Iran Launches Bitcoin-Backed Insurance Service for Strait of Hormuz Shipping, Eyes $10B In Revenue

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Iran is reportedly launching a bitcoin-settled maritime insurance platform called Hormuz Safe, targeting cargo owners and shipping companies that transit the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf — and projecting more than $10 billion in revenue for the Islamic Republic. The platform, backed by Iran’s Ministry of Economy and Financial Affairs, was first reported by the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency, which cited internal government documents, according to Bloomberg reporting. The Hormuz Safe website describes the service as offering “fast, verifiable digital insurance — paid via bitcoin and settled at the speed of blockchain.” Coverage under the proposed scheme includes risks from vessel inspection, detention, and confiscation, with war-damage claims excluded. The Ministry had been developing the framework since April, according to documents obtained by Fars. As of the time of reporting, it was not possible to confirm whether the platform was operational or had processed any real policies. The launch marks a formalization of financial mechanisms Iran has been constructing around the strait for months. In March 2026, Iran’s parliament passed the Strait of Hormuz Management Plan, a law that codified a transit toll system the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been operating since mid-March. Under that framework, the IRGC extracts fees from vessels seeking passage, with operators required to submit vessel ownership details, cargo type, destination, and crew information to an IRGC-linked intermediary before receiving a permit code. Fees have started at around $1 per barrel of oil, with a vessel carrying a full load facing charges of up to $2 million. Bitcoin as legal payment in Iran Bitcoin became a formal payment option in April, when Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, told the Financial Times that shipping companies could settle Hormuz transit fees in bitcoin or other non-dollar currencies including yuan. Iran’s preference for bitcoin stems from the asset’s resistance to seizure or freezing — a critical feature for a government operating under comprehensive U.S. Treasury sanctions. “No one can freeze it,” Sam Lyman, research director at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, said of Tehran’s calculus. This move builds on years of state-level bitcoin adoption. Iran legalized industrial bitcoin mining in 2019 and ran as much as 4.2% of global hashrate before U.S. and Israeli military strikes damaged much of that infrastructure. Iran’s crypto ecosystem reached an estimated $7.8 billion in 2025, with IRGC-linked transactions accounting for roughly 50% of the country’s total crypto volume by the fourth quarter of that year. The government has used mined bitcoin to fund imports and hedge against oil revenue shortfalls, with state mining costs estimated near $1,300 per coin. Hormuz Safe represents Iran’s most visible attempt yet to convert its control over a waterway that handles around 20% of global oil supply into a revenue-generating financial product — denominated in a currency no foreign government can touch.

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