Cryptos New Role: Infrastructure Over Currency
Crypto's original promise of disrupting traditional finance has largely gone unfulfilled. Despite its explosive growth in 2017, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have struggled to function as a stable medium of exchange.
However, digital assets have evolved into a market worth roughly $2.58trn and are increasingly used less as money and more as infrastructure.
A prime example is Iran's use of cryptocurrency to collect a $1 per barrel tariff from tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz, payable in bitcoin. This move embeds digital assets into one of the world's most strategically important trade routes.
According to Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran's Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Union, 'vessels are given a few seconds to pay in bitcoin, ensuring they can't be traced or confiscated due to sanctions.'