US sanctions Iranian shipping company, accusing it of accepting BTC to evade sanctions and raise funds for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

TechFlow News, July 30, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on two Iranian shipping companies—Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and Hormuz Safe Maritime Services Bureau (HormuzSafe)—alleging that both are core members of a shipping insurance network supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), mandating commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz to purchase insurance approved by them.

OFAC alleged that HormuzSafe accepted BTC and other crypto assets to evade Western sanctions and generated revenue on behalf of the IRGC. Earlier in May, the HormuzSafe website publicly offered "digital insurance" services payable in Bitcoin, and Iranian state media Fars News Agency stated that the platform's potential revenue exceeded $10 billion. This sanction also involves 8 companies and 8 vessels related to Iran's "shadow fleet".