US sanctions Iranian maritime firm, says it accepted Bitcoin to evade restrictionsThe US Treasury said HormuzSafe accepted Bitcoin and other digital assets to evade sanctions and generate revenue for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on two Iranian maritime companies, Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority, describing them as part of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-backed insurance network. This network allegedly required commercial vessels to purchase sanctioned insurance coverage before passing through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated both firms as operating within Iran’s financial sector and linked to generating revenue for the IRGC.
OFAC specifically accused HormuzSafe of accepting Bitcoin and other digital assets to bypass Western sanctions and facilitate revenue flow to the IRGC. The move was characterized as an effort to help Iran exert greater control over shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage responsible for about one-fifth of global oil trade. The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the United States would not allow Iran to use international shipping to finance the IRGC.
Prior to the sanctions, reports circulated that Iran was considering launching a Bitcoin-based maritime insurance platform through HormuzSafe, with financial coverage policies payable in Bitcoin. Iranian state-linked media suggested the platform could potentially generate over $10 billion in revenue. However, the website offering these “digital insurance” services had been inaccessible, indicating the platform had not yet fully launched.
Alongside the sanctions on the two companies, OFAC also targeted eight other companies connected to Iran’s shadow fleet and identified eight vessels as blocked property. The sanctions highlight ongoing concerns about the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin by sanctioned actors, who may find Bitcoin attractive due to its decentralized nature and lack of a central issuer capable of freezing funds, unlike centralized stablecoins. This development follows an earlier US action in April, when $344 million in Tether (USDT) stablecoins linked to Iran was frozen by authorities.