Treasury sanctions Iranian firms behind Bitcoin funded Hormuz insurance scheme

What happened

On July 29, 2026, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of the Treasury Department, designated two Iranian entities involved in a maritime insurance scheme. The first, HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority, was established under Iran’s Ministry of Economy. The second, Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company (PGMIC), was established under Iran’s Central Insurance organization. According to Treasury’s press release, the two entities force commercial vessels to purchase mandatory insurance to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which Treasury describes as protection against risks that Iran itself creates.

Treasury said HormuzSafe accepts payment in Bitcoin and other digital assets as part of the regime’s effort to bypass Western sanctions. Iranian financier Babak Morteza Zanjani, sanctioned by OFAC earlier this year, promoted HormuzSafe on social media, per Treasury’s account.

The same action designated eight shipping companies based in China, Hong Kong, and the Marshall Islands. OFAC also identified eight tankers as blocked property for transporting Iranian crude oil and petroleum products, mostly to China.

Treasury said more than 100 vessels tied to Iran’s shadow fleet have been sanctioned since the start of 2026. State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said the designations “support the U.S. Navy’s enforcement of a blockade on Iranian ports.”

Why it matters

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the action bluntly: “With its economy in freefall and inflation in the triple digits, the regime is desperate for cash.” That framing, offered by Treasury itself rather than independently verified here, positions HormuzSafe’s Bitcoin acceptance as a liquidity workaround, not a novelty. Forcing shippers to pay in digital assets for passage through a chokepoint the regime does not legally control reads as an attempt to generate hard value outside the correspondent banking system that sanctions already restrict.

Bessent also said the United States “will not allow Iran to hold global commerce hostage or use international shipping to finance” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) activities. Read against the more than 100 shadow fleet vessels sanctioned since the start of 2026, this action extends enforcement from tankers themselves to the insurance layer that lets those tankers, and the vessels forced to transit near them, operate at all. That is a meaningful shift in target: insurers and financial facilitators, not just the ships.

A shipowner who already paid HormuzSafe or PGMIC for transit coverage may now hold a direct commercial relationship with newly designated specially designated nationals (SDNs). Whether that exposure existed before the designation or only crystallizes now is an open question the source material does not resolve.

Practitioner angle

• Screen counterparty and vessel databases immediately against the new OFAC SDN entries for HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority and Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company (PGMIC), plus the eight newly designated shipping companies and eight blocked tankers.
• Review marine insurance and protection and indemnity (P&I) club relationships for any vessel that has transited the Strait of Hormuz recently. Confirm none carried HormuzSafe or PGMIC cover.
• Flag trade finance, letters of credit, and crude or petroleum shipment documentation involving vessels flagged in China, Hong Kong, or the Marshall Islands for enhanced due diligence.
• Crypto compliance and virtual asset service provider (VASP) teams should watch OFAC’s SDN list for any wallet addresses tied to HormuzSafe and screen for transaction patterns consistent with forced insurance payments in the Hormuz corridor.
• Note the continued involvement of Babak Morteza Zanjani, already an SDN, as a promoter of HormuzSafe. Any entity or account still linked to Zanjani warrants a fresh look.

The single most important step this week: run the new SDN names against vessel, counterparty, and payment screening systems before processing any transaction tied to Strait of Hormuz transit or Iran-linked crude shipments.