Iran Launches Bitcoin-Settled Maritime Insurance Platform to Bypass SWIFT!

Iran has unveiled Hormuz Safe, a state-backed digital maritime insurance platform designed for vessels transiting the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, with settlement supported in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Backed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the platform is explicitly engineered to route around SWIFT and Western financial intermediaries — a direct institutional use of Bitcoin as sanctions-evasion infrastructure.

Iranian government insiders estimate the platform could generate over $10 billion in revenue if it captures a meaningful share of Gulf shipping insurance — a market that moves some of the world's most strategically sensitive cargo. The ambition is significant: maritime insurance for the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of global oil flows, is a high-value, high-stakes vertical.

The platform still faces steep headwinds. International…