An IRGC-linked intermediary is charging vessels up to $2 million per transit in stablecoins and Chinese yuan, formalising a sanctions-evasion toll system at the world's most critical oil chokepoint.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has established a formalised toll system at the Strait of Hormuz that accepts cryptocurrency and Chinese yuan as payment for naval escort through the waterway, according to Bloomberg and shipping industry sources, marking what trade lawyers describe as the first state-level sanctions-evasion toll operation backed by digital assets.
The system, administered through an IRGC-linked intermediary, assigns each nation a friendliness ranking from one to five and sets fees accordingly. Vessels flagged by countries rated as hostile to Tehran pay the highest rates. At least two tankers have already paid in yuan, with oil tanker fees reportedly starting at $1 per barrel. A single Very Large Crude Carrier hauling two million barrels could generate a $2 million toll for a single transit.
The toll operation emerged after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in late March in response to escalating US military strikes, triggering what the International Energy Agency has called the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. Roughly 20 percent of the world's daily oil consumption normally passes through the 21-mile-wide channel between Iran and Oman. The closure sent Brent crude to $126 per barrel on 22 March before prices retreated to around $109 per barrel as of early April.
Shipping executives told Bloomberg that the IRGC intermediary specifically requests fiat-pegged stablecoins for crypto payments, avoiding volatile tokens in favour of instruments that maintain dollar or yuan parity. The choice of stablecoins allows Iran to receive near-instant settlement without relying on SWIFT or correspondent banking networks, which have been largely severed from the Iranian financial system since 2018.
The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has not publicly addressed the toll system, though sanctions lawyers say any stablecoin payment to an IRGC-linked entity would violate existing Executive Orders regardless of the blockchain used. Chainalysis and Elliptic, two blockchain analytics firms that contract with US law enforcement agencies, declined to comment on whether they had identified the wallets involved.
President Trump threatened on Monday to escalate attacks on Iran if the country does not reopen the strait by Tuesday night, adding a deadline-driven layer of uncertainty to already fragile energy and financial markets. Bitcoin fell roughly 2 percent in the 24 hours following the remarks, trading at approximately $68,270 by Tuesday morning, in line with broader declines across crypto equities including Coinbase and Robinhood.
The toll system raises questions about the effectiveness of financial sanctions in an era of programmable money. Iran has for years experimented with cryptocurrency to circumvent trade restrictions, but previous efforts were largely ad hoc arrangements between private merchants. The formalisation of a state-administered toll accepting stablecoins represents a qualitative shift, according to Matthew Levitt, a former US Treasury intelligence official now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Shipping insurers are scrambling to assess the risk. The International Group of P&I Clubs, which covers roughly 90 percent of ocean-going tonnage, has not yet issued guidance on whether toll payments to sanctioned entities would void coverage. Without clarity, some vessel operators have opted to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, adding 10 to 14 days and an estimated $500,000 in fuel costs per voyage for tankers bound for European refineries.
China, Iran's largest oil customer, has not condemned the toll arrangement. Beijing purchased approximately 1.5 million barrels per day from Iran in 2025, much of it settled in yuan through intermediary banks that Washington has so far chosen not to sanction. The addition of a yuan-denominated toll at Hormuz extends that bilateral financial architecture from commodity purchases to transit fees.
Oil analysts at Citigroup estimated last week that the Hormuz disruption has already removed roughly 12 million barrels per day from seaborne trade routes, though some of that volume is being rerouted rather than permanently lost. The longer the closure persists, the more entrenched alternative payment rails — including crypto — become in global shipping logistics.
The US Navy's Fifth Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, has increased patrols in the Gulf of Oman but has not attempted to force open the strait. Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said on Monday that military options remain under review.
Brent crude closed Monday's session at $107 per barrel, down from its March peak but still 38 percent above its January level.
