Iran’s Strait of Hormuz closure sends ship traffic plummeting, rattles oil and crypto markets

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to maritime traffic on June 20, and the numbers tell the story. Vessel transits through the world’s most strategically important oil chokepoint have plummeted, matching the near-zero movement patterns that defined the worst periods of the ongoing conflict earlier this year.

Just three days before the announcement, on June 17, traffic had briefly climbed to 55 vessels entering the strait. That was the highest figure seen in months, a flicker of normalcy after a short-lived ceasefire. Then the IRGC pulled the plug again, citing alleged Israeli ceasefire violations in Lebanon and US failures to honor recent agreements.

From 130 vessels a day to almost none

Before the conflict began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes against Iran, roughly 130 vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on an average day. Since then, daily traffic has generally ranged between 10 and 40 vessels, a reduction of 70% or more during the worst stretches. At various points during the crisis, over 150 vessels have been reported anchoring outside the strait entirely.

The strait carries 20-25% of all seaborne oil traded globally. The human cost has been considerable too. Thousands of seafarers have been stranded by the severe disruptions to shipping. Cargill, one of the world’s largest commodity traders, has publicly announced commercial disruptions stemming from the conflict.

Iran’s crypto toll booth

Since mid-March, Iran has imposed transit tolls on vessels passing through the strait, charging approximately $1 per barrel of oil. The payment options are telling: yuan, Bitcoin, or stablecoins like USDT. Traditional banking channels are largely closed off by sanctions, making digital assets one of the few viable mechanisms for collecting revenue from international shipping companies.

This represents one of the clearest examples of state-level adoption of digital currencies for revenue generation and sanctions circumvention. Iran controls the physical chokepoint, and crypto provides the financial plumbing that sanctions were designed to sever. By accepting payment in decentralized or pseudo-decentralized currencies, Iran can collect revenue without routing transactions through the SWIFT network or correspondent banks that would flag and block the payments.

What this means for investors

Bitcoin has been trading around $64,000 amid the turmoil. The Strait of Hormuz situation creates a multi-layered exposure for crypto investors. A prolonged closure drives up energy costs globally, which historically pressures risk assets including crypto. Higher oil prices feed into inflation, which makes central banks less likely to cut rates, which makes holding non-yielding assets like Bitcoin relatively less attractive.

Iran’s active use of Bitcoin and stablecoins for toll collection demonstrates real-world utility at the state level. Tether in particular could face scrutiny if USDT flows can be traced back to strait transit payments, though the pseudonymous nature of blockchain transactions makes attribution challenging.

The brief ceasefire in June showed that traffic can rebound quickly when conditions allow, with vessels rushing to clear backlogs. But the IRGC has now demonstrated twice that it can shut the door just as fast as it opens it.

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