Market Daily: Solana upgrade follow-up and US sanctions on BitBank

This Sunday briefing follows up two developments from the past week. Solana’s latest engineering update discusses its already activated transaction format, while the US Treasury’s 17 September action designated an Iranian digital-asset exchange, its software developer and three associated individuals. One development concerns how a blockchain processes activity. The other shows how conventional financial sanctions can apply to crypto businesses and transactions.

At 09:09 BST on 20 September, CoinGecko’s fixed observations showed Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana and Chainlink lower over the preceding 24 hours. Solana and Chainlink had the largest percentage falls in this five-asset sample. This is not the whole crypto market, and the timing does not establish that either news development caused the price movements.

Solana explains the next steps after Transaction V1 activation

The Solana Foundation’s changelog posted on 19 September lists Transaction V1 among the feature gates active on mainnet, the live version of the network. The Foundation’s upgrade tracker dates activation to approximately 01:00 UTC on 15 September. The changelog is a later update, not evidence of a new activation this weekend. Its page label says 19 September while its headline says 18 September.

A transaction format defines how instructions and related information are packaged for processing by the network. The upgrade tracker gives a maximum transaction size of 4,096 bytes, up from 1,232 bytes, about 3.3 times as much space. The changelog describes potential programme-deployment fee savings from packing more data into each transaction. This does not mean that the network processes 3.3 times as many transactions, or that every ordinary transfer becomes cheaper or faster.

The changelog also lists a reduction in target slot time to 250 milliseconds. A slot is a short opportunity for a validator to produce a block. A shorter target is intended to support faster processing, but the activation notice alone does not demonstrate sustained performance under every workload.

Compatibility is the practical issue to watch. The same update says disabling the older Legacy and V0 transaction formats has been proposed. That retirement has not been described as completed. Wallet and application operators therefore need to distinguish the activated V1 format from the separate proposal to remove older formats. Ordinary users should follow notices from the wallet or exchange they use rather than changing transfer settings solely because of a technical announcement.

US sanctions target BitBank and its developer

On 17 September, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, known as OFAC, designated the Iranian digital-asset exchange BitBank, its software developer Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company and three named associates of Iranian financier Babak Zanjani.

The Treasury alleges that BitBank formed part of infrastructure used for sanctions evasion. It says Zanjani used BitBank between June and July 2026 to facilitate transfers of Bitcoin worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. These are US government claims contained in the designation notice. The notice establishes that the sanctions action occurred, but this briefing does not present the allegations as an independent judicial finding.

According to the Treasury, property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons that are in the United States, or in the possession or control of US persons, must be blocked and reported to OFAC. Its notice also says US sanctions generally prohibit transactions by US persons, or within or transiting the United States, involving the property or interests of designated or blocked persons unless an exemption or OFAC licence applies.

The exact consequences for a person or business depend on the transaction, ownership, location and jurisdiction. Anyone who believes they may have dealt with a named entity should compare the official designation details and obtain appropriate sanctions advice rather than relying on a similar company name or a social-media warning.

The broader practical point is that a blockchain address may remain technically capable of sending funds while a person or service is legally restricted from dealing with its counterparty. Transaction completion and regulatory permission are separate questions.

What the five-asset snapshot shows

At the fixed 09:09 BST observation, Bitcoin was about $80,363, down 1.0% over 24 hours. Ether was about $2,578, down 2.0%; XRP $1.38, down 2.3%; Solana $108.45, down 3.0%; and Chainlink $12.00, also down about 3.0%.

These are rolling 24-hour comparisons, so their starting points change continually. The narrow conclusion is that all five selected assets were lower at that moment. It would go beyond the evidence to describe this as a fall across the entire crypto market or attribute it to Solana’s upgrade, the US sanctions announcement or any single event.

Dated developments to watch

• After the 19 September changelog: watch wallet, exchange and developer notices for demonstrated Transaction V1 support and reported compatibility problems. Mainnet activation is different from universal adoption.
• No retirement date stated in the 19 September update: disabling Solana’s Legacy and V0 formats remains a proposal in the cited changelog. Watch for a formal decision and activation schedule before treating those formats as withdrawn.
• After the 17 September designation: watch official US sanctions records and notices from affected service providers for implementation details. Treasury allegations should remain attributed to the Treasury unless independently established.
• For subsequent market checks: compare several assets at consistent times before describing a broader direction. A five-asset Sunday snapshot is useful context, not a complete market measure.

This briefing provides educational market context, not personalised financial, legal, tax or investment advice. Check current official notices and your provider’s instructions before acting.