Iran is reinforcing Bitcoin’s [BTC] role as a hedge against censorship as it pushes for crypto tolls on ships seeking passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Following the shaky 2-week ceasefire announced on the 8th of April, Iran said it would charge $1 per barrel of oil carried by the ships. That means a fully loaded ship carrying two million barrels of oil translates to about $2 million in value. At current prices, that equals roughly 281 BTC per vessel, or 62% of the new daily Bitcoin supply (the network issues 450 new BTC per day).
Sharing the proposed toll plans, Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, told the Financial Times that,
Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels are given a few seconds to pay in Bitcoin, ensuring they can’t be traced or confiscated due to sanctions.
He added that empty ships will be allowed to pass freely. Previously, Bloomberg reported that the Chinese Yuan was also an accepted payment method to navigate through the Iranian-controlled oil corridor.
However, adding BTC tolls to avoid possible sanctions from the West was notable. It’s worth noting that Iran reportedly closed the Hormuz after Israel attacked Lebanon late Wednesday.
What Iran’s plans mean for BTC
Even before Iran’s crypto tolls made headlines, the sector was already showing strong resilience during the West Asia crisis. In fact, BTC outperformed gold as the crisis intensified in March.
Reacting to Iran’s choice of BTC as toll payment, Jack Mallers, founder of Strike, said the crypto asset was racing to be the ‘future world reserve currency.’
However, others, like BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes, were skeptical about the BTC tolls, stressing that he will only believe if there is an on-chain verification of such a transfer.
I’ll believe Iran is charging a toll in $BTC when I see a tx linked to a vessel’s toll payment. Otherwise, it’s just the IRGC trolling the Western filthy fiat financial system.
But Iran is no stranger to crypto.
In late December and early January, after its local currency, the Rial, collapsed, Iranian crypto activity surged to nearly $8 billion. In fact, the geopolitical tensions also fueled BTC adoption among Iranian citizens.
But the Iranian government was also heavy on crypto to bypass Western sanctions. According to a Chainalysis report, the regime accounted for half of Iranian crypto activity.
Unfortunately, this has also made Iran’s crypto sector a prime target for hacks, such as last year’s Nobitex breach linked to Israel.
Final Summary
- Iran is reportedly mulling using BTC payments for tolls at the strait to avoid sanctions
- Jack Mallers speculated that the move could fast-track BTC’s race to become the world’s reserve currency
