Iran will collect cryptocurrency payments as transit fees from oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz during the two-week ceasefire with the United States, an industry official told the Financial Times.
Hamid Hosseini, spokesman for Iran’s Union of Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Exporters, said cryptocurrency tolls will be collected on fully loaded vessels as the nation seeks to “monitor what comes in and out of the strait to ensure these two weeks are not used to transfer weapons.”
Hosseini’s comments signal Tehran’s willingness to use cryptocurrencies for toll payments, highlighting the growing real-world use cases for digital assets in high-risk geopolitical developments.
This is not new: Nations at odds with the US or its allies have long turned to cryptocurrencies as a way to bypass traditional banking channels that leave a paper trail. Indeed, Russia has used cryptocurrencies as part of broader efforts to evade Western sanctions and, in the case of Iran, Tehran is exploring digital payments as it seeks to unlock funds to rebuild infrastructure destroyed by the war.
The proposed framework will require oil tankers to notify cargo details to Iranian authorities by email, and the toll will reportedly be calculated at $1 per barrel of oil. Authorities will then give instructions on how to settle the fee in digital assets, with officials citing bitcoin as a possible payment method.
Hosseini suggested that empty tankers would transit free of charge, but fully loaded vessels must comply with the crypto reporting and payment process before being cleared for passage.
“Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels have a few seconds to pay in Bitcoin, ensuring they cannot be tracked or confiscated due to sanctions,” he said.
The comments also indicated that Tehran could direct traffic along the northern route of the Strait near its coast, a move that could raise questions about whether Western and Gulf-linked shipping companies are prepared to navigate dangerous Iranian waters.
