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Iran turns Strait of Hormuz into $1-per-barrel Bitcoin tollbooth

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Iran strikes Gulf energy network as oil surges past $110

Iran will charge tankers $1 per barrel in bitcoin to cross the Strait of Hormuz during a two‑week US ceasefire, adding a crypto tax to the world’s key oil chokepoint.

Iran will force every oil tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz during the new two-week ceasefire with the US to pay a $1-per-barrel toll in cryptocurrency, turning the world’s most sensitive oil chokepoint into a de facto bitcoin paywall. According to the Financial Times, Tehran will demand that shipping companies settle the fee in digital assets, primarily bitcoin, as it seeks hard-to-trace revenues while sanctions bite. Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, said the system is designed to slow traffic on Iran’s terms and tighten control over what moves through the corridor.

Under the scheme, tankers must first email Iranian authorities with detailed cargo manifests before entering the strait. Hosseini told the Financial Times that once the email is received and Tehran completes its assessment, “vessels are given a few seconds to pay in bitcoin, ensuring they can’t be traced or confiscated due to sanctions.” He added that “everything can pass through, but the procedure will take time for each vessel, and Iran is not in a rush,” underscoring that the stated aim is to prevent weapons shipments during the pause in fighting. With typical crude cargoes ranging from 500,000 to 2 million barrels, a single transit could mean crypto payments of $500,000 to $2,000,000 per voyage.

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Ceasefire, crypto and a global oil lifeline

The toll comes as Washington and Tehran test a fragile truce that hinges on a partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran could reopen the strait “limited, under Iran’s control” as early as Thursday or Friday, ahead of talks with US officials in Pakistan. Oil markets have already reacted: Brent futures slid about 13% to roughly $94.76 per barrel and US benchmark WTI dropped more than 15% to around $95.79 after President Donald Trump agreed to the two-week ceasefire, conditional on the “immediate and safe” reopening of the strait.

In Washington, Trump has floated turning the tolls themselves into a joint business model. “We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture,” he told ABC News’s Jonathan Karl, calling it “a way of securing it — also securing it from lots of other people. It’s a beautiful thing.” That suggestion follows earlier musings that the US could impose its own tolling regime on ships using the strait, effectively monetizing a corridor where even a $1-per-barrel surcharge is a small fraction of crude trading in the mid-$90s but represents a new geopolitical tax on a market still reeling from weeks of war-driven price spikes.

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Ceasefire lifts bitcoin, but animal spirits may not return just yet: Crypto Daybook Americas

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BTC's daily swings in candlestick format with key simple moving averages. (TradingView)
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The crypto market is back on the front-foot after a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran removed some of the geopolitical uncertainty and sent oil prices tumbling. Still, energy market dynamics are such that it may be too early to assume the return of animal spirits to risk assets.

Bitcoin has jumped 3% to $71,600 in the past 24 hours while ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), and solana (SOL) have all gained more than 5%. The CoinDesk 20 Index has outperformed bitcoin, rising 4.2 percent, which is typical when altcoins outpace the market leader.

Oil has plunged after Iran agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global shipments. WTI crude futures trading on NYMEX are down nearly 16 percent to $95 a barrel. When crude drops sharply, inflation fears ease, Fed rate hike calls weaken and crypto tends to rally.

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Supporting the move is a drop in bitcoin and ether 30-day implied volatility, which measures market fear. Since the debut of spot ETFs two years ago, these numbers have evolved into VIX-like metrics, spiking during sell-offs and calming as panic fades.

The mood could get another lift later if Morgan Stanley’s bitcoin ETF debuts with strong volumes and inflows on day one. That would reinforce the story of institutional adoption.

“The recent pattern has been institutional demand showing up again through ETFs. When inflows are present, dips are bought faster and the market holds higher levels even when momentum cools,” Marex said.

Still, there are reasons to be cautious. The overnight rally was partly fueled by short positions being unwound after traders betting on a U.S.-Iran escalation got caught off guard. Shorts worth $431 million were liquidated in 24 hours, the largest since March 4, according to Coinglass. In cases like this, the market often chugs along waiting for fresh demand. Without it, gains can quickly reverse.

While oil is down to $85, it’s still $30 higher than before the conflict started on Feb. 28. Moreover, the ceasefire is temporary and not a permanent fix and for oil to drop further, hormuz tanker traffic and insurance rates need to normalize to pre-war levels.

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“This remains a pause rather than a durable settlement, with the ceasefire conditional on how Iran manages passage through Hormuz over the coming weeks,” QCP Capital said. “That caution matters because the physical damage narrative has not gone away.”

Until then, oil could stay near $100 and keep risk assets like crypto in check. Stay alert.

What’s trending

Read more: For a comprehensive list of events that would be shaping up this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead“.

Today’s signal

BTC's daily swings in candlestick format with key simple moving averages. (TradingView)

The chart shows bitcoin’s daily price swings in candlestick format since October. The yellow line represents the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) of the price, and the white line shows the 100-day average.

As shown, the spot price has decisively moved above the 50-day average, a widely watched measure of near-term trends. The move indicates a strengthening of bullish momentum and follows the recent bounce from the trendline support at the February lows.

Prices, therefore, could see more upside ahead, with $76,100, the 100-day average, as the next level to watch. On the downside, the late March lows near $65,000 are expected to act as a demand zone, supporting pullbacks. If that level fails, prices could fall to $60,000.

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Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today

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Trump Weighs NATO Troop Shakeup as Punishment: Could Tariffs Be Next?

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President Trump is weighing a plan to relocate US troops away from NATO countries he considers “unhelpful” in the Iran conflict, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The proposal, still in early stages, is one of several White House options to pressure allies over limited support for US-led operations.

NATO Rift Over Iran Widens

The plan would shift portions of roughly 84,000 American troops stationed across Europe. Trump and his team have expressed frustration at allies who denied the US logistical help, airspace access, or base use during strikes against Iran.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would need to reexamine NATO’s value.

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Trump himself has called some allies “cowards” and labeled the alliance a “paper tiger.”

Countries viewed as supportive, including Poland, Romania, Lithuania, and Greece, could receive additional forces. Those nations have aligned more closely with Washington’s eastern flank priorities.

Trade Threats Already in Motion

Trump threatened to cut off all trade with Spain after it refused to allow US military bases to be used in strikes against Iran.

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He directed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to end all dealings with Madrid.

Meanwhile, Trump announced immediate 50% tariffs on goods from any country supplying weapons to Iran, with no exclusions or exemptions.

Russia and China are Iran’s most significant weapons suppliers.

No tariff package specifically targeting “unhelpful” NATO members has been formally announced.

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However, the Spain episode and Trump’s pattern of mixing military pressure with economic punishment suggest trade measures could follow.

“The proposal would involve moving US troops from ‘unhelpful’ countries and into countries that were ‘more supportive’ of the Iran War 2. The plan is early in conception and one of several that the White House is discussing to punish NATO,” the Kobeissi Letter indicated, citing the WSJ.

Whether tariffs become the matching stick for resisters may depend on how NATO responds as ceasefire talks with Iran continue.

The post Trump Weighs NATO Troop Shakeup as Punishment: Could Tariffs Be Next? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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US Treasury Moves Forward with GENIUS Act, Focusing on Illicit Finance

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Law, Government, United States, Stablecoin

Payment stablecoin issuers in the United States will be required to implement a regime targeting illicit finance under the proposed framework for the GENIUS Act.

In a Wednesday notice, the US Treasury Department said its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had issued a joint proposed rule to implement provisions of the GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025. 

The proposal would direct payment stablecoin issuers to establish and maintain an anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) program, maintain a sanctions compliance program, and have the ability to “block, freeze and reject” certain stablecoin transactions. Issuers would be treated as financial institutions for purposes of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).

“Bringing stablecoin issuers into full BSA/OFAC compliance effectively turns them into bank-like gatekeepers,” Snir Levi, CEO of blockchain intelligence firm Nominis, told Cointelegraph. “That means significantly more wallet freezes, transaction blocking and asset seizures at scale,” he said.

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Law, Government, United States, Stablecoin
Source: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Treasury’s notice was part of the implementation of the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin payments bill signed into law by US President Donald Trump last year. The legislation provides a framework for stablecoin issuers and is expected to be a boon for crypto markets. It will be effective 18 months after it was signed in July or 120 days after federal authorities issue related regulations.

Related: NYT revives Adam Back theory in latest bid to identify Bitcoin creator

On Tuesday, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued its own proposed rule as part of the agency’s GENIUS Act implementation. The FDIC said stablecoin holders would not be insured under the bill, though reserve deposits for issuers would receive protection.

Stablecoin yield fight rages between US lawmakers and banking and crypto industries

While federal agencies work on implementation of the GENIUS Act, Congress has effectively been stalled on progress for a bill to establish a digital asset market framework, called the CLARITY Act when it passed the House of Representatives last year.

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With the Senate Banking Committee yet to schedule a markup on the bill — a necessary step before a full floor vote in the chamber — crypto and banking representatives have been meeting with White House officials to discuss issues related to stablecoin yield, tokenized equities and ethics.

The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers said on Wednesday that a ban on stablecoin yield in the bill “would do very little to protect bank lending,” claiming that it would impose costs on users.

As of Wednesday, the banking committee had not rescheduled a markup on the CLARITY Act.

Magazine: Your guide to surviving this mini-crypto winter

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