Morning Edition · Friday, July 31, 2026Published at 1:29 AM EDT · New York
US Sanctions Iranian Firms Accused of Taking Bitcoin for Strait of Hormuz Passage
The Treasury designated two maritime entities over an alleged Revolutionary Guard extortion scheme, one cited for accepting digital assets to settle premiums.
The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two Iranian maritime entities, accusing them of running a scheme backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that forces commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Ho…
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States Turn Crypto Rails Into Sanctions Instruments
Governments increasingly track, freeze, and seize on-chain assets to enforce sanctions, turning traceable ledgers and centrally controlled stablecoins into extensions of financial statecraft rather than escapes from it.
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