According to a report by the UK’s Financial Times, during the two-week ceasefire between Iran and the U.S., Iran will require tankers transiting the “Strait of Hormuz” to pay tolls in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
A spokesperson for the Association of Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters, Hamid Hosseini, confirmed that Iran wants to collect tolls in cryptocurrency from all tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz and to “monitor all vessels entering and leaving the strait to ensure that these two weeks are not used to transport weapons.”
A toll of $1 per barrel of crude oil—sky-high for a one-way trip
Hamid Hosseini told the Financial Times that the toll is “$1 per barrel of crude oil.” Based on a supertanker loaded with crude, the one-way toll could reach nearly $2 million.
Under preliminary plans, tankers must first send detailed cargo information to Iran via email. After the authorities calculate the total cost based on the amount declared, they will then instruct how to pay the fees in cryptocurrency. Officials said bitcoin could become one of the primary payment methods.
Hamid Hosseini added that “empty tankers” can transit for free; but as long as it is a loaded tanker, it must strictly follow the declaration and cryptocurrency payment procedures, and only after confirmation will it be granted clearance. He said:
Once the email is delivered and Iran completes its assessment, the vessel will have a few seconds to make the bitcoin payment to ensure the transaction cannot be tracked or seized due to sanctions.
In fact, using cryptocurrencies to bypass the traditional financial system is hardly new. For countries that have had long-standing tense relations with the United States and its allies, bank settlement systems often leave streams of money that can be tracked, making digital assets one of the few alternative options that can avoid traditional financial channels.
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