The Peg's Easter holiday catch-up
We're back from Easter holiday. Here's what we missed while we were away.
Brazen self-promotion
Izzy Chats Stablecoins and The Dollar With Nicolas Colin and Marieke Flament From Currency of Power
Iran crisis
Iran Introduces Crypto Toll System At Key Global Oil Chokepoint
https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/iran-strait-of-hormuz-crypto-toll/
“If implemented, this would mark a significant milestone: the first known instance of a nation-state demanding cryptocurrency as payment for transit through an international waterway. Beyond the immediate crisis, Tehran’s gambit establishes a dangerous precedent for the future of international commerce. If successful, this mechanism offers proof of concept that could be readily replicated by other heavily designated actors across critical maritime chokepoints and strategic arteries that play an outsize role in global trade.
While the concept may sound novel, it falls squarely in line with the Iranian regime’s well-documented and rapidly expanding use of cryptocurrency — specifically stablecoins — to facilitate trade in weapons, oil, and commodities at scale.”
“Historically, the regime has leveraged stablecoins because their backing by the U.S. dollar guarantees preservation of value and provides the liquidity necessary for use at scale. The regime’s reliance on stablecoins has taken on greater strategic import as the Iranian rial has plummeted and Iran’s economy remains in a state of crisis. Bitcoin, by contrast, experiences regular price volatility. Because it has no issuer and thus cannot be seized or frozen by an intermediary, BTC has primarily been used by Iranian cyber actors to extort ransomware victims and support malicious cyber operations, a fundamentally different use case from the high-volume, commerce-oriented flows that would characterize Hormuz transit fees.”
Chainalysis, April 10
Stablecoins Favored Over Bitcoin For Hormuz Payments Due To Liquidity And Stability
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/iran-hormuz-toll-could-stablecoins-110000854.html
Ships Already Paying Iran In Yuan And Stablecoins For Safe Passage
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-01/strait-of-hormuz-ships-paying-iran-yuan-and-crypto-tolls-for-safe-passage
Iran’s Crypto Toll Strategy Signals New Era Of Sanctions-Evasion And Economic Warfare
https://beincrypto.com/iran-stablecoins-bitcoin-hormuz-crypto-tolls/
Tehran’s Toll Booth For Hormuz Strait Divides Countries Into 3 Categories
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/tehrans-toll-booth-strait-divides-countries-3-categories
