Iran was first reported to be demanding cryptocurrency payments from ships seeking to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in April, with Iranian officials saying tankers could be charged about
Iran was first reported to be demanding cryptocurrency payments from ships seeking to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in April, with Iranian officials saying tankers could be charged about $1 per barrel and asked to pay in bitcoin. The reports came as Tehran tightened control over passage through the waterway during the conflict, giving it another potential source of revenue. At the same time, its access to the global financial system remained restricted.
The issue has now moved from reports about a proposed payment system to a US sanctions action against an exchange allegedly processing the money. On September 17, the US Treasury sanctioned Iranian crypto exchange BitBank, accusing it of handling hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin payments linked to vessels seeking passage through Hormuz and transferring funds to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Treasury had already warned in May that payments for safe passage could violate sanctions, whether made in cash, traditional currencies, digital assets, or other forms.
Iran allegedly used a @Bitcoin exchange to collect Strait of Hormuz tolls, per the U.S. That is crypto becoming a sanctions-evasion rail for shipping chokepoints.
— kevin (@clwkevin) September 18, 2026
Why Iranian state-linked networks are turning to crypto instead of banks
Iran’s use of crypto is part of a much larger market that has grown under years of sanctions and restrictions on access to international banking. Chainalysis estimated that Iran’s crypto ecosystem reached about $7.8 billion in 2025, with IRGC-linked activity accounting for roughly half of the ecosystem in the fourth quarter. The firm also estimated that wallets associated with the IRGC received more than $3 billion in 2025, although that figure only covers identified addresses and is therefore a lower-bound estimate.
The biggest change is that crypto is no longer being used only by individuals trying to protect savings from the falling rial or move money abroad. Iranian businesses and state-linked networks are using exchanges and digital assets to connect with the outside economy when conventional banking channels are difficult to use. Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, processed more than 50% of the country’s digital-asset inflows in 2025, according to the US Treasury.
US sanctions are moving beyond exchanges and the people who control them. The Treasury also sanctioned BitBank’s software developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company. That matters because crypto businesses depend on outside companies for software, technology, liquidity, custody, payment services and other infrastructure. The US has now shown that those providers can also become sanctions targets if Washington believes they are helping an Iranian crypto operation.
The sanctions could also make it harder for Iranian crypto businesses to build relationships with foreign technology and financial companies. OFAC has already warned that non-US companies can face sanctions for providing financial, material or technological support to designated Iranian digital-asset exchanges. In practice, that creates a compliance risk far beyond the exchange itself. A company may decide that serving an Iranian crypto business is not worth the possibility of losing access to the US financial system.
The result could be a more fragmented market. Iranian businesses may still be able to move crypto, but finding reputable exchanges, software providers, banks, custodians, and other services willing to work with them becomes harder. That changes who is willing to facilitate them and potentially pushes more activity towar smaller or less established intermediaries.
Bitcoin itself may not be the asset Iran uses most for large-scale trade. Chainalysis says Iranian state-linked activity has historically relied heavily on stablecoins, particularly because they provide the stability of the US dollar without requiring access to a US bank. Bitcoin’s price swings make it less convenient for setting large commercial payments, even though its decentralized structure makes it harder for a government or company to freeze the funds directly.
The country’s crypto activity increasingly centres on using digital assets as alternative payment rails when sanctions restrict access to banks. Previously, Bitcoin climbed toward $65,000 as investors reacted to signs of possible diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, despite another round of US military strikes.
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