The Iranian regime's move to accept cryptocurrency payments from cargo ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz is consistent with its existing trade networks designed to circumvent sanctions. According to a spokesperson for Iran's Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Union, bitcoin is now an accepted payment method, with previous reports indicating the use of stablecoins for select oil tankers to pass unharmed, at a fee of $1 per barrel of oil. This development aligns with the Iranian government's growing use of cryptocurrency for cross-border trade, particularly in oil sales, as documented by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
The use of cryptocurrency wallets by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliates has been on the rise, with instances including a U.S.-sanctioned financier linked to the Iran-backed Houthi regime facilitating Iranian oil sales to Yemen, resulting in over $178 million in transfers. Furthermore, the Houthis have considered imposing a second chokepoint on global oil and gas shipping at the Bab-al-Mandeb channel. Experts like Andrew Fierman of Chainalysis and Tom Keatinge of the Centre for Finance and Security concur that the Iranian regime's adoption of cryptocurrency, especially stablecoins, as a payment mechanism for international trade is a strategic move to evade sanctions and access US dollar-pegged assets, given the country's comprehensive sanctions and hyperinflation.
The ability to use stablecoins creates an alternative mechanism for global trade, bypassing traditional banking systems. As Lee Reiners of Duke University's Financial Economics Center suggests, Iran could further leverage stablecoins to achieve its sanctions-skirting goals, potentially by demanding payment in specific stablecoins.