U.S. sanctions two Iranian firms over Hormuz passage scheme involving Bitcoin

OFAC added HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority and Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company to its Specially Designated Nationals list on July 29, blocking their property in U.S. jurisdiction and subjecting the firms to secondary sanctions under Executive Order 13902. Treasury said the two insurers support an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-backed scheme that forces commercial vessels to buy purported insurance to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and said HormuzSafe accepts Bitcoin and other digital assets to bypass Western sanctions. The move adds two named entities to an existing sanctions-risk framework around a waterway that carries about a fifth of the world's oil. Treasury has previously said the policies were brokered by Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company, approved by the IRGC-backed Persian Gulf Strait Authority and framed as protection against risks created by Iran itself, especially vessel seizure. The July 29 notices did not identify wallet addresses or payment volumes. They did clarify the compliance perimeter: U.S. persons generally must freeze and report blocked property, OFAC's 50 Percent Rule can extend blocking to owned affiliates, and non-U.S. actors can face sanctions exposure for significant transactions, material support or evasion. A separate part of the same action designated eight petroleum-sector companies and identified eight linked vessels as blocked property; transit through the strait alone was not described as the trigger.