Iran is moving to impose transit fees on oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz during a two-week ceasefire, with payments allowed in cryptocurrency, including bitcoin.
The toll is set at about $1 per barrel of oil, meaning a fully loaded supertanker could face charges approaching $2 million, Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, told the Financial Times.
Payments in cryptocurrency or Chinese yuan point to a familiar objective for Iran: reducing exposure to the dollar system and limiting the risk of funds being frozen under sanctions.
Bitcoin is increasingly crucial in Iran’s $7.8 billion crypto ecosystem, especially during crises like protests, military airstrikes or now a payment method in its Hormuz transit system.
The Block previously reported surges in Iranian bitcoin transactions in March, as tensions escalated in the Middle East.
Headline shocks from oil and energy prices have also weighed on and sometimes fueled uptrends for BTC and the broader crypto market. On Tuesday, Bitcoin jumped roughly 7% after reports came in on US-Iran ceasefire talks.
Bitcoin is currently trading at around $71,500 according to The Block’s price page.
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