The Bitcoin (BTC) community is discussing the feasibility and implications of the Iranian government adopting BTC for tolls paid by tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply passes.
The Financial Times sparked reactions. reportpublished on Wednesday, which shows that the Iranian government is considering BTC payments for oil royalties to avoid sanctions imposed by the United States.
Since the Financial Times article, several conflicting reports have been published claiming that tolls are paid in stablecoins or Chinese yuan, According to Alex Thorn, head of company-wide research at investment firm Galaxy Galaxy.
BTC supporter Justin Bechler said the issuer could freeze stablecoins and cited compliance checks introduced in the GENIUS stablecoin regulatory framework as a reason why the Iranian government will not charge fees for dollar stablecoins. He said:
“USDT and USDC contain built-in blacklisting capabilities at the smart contract level. Once an address is flagged, the issuer can freeze the tokens, making them completely illiquid. Enforcement depends entirely on issuers complying with the rules.
Bitcoin has no issuer, no compliance officer to put pressure on, and no freeze function. “Iran’s move towards Bitcoin is a direct result of this structural reality,” he added.
If the Iranian government begins accepting BTC for tanker payments, it will augment Bitcoin’s credibility as a neutral settlement layer for international transactions, supporters say.
Related: Crypto Biz: Will Bitcoin Ensure Safe Passage Through the Strait of Hormuz?
Iran would likely exploit QR codes to collect BTC payments
Thorn estimated that each tanker would have to pay a toll of between $200,000 and $2 million to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
An initial Financial Times report quoted a spokesman for Iran’s Association of Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Exporters as saying that ships would have “a few seconds” to make the payment in BTC.
This suggests that ships would pay via the Lightning Network, a Layer 2 payment solution for BTC that allows parties to send transactions within seconds, rather than waiting for a 10-minute block confirmation.
However, Thorn said the largest known transaction on the Lightning network to date was for $1 million.
“It is more likely that Iranian authorities will provide the ships with a QR code or alphanumeric Bitcoin address once their requests to transit the strait are approved,” he added.
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