تريد إيران عملة البيتكوين كوسيلة للدفع لضمان المرور الآمن للسفن عبر مضيق هرمز – FT

Iran’s reported Bitcoin tolls at Hormuz point to a new use case for crypto, sanctions-resistant trade infrastructure Iran is reportedly planning to charge oil tankers a Bitcoin-denominated toll for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The move would be significant as it extends beyond price action, ideology, or adoption rhetoric. The development places Bitcoin inside a coercive trade corridor, where settlement speed, sanctions exposure, maritime access, and state leverage converge in one of the world’s most strategically sensitive waterways. Why this matters The reported shift would attach crypto settlement to physical trade infrastructure, with consequences for oil flows, shipping costs, sanctions compliance, and how markets price geopolitical risk if passage through Hormuz becomes conditional on digital payment. According to the Financial Times , Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, said Iran would require tankers to email authorities with cargo details, receive an assessed tariff, and then pay in Bitcoin before being allowed to pass. Hosseini reportedly said, “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.” The reported tariff is $1 per barrel, while empty tankers would pass freely. The same report says ships in the Gulf received an English-language radio warning that vessels attempting transit without Iranian approval would be destroyed. Iran’s apparent objective is clear enough. It wants to convert control over a physical chokepoint into a settlement regime that sits outside the ordinary reach of dollar clearing and sanctions enforcement. However, can Bitcoin function as the rail for the regime in a durable way, or is the claim an opening negotiating position that eventually resolves into a broader crypto stack, likely involving brokers, OTC desks, or stablecoin conversion at the e