Middle East crisis Oil market

Iranian Demand: Pay Oil Duties in Cryptocurrency

Iran will demand duties on oil ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to information to the Financial Times. The ships will be required to pay $1 per barrel, which will be paid in cryptocurrency, a spokesman for Iran's oil export union told the newspaper.

- Everything will be able to pass, but it will take time for each ship. Iran is in no hurry, he says.

Empty oil ships are said to be able to pass freely.

Information: Iran may open the Strait of Hormuz this week

A senior Iranian official says that Iran may open the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday or Friday, reports Reuters. The news agency also has information that a reopening of the strait would be limited and in coordination with the Iranian military.

The US Secretary of Defense also stated at a press conference that “Iran will allow ships to pass through Hormuz”, reports Bloomberg.

Analysis: Taco trade shows Trump’s bluff in practice

With the ceasefire between the US and Iran, much focus is on Donald Trump’s threats, which are later not carried out.

One who has grown tired of the so-called acronym taco, Trump always chickens out, is the Wall Street Journal’s Spencer Jakab.

“What started as an ironic observation [...] has become a consistently profitable pattern”, he writes.

The FT’s Janan Ganesh writes about “the mad-man theory”, the Nixon doctrine of intimidating opponents with extreme threats.

“Bluffing games are better played behind closed doors”, he writes.

Andreas Cervenka at Aftonbladet is on the same track. Trump's bluff was obvious from the start: The market was calm on Tuesday, unlike the expected chaos after a statement about wiping out an entire civilization.

"A ceasefire was the only reasonable way forward [...] Economically, it is of course good news in the short term," he writes.