Iran puts a Bitcoin price tag on Hormuz passage

Crypto cover enters Hormuz: Iran launched a BTC-backed ins. scheme for Iranian shipping firms transiting Hormuz — named “Hormuz Safe” and marketed as a fast, verifiable digital coverage product for Iranian shipping companies and cargo owners, Bloomberg reports, citing documents obtained from the country’s Economy and Financial Affairs Ministry by Fars news agency. Hormuz Safe is estimated to generate more than USD 10 bn in revenue for Iran.

How will it work? Hormuz Safe will provide cryptographically verifiable ins. policies for shipments passing through the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz, and surrounding waterways — with payments set to be settled in BTC. Coverage will begin once shipments are confirmed, with cargo owners receiving a digitally signed receipt as proof of ins.

Friends through, foes out: The scheme will see “only commercial vessels and parties cooperating with Iran [...] benefit from it. The necessary fees will be collected for the specialized services provided under this mechanism,” Ebrahim Azizi, head of Iran’s parliamentary national security commission, said in a statement on X. However, parties involved in the US-Israeli war against Iran would be prohibited from using the route.

Iran’s been doubling down on control: Iran’s Supreme National Security Council launched the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) earlier this week to manage traffic as well as provide real-time updates on operations and developments in the waterway.

The regulatory framework was already in place: Tehran’s parliamentary security committee had already approved a Hormuz management plan last month that aimed to impose an IRR-denominated toll system on vessels using the strait. The same plan included restrictions on US and Israeli vessels and extended limits to countries participating in unilateral sanctions on Iran.

However, Iran had allowed some vessels to transit via a designated route close to its coast, reportedly requesting payments of as much as USD 2 mn, while some tankers were said to have paid around USD 1 / bbl through its toll-booth play.