Iran’s Hormuz Toll Could be In Stablecoins, Not Bitcoin

Iran is demanding cryptocurrency payments from tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, specifically named Bitcoin (BTC) in a recent statement. However, Chainalysis suggests that stablecoins could be the instrument of choice, consistent with how the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has historically moved money. Stablecoins Fit Iran’s Playbook Chainalysis argues that stablecoins, not BTC, will likely serve as the IRGC’s toll collection instrument. The firm pointed to the regime’s well-documented preference for dollar-pegged tokens across years of illicit trade. The reasoning is straightforward. Dollar-pegged stablecoins preserve value in ways BTC cannot. Iran’s rial has lost substantial value against the dollar, making price stability essential for large-scale commercial revenue. Bitcoin’s regular volatility would expose toll proceeds to unpredictable losses between collection and conversion. “The regime has leveraged stablecoins because their backing by the US dollar guarantees preservation of value and provides the liquidity necessary for use at scale,” the report read. “Bitcoin, by contrast, experiences regular price volatility.” Chainalysis noted that the IRGC has historically relied on stablecoins across oil sales, weapons procurement, and proxy financing. Bitcoin, by contrast, has served a different function within Iran’s crypto operations. The report primarily linked it to Iranian cyber actors running ransomware campaigns and other malicious operations. That is a fundamentally different use case from high-volume, commerce-oriented toll collection. Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens Iran just turned the Strait of Hormuz into a Bitcoin toll booth$1 per barrel~$20M per day~280 BTC per dayIran is building a Bitcoin reserve funded by everyone else— Quinten | 048.eth (@QuintenFrancois) April 9, 2026 Billions Already on Chain The scale of the IRGC...