This episode examines Iran’s conversion of the Strait of Hormuz into a permit-based transit system charging one hundred fifty thousand to two million dollars per vessel, with payments being processed in yuan, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. It covers May 2026 OFAC warnings that create compliance obligations for exchanges monitoring shipping and insurance transactions on major blockchains, the shift from rule-based to manual transaction review processes, and the operational fragmentation of payment channels as energy buyers route transactions outside dollar-based clearing systems. The briefing tracks how on-chain compliance infrastructure is adapting to sanctions enforcement targeting pseudonymous wallet addresses tied to infrastructure-critical settlement flows.