US Sanctions Iranian Firms Behind Bitcoin-Paid Strait of Hormuz Insurance

Treasury says the scheme forced ships to buy coverage against risks Iran itself created, and took payment in bitcoin to dodge Western sanctions.

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned two Iranian companies on July 29 over an operation that charged commercial ships to cross the Strait of Hormuz and accepted bitcoin as payment.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control named the Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority, which trades as Hormuz Safe. Treasury called the arrangement extortion rather than coverage, noting that the hazards the policies insured against, vessel seizure among them, “are overwhelmingly created by Iran itself.” Hormuz Safe was developed by Iran’s Ministry of Economy and “accepts payment in Bitcoin and other digital assets as part of the regime’s attempts to bypass Western sanctions,” Treasury said in the designation notice.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

Crypto Rails Carry the Same Liability

Both firms were designated under Executive Order 13902, which reaches Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors. U.S. persons may no longer deal with either one, and foreign shipowners or traders that do face secondary sanctions of their own. Settling in bitcoin does not soften that exposure; the blockchain carries the same liability as a correspondent bank.

The policies themselves were cleared by the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, an IRGC-backed body Treasury designated in May. Unchained reported that Iran’s economy ministry had built a bitcoin-settled marine insurance platform for the waterway earlier this year, when state-linked Fars News put its revenue potential above $10 billion. At that stage the site was little more than a landing page with no sign any cargo owner had used it.

Shadow Fleet Net Widens

Treasury paired the designations with sanctions on several tankers moving Iranian crude and petroleum products, lifting the number of Iran-linked shadow fleet vessels it has blacklisted this year past 100. Babak Morteza Zanjani, a regime financier sanctioned earlier in 2026, promoted Hormuz Safe to his social media followers, according to the department.

“With its economy in freefall and inflation in the triple digits, the regime is desperate for cash,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The action extends a campaign that has already reached Iran’s crypto infrastructure, including the sanctioning of Iranian exchange Nobitex in June.

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