Does Iran collect Hormuz fees in Bitcoin? This Cryptocurrency Intelligence Company Is Skeptical

Iran is reportedly putting a Bitcoin-based price tag on the world’s most important oil artery, but experts are questioning whether a revolution is brewing or just a phone game.

The cryptosphere was abuzz on Wednesday. financial times newspaper Iran will require shipping companies to pay tolls in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime chokepoint through which 20% of the world’s oil flows. Negotiations reportedly start at $1 per barrel.

Some Bitcoiners seem to welcome this news. Iran’s alleged acceptance of Bitcoin underscores the censorship-resistant nature of the Bitcoin asset and how “nothing is second best,” said Strike founder and CEO Jack Mallers, a longtime Bitcoin supporter. Posted X on Wednesday.

In addition, the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas has already $BTC mapan open source project that allows users to find physical sellers and businesses that accept Bitcoin. A comment was posted saying, “I want to sail again.” $BTC I read the map website.

Still, some blockchain intelligence experts who specialize in detecting sanctions evasion have expressed doubts that significant Bitcoin payments are actually taking place between Iranian-linked entities and shipping companies eager to cross the strait.

“I’m also a skeptic,” said Ari Redboard, global director of policy and government affairs at the TRM Institute. decryption. “Currently, there is no data to show that cryptocurrencies are being used on a large scale, such as for transportation fees in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Redboard’s impression is that Iran and its associates are likely signaling an openness to cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. That would be consistent with widespread sanctions evasion tactics, he added. For example, a report by blockchain forensics firm Elliptic found that Russia used $8 billion in cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions last year. Influencing elections in Moldova.

Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis’ March blockchain analysis report also identified Iran, Russia, North Korea, and other sanctioned countries. boosted They used cryptocurrencies last year and received $154 billion to fraudulent addresses.

Bitcoin or cryptocurrency?

Redboard’s doubts were echoed by Woody Wertheimer, Bitcoin supporter and co-founder of Taproot Wizards (Disclosure: Bitcoin Investor) decryptionDastan, the parent company of Dastan), pointed out that: decryption Be an individual cited by financial timesHamid Hosseini does not actually represent the Iranian regime.

Rather, Mr. Hosseini is the spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals Export Union. and Iranian government. This raises the question of whether the report stemmed from phone play, he said.

“I’ve never seen any official say it’s even remotely a problem,” he said. “I can imagine he heard from a source that he was using a stablecoin or something, but he doesn’t understand the difference between cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin.”

The use of Bitcoin will reportedly further facilitate Iran’s acceptance of the digital asset amid a conflict that has lasted more than five weeks. Oil tankers have been using Chinese yuan and cryptocurrencies, particularly stablecoins, to pay for naval escort through the waterway. bloomberg This month’s report cited a person familiar with the situation.

Despite the reported payments and a two-week ceasefire recently announced by President Donald Trump, traffic in the strait remains suppressed, said Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian at Campbell University in North Carolina.

in video Mercogliano wrote in a post on X on Wednesday that there was “only a slight increase in the number of ships”, which remains well below pre-war levels.

In Myriad, decryption‘s parent company Dastan, Trader Foresaw As of Wednesday, there is a nearly 70% chance that the seven-day rolling average of transit calls will exceed 15 by the end of the month. On Tuesday, that probability was about 90%.