US Treasury Sanctions Iranian Firms Taking Bitcoin for Hormuz Passage - Decrypt

In brief

OFAC sanctioned two Iranian firms behind a scheme requiring vessels to buy IRGC-approved "insurance" to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

One of them, Hormuz Safe, accepts Bitcoin and other digital assets to evade sanctions, Treasury said.

Blockchain analysts told Decrypt in April they saw no evidence crypto was being used at scale for Hormuz tolls.

Iran is accepting Bitcoin from commercial shipping in exchange for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the U.S. Treasury, whose Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two firms behind the scheme on Wednesday. Vessels crossing the chokepoint, which carries a fifth of the world's oil, are required to buy maritime "insurance" approved by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.The cover protects against risks Iran itself creates, Treasury said, chiefly the seizure of vessels. Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company, set up by Iran's insurance regulator, brokers the policies. They are approved by the IRGC-backed Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which Washington designated in May.