Galaxy Research Director: Controversy over Iran's Use of Bitcoin for Toll Collection

Galaxy research director Alex Thorn analyzed on X platform that reports of Iran requiring ships to pay for passage fees in the Strait of Hormuz using Bitcoin have not been fully verified. The Financial Times reported that Iran plans to charge a fee of $1 per barrel of oil and request payment through Bitcoin, but Bloomberg said it may settle in stablecoins or Chinese yuan. Citrini Research pointed out that some ships are paying by unfreezing Iran's overseas assets, and TRM Labs stated that there is no evidence to show that cryptocurrency is being used on a large scale for such payments. Alex Thorn believes that if true, Bitcoin has the advantage of anti censorship payments, but there are still limitations to large on chain or lightning network payments. Galaxy Research will combine ship AIS data with on chain transaction cross analysis to verify the relevant situation.