HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority
Iranian maritime authority selling mandatory Hormuz transit insurance; accepts Bitcoin, linked to financier Babak Zanjani.
OFAC designated HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority on 29 July 2026 for administering Iran's mandatory Hormuz transit insurance, flagging its Bitcoin payment option and ties to financier Babak Zanjani.
Last refreshed: 6 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why does an Iranian maritime authority accept Bitcoin for Hormuz insurance?
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HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority is the payment-facing half of Iran's mandatory Hormuz transit-insurance scheme, working alongside Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company, which underwrites the cover, and the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which approves the policies both rely on. Its acceptance of digital-asset payment sets it apart from conventional maritime insurers, which settle premiums in dollars through correspondent banks.
That crypto-payment channel functions as a sanctions-evasion tool: it lets shipowners and Iranian counterparties settle Hormuz insurance premiums without the transaction passing through dollar-clearing infrastructure Treasury can monitor or block. The authority's association with financier Babak Zanjani, already the subject of an expanding sanctions network Treasury has built out since January 2026, places it inside a wider pattern of Iranian entities using digital assets specifically to route around dollar-based enforcement.
It takes Bitcoin for Hormuz cover
Treasury designated HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority on 29 July, alongside the underwriting Arm Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company, for enforcing Iran's mandatory Hormuz transit-insurance scheme. Where its sister entity underwrites the cover, HormuzSafe handles payment, and it reportedly accepts Bitcoin and other digital assets alongside conventional currency.
The scheme was developed by Iran's Ministry of Economy and promoted by sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani, whose wider sanctions-evasion network Treasury has been expanding since January 2026. Accepting Cryptocurrency lets shipowners settle premiums without a transaction passing through dollar-clearing banks, the exact channel Treasury's designation is meant to close. As of 3 August, Treasury had filed no further Iran-related designations since 31 July, leaving HormuzSafe's listing the most recent action against the scheme.
Who developed the HormuzSafe insurance scheme?
How does HormuzSafe's Hormuz insurance scheme accept payment?
What services does HormuzSafe claim to offer?
Why was HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority sanctioned?
What is HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority?
