In the wake of a two-week ceasefire reached last night between the United States and Iran, Iranian leaders have announced a Bitcoin-centered plan to retain control of the Strait of Hormuz while allowing oil tankers to resume normal traffic through the crucial waterway.

The Iranian government will levy a fee of $1 per every barrel of oil that passes through the strait, and the fee will have to be paid in Bitcoin, according to a Wednesday report in the Financial Times.

Every ship seeking to pass through the Strait of Hormuz will have to email Iranian authorities about the contents of its cargo, then wait for approval. Upon receiving the green light, the ship’s operators will have “a few seconds” to send a Bitcoin payment to an Iran-controlled wallet.

Such a system will ensure the fees “can’t be traced or confiscated due to sanctions,” an Iranian official told the Financial Times.



Iran says the system is intended to ensure weapons aren’t sent through the Strait during the two week period in which the United States and Iran have just agreed to cease hostilities. The conditions and logistics of the Hormuz toll were determined by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Iran seized control of the Strait of Hormuz shortly after the United States and Israel launched attacks on the nation in late February. Roughly a third of the world’s crude oil supply passes through the narrow waterway every year, and the ongoing war has sent oil prices skyrocketing.

Other oil exporters in the region, however, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, are likely to balk at the notion of Iran controlling the shared Strait for an extended period.

On Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump told ABC News he hoped the United States and Iran might charge tolls in the Strait of Hormuz together as a “joint venture.” The president called the idea “a beautiful thing.”

No such notion of a joint toll system was mentioned by Iranian officials who outlined the Bitcoin-centered toll plan on Wednesday.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。