The cryptocurrency community is examining reports that the Iranian government may accept Bitcoin for tolls paid by oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz. A recent report suggested this move is being considered to circumvent U.S. sanctions, though conflicting information indicates stablecoins or Chinese yuan may be involved. Bitcoin advocates argue its decentralized nature makes it resistant to the freeze functions present in many dollar-pegged stablecoins.
Reports indicate the Iranian government is evaluating the use of Bitcoin (BTC) for collecting tolls from oil tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz. This consideration, according to a financial report, aims to avoid U.S. sanctions on a route vital to global oil supply. However, according to Alex Thorn of Galaxy, other reports suggest payments could be in stablecoins or Chinese yuan.
Advocate Justin Bechler noted that stablecoins like USDT and USDC can be frozen by their issuers. “USDT and USDC include built-in blacklist functions at the smart contract level. When an address is flagged, the issuer can freeze the tokens, rendering them completely illiquid,” he stated. He argued Bitcoin’s lack of a central issuer makes it a structurally preferable asset for such transactions.
Tolls for passage are estimated by Thorn to range from $200,000 to $2 million per tanker. An Iranian spokesperson stated ships would have mere seconds to complete Bitcoin payments, implying the use of the Lightning Network for speed. The largest known Lightning transaction to date has been $1 million.
Alex Thorn suggested a more likely method would involve Iranian authorities providing a QR code or Bitcoin address to approved ships. Adoption for this purpose would represent a significant use case for Bitcoin as a settlement layer for international trade.
