Vitol confirms Bitcoin settlement capability for crude transactions

Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, confirmed it has completed its first Bitcoin-settled crude transaction — a 1-million-barrel cargo of UAE Murban delivered to an Indian refiner. CEO Russell Hardy told the Financial Times that Vitol now has “full-cycle capability” for Bitcoin settlement and expects “material volumes” within the quarter. When the biggest commodity trader on the planet builds BTC settlement infrastructure, it is no longer an experiment. Vitol moves roughly 7 million barrels per day. Even single-digit percentage adoption represents billions in monthly on-chain settlement. The plumbing of global oil trade is being rewired in real time.