Shipping firms that route payments in cryptocurrency to Iran — including for alleged transit or passage fees — could face serious sanctions exposure, according to Kaitlin Martin, a senior intelligence analyst at Chainalysis. Under current sanctions regimes, transfers that benefit the Iranian regime or entities like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) can be treated as “material support,” creating potential violations of U.S. and international restrictions.
Martin warns that using digital assets to settle fees tied to strategic waterways could therefore expose carriers to legal and financial risk. “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,” she said.
Media reports have suggested Iran may seek to collect transit fees in cryptocurrency, though that plan has not been officially confirmed. U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly stated he would not accept Tehran imposing tolls on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Chainalysis’ analyst also noted that Iran has increased its adoption of digital assets—particularly stablecoins—to facilitate trade in oil, weapons and other commodities. But cryptocurrency is not a foolproof way to evade sanctions: blockchains create transparent, permanent transaction 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,” Martin observed.
Other sanctioned countries have pursued similar digital-asset strategies. For example, Russia has reportedly deployed tokens such as A7A5 to support cross-border trade following sanctions imposed after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Separately, Iran’s contribution to global Bitcoin mining has dropped sharply this quarter, losing roughly 7 exahashes per second and falling to about 2 EH/s amid heightened tensions with the United States and Israel. The global Bitcoin network remains resilient, with total hashrate near 1,000 EH/s; the decline appears localized to Iran without measurable spillover to neighboring mining markets such as the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
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