US sanctions two Iranian marine insurance entities tied to the Strait of Hormuz over a bitcoin-accepting scheme

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two Iranian marine insurance entities on Friday 31 July 2026: the Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and the HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority. The Treasury accused the two of selling insurance coverage to vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz and funnelling the proceeds to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

According to the Treasury statement, the Hormuz Safe platform 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". The Treasury described the arrangement as extortion rather than insurance, saying the risks the policies covered, such as vessel seizures, "are overwhelmingly created by Iran itself". According to CoinDesk, the policies were approved by the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, an IRGC-backed body the Treasury designated in May. Both firms were sanctioned under an executive order covering Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sectors.

The practical effect is that US persons are barred from dealing with the two entities, and foreign firms that transact with them risk secondary sanctions; CoinDesk noted that payments in bitcoin carry the same exposure as payments through the banking system. CoinDesk first reported the existence of the plan on 18 May 2026, based on Fars News accounts; at the time the platform's website showed only a landing page and the outlet could not verify whether it was operational or whether any cargo owners had used it. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most important energy chokepoints, and traffic through it has thinned in recent weeks.