Written by: Demir

The world's most important oil passage has just turned into a Bitcoin toll station.

On April 8, Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for the Iranian Union of Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Exporters, confirmed to the Financial Times of the UK: all fully loaded oil tankers wishing to pass through the Strait of Hormuz must pay a cryptocurrency toll based on the cargo—approximately 1 US dollar per barrel of crude oil, primarily in Bitcoin.

The process is as follows: ship owners first email the Iranian authorities to report the cargo situation, and after evaluation, the Iranian authorities give the crew "a few seconds" to complete the Bitcoin transfer. Direct quote from Hosseini:

"Ensuring it cannot be traced or seized due to sanctions."

A very large crude carrier (VLCC) fully loaded with 2 million barrels of crude oil incurs a toll of about 2 million US dollars.

Many believe this is a temporary emergency measure during wartime. It is not.

As early as mid-March 2026, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had begun charging cryptocurrency tolls. On March 30-31, the Iranian parliament officially passed the "Hormuz Strait Management Plan," legalizing the entire system.

Toll charges are categorized by the "friendliness" level of the countries involved into five tiers. Vessels related to the US or Israel: direct denial of passage.

There are currently two payment methods: Bitcoin or Chinese yuan settled through the CIPS system via Kunlun Bank.

Note this combination—this is not just cryptocurrency operating alone; it is a comprehensive debut of de-dollarization tools.

Why choose Bitcoin instead of USDT?

USDT (Tether) and USDC both have asset-freezing backdoors. An order from the US Treasury's OFAC can instantly freeze assets at related addresses.

Iran is well aware of this—they have been sanctioned for decades.

Bitcoin does not have this backdoor.

On-chain addresses cannot be frozen, transactions do not go through the US banking system, and settlements are nearly instantaneous. Under extreme conditions of sanctions and blockades, this is exactly the attribute Iran needs: resistant to censorship, non-seizable, requiring no third-party permission.

This is precisely the usage scenario that Satoshi Nakamoto envisioned when designing Bitcoin.

How big is the scale?

Estimates from blockchain compliance company TRM Labs:

• Just from oil tankers, potential daily revenue can reach 20 million US dollars

• If LNG (liquefied natural gas) vessels are included, total monthly revenue could reach 600-800 million US dollars

The Strait of Hormuz had 100-120 commercial vessels passing through daily before the war, carrying about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.

This is not a country "trying" cryptocurrency. This is a country using cryptocurrency as a sovereign revenue mechanism— for the first time in human history.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made it clear:

Trump demanded the Strait be "immediately and indefinitely opened, including without collecting tolls," as one of the core conditions for the ceasefire agreement.

Defense Secretary Hegseth stated:

"The Strait is open."

Meanwhile, vessel tracking service MarineTraffic reports: after the announcement of the ceasefire agreement, only a few bulk carriers have passed through the strait, with no large-scale resumption of tanker traffic.

The IRGC's cryptocurrency network is not a new phenomenon.

Data from Chainalysis indicates that a single financier associated with the IRGC completed approximately 178 million US dollars in transfers through crypto addresses in one year. Kunlun Bank's CIPS channel has been operating for many years.

The tolls in Hormuz are merely moving this underground railway to the surface—legally operating in the form of national parliamentary legislation.

Analysts believe that if Iran requests payment in the USD1 stablecoin associated with the Trump family, the US President would have a direct financial incentive to lift the sanctions.

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