On Monday, Iran launched an insurance service for shipping companies that would accept Bitcoin (BTC-USD). It named the service “Hormuz Safe.” Settled in Bitcoin, shippers would get verified insurance coverage for cargo traversing the Persian Gulf and the surrounding waterways.
Iran believes that it could make more than $10 billion in revenue.
Markets barely reacted to the report. The cryptocurrency market is not pricing in the potential for arrangement. It requires that Iranian shipping companies and their cargo owners would need to complete transactions with Bitcoin instead of through banks. More importantly, not much will change after its launch. Iran already started facing U.S. sanctions. That restricted its access to the global financial system.
For Bitcoin to break out into the $80,000 range and to hold that level, the U.S. dollar (DXY) needs to weaken. So far, the DB U.S. Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) is up this year. Investors accumulated the currency in February as tensions between the U.S., Israel, and Iran peaked.
Oil prices weakened as markets hoped for peace. However, markets started to buy oil companies like Exxon Mobil (XOM). Higher oil prices might lower the attractiveness of holding metals like silver (SLV) and gold (GLD). So long as the Strait remains closed, investors might start accumulating Bitcoin again.
