Iran Demands Hormuz Oil Tanker to Pay Bitcoin as Passage Fee

On April 8, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran are set to hold face-to-face talks "soon" in Islamabad, Pakistan, following a two-week ceasefire aimed at securing a long-term agreement. Trump noted the talks could occur as early as this week. The U.S. delegation may include U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Mr. Wittkov and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. He added Vice President Mike Pence "may not attend" due primarily to security concerns. (CCTV News)

On April 8, Ethereum fell below $2,200, with its 24-hour percentage change narrowing to 6.1%, per HTX market data.

On April 8th, Iran announced it would require shipping companies to pay **Bitcoin-denominated transit fees** for oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz during a two-week ceasefire. The rate is $1 per barrel of oil, while empty tankers sail for free. Payments must be completed within seconds after Iran confirms assessment and sends an email—this is intended to avoid the funds being traced or confiscated amid international sanctions. A senior source at the **International Energy Agency (IEA)** noted that if Hormuz traffic returns to normal during the ceasefire, roughly 20 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products would pass through daily. This would translate to $20 million in Bitcoin for Iran each day, totaling an estimated $280 million (or ~4,000 Bitcoin at current prices) over the two-week period. BlockBeats clarifies this is a **theoretical calculation** based on typical weekday traffic. Actual figures may vary due to empty tanker exemptions, enforcement

April 8th — Iran’s Fars News Agency reports an oil tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz was intercepted following an “Israeli violation of the ceasefire agreement.” PolyBeats (per monitoring from its Telegram bot: https://t.me/PolyBeats_Bot) shows the probability of the Suez Canal reopening this month fell from 39% to 32% in under an hour on prediction market Polymarket.

On April 8, Bitcoin fell below $71k—per HTX market data, its 24-hour percentage change narrowed to 4.3%.

On April 8, the New York Post reported that former President Donald Trump said his son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Jason Greenblatt would travel to Islamabad for negotiations, and Vice President Mike Pence may also join. Peace talks are set to begin soon in Pakistan. Earlier reports suggest the U.S. delegation for Iran talks is expected to arrive in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Thursday.