Iran’s demand that oil tankers pay transit tolls in cryptocurrency for passing through the Strait of Hormuz has cast a new light on the country’s $7.8 billion crypto economy and the role digital currencies play for regimes operating outside the mainstream financial system. Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that Iran is collecting a tariff of $1 per barrel of oil for tankers passing through the key shipping lane, and wants to receive the payments in cryptocurrency to ensure that they can’t be traced or confiscated ... (full story)