Morning Edition · Saturday, August 1, 2026Published at 1:29 AM EDT · New York
US Sanctions Two Iranian Firms That Took Bitcoin for Strait of Hormuz Shipping Insurance
The Treasury says the companies forced vessels to buy mandatory Revolutionary Guard-backed coverage, accepting crypto to evade sanctions.
The United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two Iranian maritime entities, HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority and the Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company, accusing them of running a Bitcoin-denominate…
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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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