Shipping companies that use cryptocurrency to pay alleged transit fees to Iran could face significant sanctions exposure, warns Kaitlin Martin, senior intelligence analyst at Chainalysis. Under existing sanctions frameworks, payments to the Iranian regime — including fees tied to passage through strategic waterways — may be treated as “material support,” creating the risk of breaching U.S. and international restrictions.
“Doing so could carry significant sanctions violation risk, as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is sanctioned by multiple jurisdictions and Iran is subject to comprehensive sanctions by the United States,” Martin said.
The warning follows reports that Iran might seek to collect transit fees in crypto, a move not officially confirmed. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would not accept Tehran imposing tolls on shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Martin noted Tehran has expanded its use of digital assets, particularly stablecoins, to facilitate trade in oil, weapons and commodities. However, cryptocurrency is not a foolproof sanctions workaround: blockchain transactions are transparent and leave permanent records that investigators can trace to cash-out points where assets may be frozen or seized. “In many ways, cryptocurrency is actually easier to trace than traditional methods of sanctions evasion,” she said.
Other sanctioned states have pursued similar strategies; for example, Russia has used digital tokens such as A7A5 to facilitate cross-border trade after sanctions tied to its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Separately, Iran’s Bitcoin mining power has fallen sharply over the past quarter, losing about 7 exahashes per second and dropping to roughly 2 EH/s amid rising tensions with the United States and Israel. The global Bitcoin network remains stable, with total hashrate near 1,000 EH/s, and the effects have been largely contained within Iran without notable impact on neighboring countries like the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
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