The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway responsible for roughly 25% of the world’s seaborne oil and 20% of global LNG shipments, has effectively become a toll road. And the toll collector is Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has been demanding payment in Bitcoin, stablecoins, and Chinese yuan since mid-March 2026.

Now, shipping operators are increasingly refusing to join US military-guided convoys through the strait, fearing that American escorts make their vessels targets rather than protected assets. The result is a cascading disruption across energy markets, global trade, and, perhaps most surprisingly, crypto.

A chokepoint becomes a crypto tollbooth

The IRGC began requiring transit fees…