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Iran demands Bitcoin payments to bypass US sanctions via Hormuz tolls

Thursday, April 16, 2026 · from 3 podcasts
3 SOURCESAI Daily BriefStacker News LiveRabbit Hole Recap
  • Iran uses a $1 Bitcoin toll on oil tankers to create a sanctions-proof monetary channel.
  • This transforms Bitcoin from a speculative asset into a geopolitical settlement layer.
  • The move highlights Bitcoin’s utility where centralized stablecoins are a liability.

Bitcoin is now funding a naval blockade. Iran is charging oil tankers a $1-per-barrel toll to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil shipments, and demanding payment exclusively in Bitcoin. This isn’t a theoretical proposal; it’s a live, sanctions-evading operation.

On Rabbit Hole Recap, Marty Bent and Matt Odell framed this as a logical evolution for a sanctioned state. Centralized stablecoins like Tether are liabilities because the US can freeze them at the protocol level. Bitcoin offers the only trustless alternative. Iran already uses mining to monetize stranded energy; accepting Bitcoin for tolls closes the financial loop.

"Bitcoin is ideal for international financial transfers where trust is limited, citing its finality and censorship resistance as superior to traditional and stablecoin alternatives for sanctioned entities like Iran."

- Marty Bent, Rabbit Hole Recap

For a tanker worth millions, Bitcoin’s 10-minute block time is negligible. The penalty for attempting fraud is existential: a shipping company that double-spends would lose access to the critical waterway forever.

The strategy formalizes a ‘Petrosat’ model, where Bitcoin handles the heavy lifting of hostile-nation energy settlement. It’s a direct challenge to the petrodollar system, leveraging the network’s neutrality to split US allies and create a monetary channel Washington cannot touch.

This pivot to Bitcoin for strategic trade shows the currency’s maturation beyond speculation. It’s becoming infrastructure for a multi-polar world, where financial sovereignty is dictated not by treaties, but by code.

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The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis
The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

Nathaniel Whittemore

AI Populism Turns Violent • Apr 15

  • Prosecutors charged Daniel Moreno Gamma with 11 counts including attempted murder and possession of an unregistered firearm, which could be treated as domestic terrorism.
  • Research from the EU's Dare project and a review in Terrorism and Political Violence found perceived inequality drives radicalization more powerfully than objective economic conditions.
  • A Journal of Conflict Resolution paper found projected economic decline, not current poverty, motivates political violence by putting people in a 'domain of loss' where they become risk-seeking.
  • Rachel Kleinfeld's 2023 review for the Carnegie Endowment found reducing affective polarization does not reduce support for political violence.
  • Nathaniel Whittemore proposes three solutions: creating credible democratic channels for AI governance, addressing economic trajectory with reskilling programs, and breaking the overt moral frame without dismissing grievances.
Also from this episode: (10)

AI & Tech (6)

  • Nathaniel Whittemore states AI populism turned violent when Daniel Moreno Gamma threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's home at 4 a.m. on Friday and was later arrested outside OpenAI headquarters with an anti-AI manifesto, kerosene, and a lighter.
  • Sam Altman posted a personal reflection arguing AI is a moral obligation that will be humanity's most powerful tool, but admits the industry must democratize control and ensure democratic systems remain in charge.
  • Jordan Schachtel argues the AI doomer movement's existential risk rhetoric creates a paradox where consistent utilitarians should justify extreme responses, making political violence an inescapable conclusion.
  • Prominent AI safety figures like Geoffrey Hinton and David Krueger condemned the violence, warning it discredits the movement and could lead to government crackdowns.
  • Some critics, like Creep of Voire and Casey Newton, argue the AI industry's own doomer rhetoric about job loss and human obsolescence fueled public fear and backlash.
  • Nathaniel Whittemore argues AI violence stems from a pipeline of real economic pain, perceived inequality, and projected decline, not just industry discourse.

Safety (1)

  • A second attack on Altman's home occurred Sunday morning, with Amanda Thom and Muhammad Tariq Hussain arrested for allegedly firing a gun at the residence.

Society (1)

  • An Emerson poll found 41% of 18- to 29-year-olds in the U.S. agreed it was somewhat or completely acceptable to kill a CEO following the Mangione shooting.

Business (1)

  • Home prices are up 60% since 2019, and the median household must now spend 47.7% of income on a median-priced home, exceeding the 30% affordability threshold.

Psychology (1)

  • A 2025 study showed visual wealth exposure on social media increases upward social comparison and relative deprivation, which then increases hostility toward the rich and provokes aggressive behavior.
SafetyRegulationSocietyStartups
Stacker News Live
Stacker News Live

SNL #219: Killing Satoshi • Apr 13

  • Dan earned 115,000 sats, worth about $80, from his mining heater over the same period, projecting a 26-month payback period for the device.
  • NeedCreations launched btcedu.app, a Bitcoin education archive where users can earn points and withdraw 100 sats after accumulating 1,000 points.
  • Keon cites Brian Quintin's Myers-Briggs survey showing Bitcoiners heavily skew toward INTJ (34%) and INTP (22%) personality types, diverging significantly from the general population.
  • The hosts express concern that Mythos could find zero-day vulnerabilities in critical open-source software, including Bitcoin Core, posing a significant security threat if capabilities are locked away.
  • Topher states he trusts Anthropic because the company stood its ground against the U.S. government when its models were being used for lethal purposes.
  • Keon sees the open-agents movement, where people sell compute for Bitcoin, as a bullish counterbalance to centralized AI power and a potential defense against models like Mythos.
  • Aardvark proposes a quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction scheme using Lamport signatures, which results in a 10,000-byte script size and requires 150 dummy signatures with hash commitments.
  • The hosts discuss the upcoming movie 'Killing Satoshi,' directed by Doug Liman and starring Pete Davidson, Casey Affleck, and Gal Gadot, which fictionalizes an investigator trying to expose Bitcoin's creator.
Also from this episode: (5)

War (1)

  • Keon discusses a story about an F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft with two airmen being shot down over Iran.

Mining (2)

  • Dan, a Bitcoiner in Iceland, shares his experience with a home Bitcoin mining heater called the Open Two from a company called 21 Energy.
  • Dan reports his mining unit achieved 43 terahash per second but was too loud, and that his total household power consumption was nearly 4,000 kilowatt hours over three months at a cost equivalent to $681.

AI & Tech (2)

  • The hosts discuss a New Yorker article characterizing Sam Altman as dishonest, citing his firing from OpenAI's board and claims of misleading Anthropic's founder about AI safety commitments.
  • Anthropic is working with 40 companies through 'Project Glasswing' to test its new AI model, Mythos, for cybersecurity vulnerabilities before a public release.
ModelsSafetyMacroPsychologyAI Infrastructure
Rabbit Hole Recap
Rabbit Hole Recap

RABBIT HOLE RECAP #404: THE RISE OF THE PETROSAT • Apr 9

  • Marty reports Iran is reportedly accepting Bitcoin as payment for tolls through the Strait of Hormuz, with transactions potentially averaging $2 million per tanker at $1 per barrel.
  • Marty argues Bitcoin is ideal for international financial transfers where trust is limited, citing its finality and censorship resistance as superior to traditional and stablecoin alternatives for sanctioned entities like Iran.
  • Marty highlights Iran's existing Bitcoin mining operations, noting it offers an efficient way for energy-rich, sanctioned countries to monetize their energy resources directly.
  • Matt notes France made a $12 billion profit on the gold trade and suggests the repatriation highlights gold's limitations in verifiability and transferability compared to Bitcoin.
  • The Bitcoin ETF became the fastest-growing ETF in history, accumulating $100 billion in assets under management in 435 days, significantly faster than the previous record holder (VOOS ETF, 2011 days).
  • Miles Suter of Block clarified that Square is gradually rolling out Bitcoin payments to eligible US sellers, enabling 100% of newly onboarded users by default while expanding to existing sellers in phases.
  • Individuals from El Salvador who completed Mempool's Lightning Network Bootcamp in Tokyo are now joining the company's team at its new offices in El Salvador.
  • Marty notes the Iranian government has blocked its people from global internet access for 41 days during conflict, making alternative communication tools like Starlink, local mesh networks, and ham radio critical.
  • Russia's Ministry of Digital Development is drafting legislation to mandate banks use MAX, a Kremlin-controlled messaging app, for confirming customer financial operations, granting officials broad discretion over transactions.
  • BitChat was banned in China, which Marty considers a positive signal for the freedom technology project; its Android app has accumulated 3.2 million downloads since launching on July 6, 2023.
  • Marty argues that the ethical stance of Bitcoin maximalism has been compromised by the embrace of MicroStrategy's (MSTR) treasury products, which he likens to 'shitcoins' when viewed through a non-Wall Street lens.
Also from this episode: (6)

Macro (1)

  • France repatriated 129 tons of gold by selling reserves in New York and repurchasing them in Europe, citing concerns over counterparty risk with foreign holdings.

ETFs (1)

  • Morgan Stanley launched its own Bitcoin ETF, featuring lower fees than BlackRock's IBIT and leveraging its 16,000 advisors managing $7.4 trillion in client assets for potential inflows.

Nostr (1)

  • OpenSats has issued its 16th wave of Nostr grants, committing 100% of donations to open-source contributors, supporting projects like Amethyst Desktop and Hamster, which utilizes ham radio for Nostr communication.

AI & Tech (2)

  • Block released Sprout, a Nostr-based open-source relay for AI agents, and Mesh LLM, which enables users to pool spare GPU capacity via Nostr to create an OpenAI-compatible API for open-source models.
  • Anthropic ceased OpenClaude subscription access, forcing users to its API where Marty's estimated costs for his The Financial Times project saw a 15x increase, reaching $3,000 per month.

Big Tech (1)

  • Google launched an AI-powered Google Finance, expanding to over 100 countries with advanced market research, charting, and real-time data, showcasing its continued dominance and integration of AI across products.
TradeMacroModelsRegulation

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