Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz crisis, told through its financial layer — how a Bitcoin toll became a chokepoint weapon, and how sanctions, strikes, and diplomacy fought over it.
At Least One Ship Paid Bitcoin to Fake Hormuz Authorities
Greek maritime risk firm MARISKS issued an alert Monday warning that fraudulent messages promising safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for Bitcoin or Tether have been sent to shipping companies whose…
Hormuz Safe: Iran Settles Sanctioned Marine Insurance in Bitcoin
Iran's Ministry of Economy launched Hormuz Safe on May 16, a Bitcoin-backed maritime insurance platform covering ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.
Bitcoin Settles Insurance Premium for IRGC Missile Strike
On the night of May 25-26, the US military launched self-defense strikes targeting Iranian missile launch sites and mine-laying vessels near Bandar Abbas at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz.
Bessent Details Operation Economic Fury's $1B Keystroke Seizure
On Friday, May 29, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced at the Reagan National Economic Forum that the United States has seized approximately $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrency assets under Operation Economic…
Iran Threatens Hormuz Closure as Bitcoin Toll Enters Talks
On June 1, Iranian state media reported Iran had suspended ceasefire negotiations with the United States and threatened to completely block the Strait of Hormuz, citing Israeli military operations in Lebanon and Gaza as…
OFAC Sanctions Four Iranian Crypto Exchanges in Largest Action
On June 2, 2026, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex, Iran's four largest domestic crypto exchanges, for sanctions evasion, terrorist…
Iran-Israel Strikes Resume: Hormuz Still at 5 Percent Volume
On June 8, Iran and Israel exchanged missile fire for the first time since April, threatening to collapse the fragile ceasefire that has kept the Strait of Hormuz at roughly 5 percent of its pre-war shipping volume…
Islamabad Declaration Trades Iran's Bitcoin Toll for Sanctions Relief
On June 13, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed that the United States and Iran have agreed on the final text of the Islamabad Declaration, a 14-point memorandum of understanding that includes reopening the…
Geneva Deal June 19 Ends Iran's Bitcoin Toll
The United States and Iran confirmed a formal peace agreement on June 14 with a signing ceremony scheduled for Geneva on June 19.
Predatory Sparrow Sent Nobitex's $90M to Unspendable Addresses
On June 18, 2025, the Israel-linked hacker group Predatory Sparrow claimed responsibility for draining more than $90 million from Nobitex, Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and destroying the funds by routing them…
Drone Strike Tests the Hormuz Bitcoin-Toll Ceasefire
On June 26, an IRGC drone struck the M/V Ever Lovely, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship exiting the Strait of Hormuz, nine days after Tehran and Washington signed the ceasefire memorandum committing Iran to unrestricted…
IRGC Missiles Reach Bahrain and Kuwait
On June 28, Iran launched missile and drone strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait, expanding the conflict beyond the Strait of Hormuz into Gulf state capitals for the first time since the June 17 ceasefire signing.
Iran Blockaded the Hormuz Toll Bypass Route Before IRGC Missiles Hit Two Tankers
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired missiles at two commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, two days after deploying patrol boats to blockade the coastal route tankers have used to dodge Iran's…
Trump Reinstates the Iran Blockade and Declares a 20% US Toll on Hormuz Cargo
President Trump ordered the US naval blockade of Iran back into force starting Tuesday afternoon, hours after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) cruise missiles killed a crew member aboard a UAE tanker in the…
The Blockade's First Shot: US Forces Disable a Tanker as Hormuz Traffic Collapses
US Central Command said an American aircraft disabled the Curaçao-flagged tanker Belma with Hellfire missiles to its smokestack after the ship ignored warnings and continued toward Kharg Island, the first vessel…
Houthis Declare a Naval Blockade of Saudi Arabia as Mediators Float a 10-Day Ceasefire
Yemen's Houthis declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on Monday, effective immediately, opening a potential second chokepoint front in the US-Iran war just as regional mediators presented Washington and…
A 2-Day Strike Pause at Hormuz, and a Deal That Would Leave Iran Directing Traffic
The US paused airstrikes on Iran for a 2nd straight day Sunday and Tehran held its fire in return, as an Omani delegation in Tehran advanced talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
OFAC Sanctions Hormuz Safe, the Bitcoin Insurance Rail Built to Ignore Sanctions
The US Treasury on July 29 designated Hormuz Safe and the Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company, the 2 firms running Iran's mandatory Bitcoin-settled 'insurance' scheme for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran and Oman Agree on a Hormuz Corridor That Runs Through Iranian Waters
Iran's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Tehran and Muscat have agreed on the coordinates of a safe shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, with parts of the inbound and outbound routes passing through…
UAE Blames Iran for Drone Strikes on 2 Tankers. The Hormuz Protection Racket Runs on Bitcoin
Drones hit 2 tankers operated by Abu Dhabi's state oil company ADNOC as they transited the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday evening, and the UAE Foreign Ministry called the attacks acts of piracy by Iran's Revolutionary…
The 60-Day US-Iran Ceasefire Expired With No Deal. Trump's New Target Is the Mediator
The 60-day memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran expired Monday with no successor deal and no direct talks underway, and President Trump marked the deadline by threatening to bomb Oman, the only…
Trump Declared Economic D-Day on Iran. Beijing, the Customer That Matters, Said No
President Trump announced 'the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country' against Iran on Wednesday, threatening 'TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences' for any nation that keeps a financial lifeline…
Iran's Digital-Asset Sector Is Now Sanctionable as a Whole. The Legal Remittance Rails Closed the Same Day
The Treasury opened Operation Economic Outcast on Monday with nearly 60 designations, 16 SDN crypto addresses, and 5 sectoral determinations under Executive Order 13902 that make digital assets a sanctionable sector of…
Iran Tried to Re-Mine Hormuz. 72 Hours Later, Missiles Are Landing in 4 Countries
US forces struck IRGC targets across Iran's Hormuz coast on Tuesday after catching the Guard preparing to fire sea mines back into lanes the Navy had just cleared, and Iran answered Wednesday with missiles and drones at…
Treasury Sanctioned Russia's Second-Largest Bank Under Iran Authority. Moscow Had Legalized Unlimited Crypto Settlement 2 Weeks Earlier
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated VTB Bank on September 14 for building correspondent relationships with sanctioned Iranian banks and working to move billions of dollars in Iranian assets.
Fuel an Iranian Plane and Lose the Dollar. Tehran's Counter-Demand Is Its Own Frozen Reserves
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on September 21 that every Iranian airline would be shut down worldwide from September 23, and that any airport, fuel supplier, or ticketing agent that serves one would be cut out…
A7 Moved $17 Billion Through Front Companies With Accounts at 435 Institutions. Treasury's Rule Targets the Companies, Not the Token
Treasury designated the A7 Network a significant transnational criminal organization on October 1, and FinCEN proposed a rule barring every institution the Bank Secrecy Act covers, crypto exchanges included, from moving…
EACH STEP IS A REAL REPORT FROM THE HORMUZ SERIES, IN PUBLICATION ORDER — SEQUENCED AND LINKED, NOT INVENTED NARRATIVE. SUMMARIES ARE THE REPORTS' OWN.