US Blacklists Iranian Firms Forcing Commercial Vessels to Pay Bitcoin Tolls

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added two Iranian maritime insurance firms to its Specially Designated Nationals list, effectively blocking their properties under US sanctions rules. The firms, HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority and Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company, have been accused by the Treasury Department of supporting an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-backed scheme that forces commercial vessels to buy purported insurance for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

HormuzSafe had previously been described as a Bitcoin-settled insurance proposal, accepting digital assets to bypass Western sanctions. The designation adds two named entities to an existing sanctions-risk framework and lists both firms under Executive Order 13902 for operating in Iran's financial sector.

OFAC rules cover US citizens and permanent residents wherever they are located, people and entities in the United States, and US-incorporated companies and their foreign branches. The Treasury Department alleged that HormuzSafe and PGMIC support a scheme that forces commercial vessels to buy purported insurance for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.