Today in crypto, reports suggest Iran is considering imposing a Strait of Hormuz insurance platform with tolls to be paid in Bitcoin. Strategy’s Michael Saylor signaled a pending BTC buy and urged retail shareholders to make their proxy vote on STRC dividend changes, while Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo grew its crypto holdings from $100 million to $235 million in Q1 2026.

Reports suggest Iran is mulling a Hormuz ‘insurance,’ paid in Bitcoin

Iran is reportedly considering a plan to exercise control over the Strait of Hormuz through an “insurance-based model,” with some speculating, based on an unverified website, that it could be paid in Bitcoin. 

On Saturday, Fars News Agency, an Iranian news outlet closely affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that the Iranian Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to manage the Strait of Hormuz through insurance, citing a state document it obtained. 

However, other reports say Iran is looking to take payments for the “insurance” in Bitcoin through a website called “Hormuz Safe,” with a widely circulated screenshot of the purported site selling “Secure Digital Insurance for Maritime Cargo.”

Control over the Strait of Hormuz has been the leading issue in the US-Iran war. The shipping lane handles about one-fifth of the global oil trade. Many ships have been prevented from transiting the strait after the US started launching airstrikes in Iran in late February. 

Media reports state that Iran collected its first revenue from tolls imposed on ships transiting the Strait last month. Prior to the US-Iran war, no such measures were in place.

Fars News said the insurance platform seeks to distinguish between transit vessels from different countries. 

“Under the Economy Ministry's plan, managing the Strait through an insurance framework would enable the issuance of various marine insurance policies as well as certificates of financial responsibility,” Fars News said, adding it could generate over $10 billion in revenue for the country.

There is no guarantee that Iran will go ahead with the insurance proposal, and the website purporting to offer “Iranian Digital Insurance” could be fake. The website was down at the time of writing. 

Saylor signals BTC buy as retail holders get push on STRC dividend vote

Strategy chairman Michael Saylor on Sunday signaled the Bitcoin treasury company would be buying more of the cryptocurrency in the week ahead while also encouraging retailer shareholders to vote on a proxy measure enabling semi-monthly dividend payouts on the company’s STRC perpetual preferred stock.

“Big Dot Energy” was Saylor's tweet late Sunday morning to accompany a bubble chart tracking Strategy’s BTC purchases over the past nearly six years. That chart, from Iceland-registered StrategyTracker.com, has been consistently posted by Saylor in the days ahead of a corporate purchase.

In addition to the purchase signal, both Saylor and Strategy’s official social media feeds showed posts encouraging retail shareholders, who own 80% of the company’s perpetual Stretch preferred stock (STRC), to vote on a proxy measure that would permit the company to make semi-monthly payouts to STRC shareholders.

Saylor's "Big Dot Energy" message on Sunday. Source: Michael Saylor on X.com

Italy’s largest bank more than doubles crypto holdings to $235M in Q1: Report

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank, more than doubled its crypto exposure in the first quarter of 2026, with holdings climbing from approximately $100 million at the end of 2025 to around $235 million as of March 31.

The growth was driven by expanded Bitcoin positions, with the bank adding to positions in both the ARK 21Shares BTC ETF and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. It also entered Ethereum for the first time through BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust, and picked up a fresh stake in Ripple’s XRP via the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF, worth approximately $26 million, according to a report by local crypto outlet Criptovaluta.it.

Intesa also opened a new position in iShares Bitcoin Trust call options, its first derivatives play in the space. The bank previously confirmed to Criptovaluta.it that its crypto positions are held for proprietary trading purposes, though it has not disclosed whether any of the assets are also used to hedge products offered to professional clients, the report said.

Source: Criptovaluta.it

On the other hand, the bank reduced its Solana holdings, which had featured prominently in the prior quarter. Its position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF slashed from 266,320 shares to just 2,817, a near-total exit.