kraken, 'Bitcoin is an invention that, for the first time in history, enabled a group of software users to create and manage a digital money supply outside the control of any government or bank.'</p><br><!-- /wp:paragraph -->" href="https://www.disruptionbanking.com/Fintech Glossary/bitcoin/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>Bitcoin, USDT, or other crypto. No KYCKYC stands for "Know Your Customer”. In banking, it is a process by which banks obtain information about the identity and address of the customers. This process helps to ensure that banks' services are not misused." href="https://www.disruptionbanking.com/Fintech Glossary/kyc/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>KYC is needed. Bitsika Crypto Virtual Cards work on international platforms where Iranian bank cards are declined due to sanctions.”<br>That’s the promotional page run by Bitsika , a Ghana-based fintech that services mostly emerging markets. It ran for two-and-a-half months before fintech reporter Jason Mikula exposed the page, and Bitsika removed it.<br>Since then, Bitsika has apologized and offered a clarification on its webpage, in which the company explains how it utilized Anthropic ’s Claude to make pages for hundreds of individual markets, and no human eyes had personally reviewed the Iran page before it went live.<br>Layers Upon Layers<br>Although the dangers of AI could be seen as the main takeaway from this story, there is another layer. Bitsika doesn’t have a direct relationship with banks. Instead, it employs a middleware fintech company that issues virtual and physical multi-currency payment cards.<br>That company, located in Quebec, is called MSwipe , (or Stradacarte depending on the location). It is likely through MSwipe’s No KYCKYC stands for "Know Your Customer”. In banking, it is a process by which banks obtain information about the identity and address of the customers. This process helps to ensure that banks' services are not misused." href="https://www.disruptionbanking.com/Fintech Glossary/kyc/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>KYC (know-your-customer) card offerings, that Bitsika was able to offer a product that evaded Iranian sanctions.<br>MSwipe, itself, is a subsidiary.<br>In May of 2025, MSwipe was acquired by ALT5 Sigma , an obscure U.S. fintech. However, Alt5 Sigma’s obscurity would soon end. In August of 2025, ALT5 Sigma acquired $1.5 billion of crypto tokens from WLF, of which the Trump family collected $500 million. The company later changed its name to AI Financial .<br>WLFI, the governance token of World Liberty Financial (WLF), is the Trump family company’s primary profit engine. While initially propped up by rich foreign nationals, such as TRON<!-- wp:paragraph --><br><p>There are several modules in the core layer of TRON, including smart contracts, account management, and consensus. A stack-based virtual machine is implemented on TRON and an optimized instruction set is used. In order to better support DApp developers, Solidity was chosen as the smart contract language, followed by future support of other advanced languages. In addition, TRON’s consensus mechanism is based on Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) and many innovations were made in order to meet its unique requirements.</p><br><!-- /wp:paragraph --><br /><!-- wp:paragraph --><br><p>https://tron.network/static/doc/white_paper_v_2_0.pdf</p><br><!-- /wp:paragraph -->" href="https://www.disruptionbanking.com/Fintech Glossary/tron/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]'...