After the U.S. and Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire on Tuesday, the Islamic Republic pledged to open up the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow body of water that’s a key bottleneck in the world’s trade of oil. But there’s a catch: Iran signaled it plans to impose toll ships passing through the chokepoint—and have them pay up in crypto.
The prospect of tolls has inflamed President Donald Trump, but it’s still unclear whether the Iranian government is charging fees in mass. Meanwhile, ship traffic through the Strait is still at a fraction of its volume since the beginning of the war in late February.
Here’s what we know about the tolls, what we don’t know, and why Iran has likely chosen cryptocurrency as its preferred…
