On April 11th, Galaxy Research Director Alex Thorn posted an in-depth analysis on the X platform, stating that the reports of Iran requiring ships to pay the Strait of Hormuz transit fees in Bitcoin have not been fully verified. Previously, the Financial Times reported that Iran planned to charge $1 per barrel of oil and demanded payment in Bitcoin, but there are discrepancies among various sources. Bloomberg suggested that the related fees might be settled in stablecoins or Chinese yuan, while research firm Citrini Research pointed out that some ships completed payments by unlocking Iranian overseas assets. Blockchain analytics company TRM Labs also stated that there is currently no evidence indicating that cryptocurrencies are being widely used for such transit fee payments.

Thorn believes that if Iran is indeed collecting transit fees in Bitcoin, it would give Bitcoin certain advantages as a censorship-resistant payment tool. However, the claim that "fast payments can enhance privacy" is not accurate unless second-layer solutions like the Lightning Network are used. Additionally, considering that the single transit fee could reach between $200k and $2 million, large on-chain or Lightning Network payments still face practical limitations.

Thorn revealed that Galaxy Research will combine vessel AIS data with on-chain transaction analysis to determine whether Bitcoin transactions of corresponding scale exist. Overall, while Iran has a history of using crypto assets for cross-border transactions, the claim of "Bitcoin collecting transit fees" remains to be further verified.