He said that the tariff is $1 per barrel of oil, adding that empty tankers can pass freely. "Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels are given a few seconds to pay in Bitcoin, ensuring they can't be traced or confiscated due to sanctions," Hosseini added.
113 Comments
tirateimas@lemmy.pt · 74 pts · 116d
No Uncle Sam's paper dollars? ohh boy
mannycalavera@feddit.uk · 16 pts · 116d
That's gonna upset Donny Boy
architect@thelemmy.club · 7 pts · 116d
They own a bunch of it, though.
yesman@lemmy.world · 70 pts · 116d
Bitcoin is for dodging sanctions and the influence America has over the international banking and payment systems. It's also may shield third parties from sanctions the US may impose on those who transact with Iran.
db2@lemmy.world · 67 pts · 116d
Reminder that bitcoin is not now nor has it ever been anonymous.
Skankhunt420@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 115d
Neither is a bank account though either. And one is sanction proof, the other isn't.
redsand@infosec.pub · 11 pts · 115d
Doesn't need to be it's just irreversible. That's why north korean randsomeware has worked forever.
db2@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 115d
It wouldn't have anything to do with tracing transactions to North Korea being pointless and unactionable I'm sure.
urushitan@kakera.kintsugi.moe · 18 pts · 116d
It also means that if there's a secondary deal trump's Bitcoin account get it's cut right after Iran takes theirs
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip · 60 pts · 116d
Honestly, the biggest mistake they've made here is that they're not demanding Monero instead.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 116d
It's easier for people to get Bitcoin, Iran could deal with the cleaning / mixing themselves after. This is already going to create friction so keeping it lower might help?
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip · 20 pts · 116d
Oh, if they demanded Monero, people would figure out how to get it.
axexrx@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 115d
theres only like 6.5B usd worth of monero (compared to ~1Trilion BTC)
At 20Milion barrels of oil (/ dolars if its $1 a barrel) a day, theyd own all the monero within a year, meaning theyd have told pretty actively be selling it back onto the market for another currency to keep a supply for shippers to use. Compared to BTC where they'd need 136 years of hoarding to accumulate it all
redsand@infosec.pub · 9 pts · 115d
The huge demand spike would increase the value of any coins quite a bit so your napkin math doesn't quite hold. It would basically make monero a new petro backed currency.
mlg@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 115d
Right? I was like dang you're already half way there lol.
The reason though is that they probably don't want to discourage payments because I have seen businesses refuse to use Monero in ransomware attacks because their insurance agreement complicates payout on a fundamentally untraceable currency. Even if Bitcoin is technically decentralized, they can report the transaction and specific currency blocks to whatever federal agency is responsible for fraud.
Still, why not offer both and put a 5% discount on Monero.
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 114d
That idea of a 5% discount doesn't sound like such a bad idea.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 115d
I never even considered the insurance side there. But it is legit proof of delivery and it gives them at least a chance of recovery if someone fucks up cleaning them.
Randomgal@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 114d
Yeah and writer has no idea what they are talking about. One of the core characteristics of Bitcoin is being publicly traceable
Blackmist@feddit.uk · 9 pts · 114d
I mean it doesn't even matter that it is. It's not a secret who the money is going to.
The important part is that it can't be reversed by a banking authority.
humanspiral@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 115d
It's all about whether Binance lets them cash out or not, but mixing within BRICS is sure to make it clean enough, as Binance getting/keeping sovereign clients is good for Binance, and not worth appeasing US BS to turn it away.
dhork@lemmy.world · 51 pts · 116d
I'm surprised Elon didn't convince them to take the payments in Dogecoin....
ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip · 21 pts · 115d
Why would they ever listen to that dumbass, who's involved with the countries attacking them?
Taleya@aussie.zone · 4 pts · 114d
That shit only works in white idiots
Bongo_Stryker@lemmy.ca · 50 pts · 116d
I heard they are also accepting iTunes gift cards.
jestho@lemmy.zip · 12 pts · 115d
Just make sure you don't redeem them
MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 114d
DO NOT REDEEM!!!
jestho@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 114d
WHY DID YOU REDEEEEEEEM!?!?
Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 48 pts · 116d
Bitcoin finely found a use case that's not crime. Take that crypto haters.
Zetta@mander.xyz · 15 pts · 115d
Purchasing drugs for yourself shouldn't be a crime, so it's awesome that cryptocurrencies exist for this purpose.
echodot@feddit.uk · 7 pts · 115d
Technically it still is a crime since charging money for access to navigable waters is a violation of international law.
x00z@lemmy.world · 37 pts · 115d
It's not like international law protected them in the first place.
BoJackHorseman@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 114d
What about Panama Canal, Suez canal, St Lawrence Seaway? Is it fine to charge money for those waters?
echodot@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 114d
They're not natural waterways, somebody had to make them so the law doesn't apply. Same for Great Lakes Waterway.
BoJackHorseman@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 114d
Besides, international law only applies to you if you agree to it. Both US and Iran do not agree with this.
US also has a law that say US can use military force against the ICC if any US citizen is arrested by the ICC.
Samskara@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 114d
That’s not true. Customary international law also applies to states, that are not themselves members of a treaty. In the case of international maritime war and international humanitarian laws this is widely accepted as such.
Dr_Del_Fuego@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 114d
Maybe that used to be the case but the USA does it different
Samskara@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 113d
International law is more like a code of conduct. Also as with most laws, if you’re powerful enough you can ignore the law.
BoJackHorseman@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 113d
International laws have no meaning if nations don't agree to it.
For example, the United States has laws and policies designed to prevent the arrest of U.S. personnel and its allies by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The 2002 American Service-Members' Protection Act (ASPA) authorizes the US President to use "all means necessary and appropriate" to release U.S. or allied personnel detained by the ICC, often termed the "Hague Invasion Act".
mathemachristian@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 114d
Which law?
AlDente@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 114d
This would be the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It's interesting that the US is among the nations that have never ratified the treaty.
Also, Denmark has a long 500+ year history of charging ships to transit in and out of the Baltic Sea, so this really isn't a new concept (Sound Tolls).
mathemachristian@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 114d
I thought they meant this law but wasn't sure. That treaty has not been ratified by the US, Pissrael and most importantly, Iran! So it doesn't apply and we are talking about a war where neither the invading nations nor the victim nation has signed it.
https://www.simplelaw.blog/p/the-strait-of-hormuz-a-3-minute-international
VAK@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 114d
There used to be hundreds of cases of charges for transit. Led to wars too.
magic_smoke@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 114d
The (non-financial) crime is the best part.
I love taking estrogen I bought offa onion sites :)
bold_omi@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 114d
Be careful with your sources. Laced drugs are dangerous. But I'm with you.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 34 pts · 116d
People who say that crypto has no application are just thinking inside the imperial bubble.
Weingeist@feddit.org · 76 pts · 116d
Nobody doubts that ransom is an application for crypto.
GameOverFlow@lemmy.zip · 24 pts · 116d
protection money, highway robbery
drbluefall@toast.ooo · 47 pts · 116d
But there are very good reasons why Bitcoin is very far from mass adoption as an actual currency.
architect@thelemmy.club · 13 pts · 116d
The problem is the volatility. It would destroy most people.
echodot@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 115d
People have always known that crypto who is very good for crime.
Sunflier@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 114d
Crime was the first adopting use, but not the last. Even the US recognizes its value by having a strategic reserve.
Kissaki@feddit.org · 2 pts · 114d
That says “proposed” - not implemented, though?
And if it's under Trump's administration, I can't take anything like that as any indication of reason or sustainability.
Trump is part of crime.
merc@sh.itjust.works · 19 pts · 116d
This is good for bitcoin.
GameOverFlow@lemmy.zip · 10 pts · 116d
and so also for Trump
webkitten@piefed.social · 0 pts · 116d
Wispy2891@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 116d
It's ok because the binance CEO guy purchased a pardon in helping Iran laundering their BTC
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 116d
Richard Teng?
inari@piefed.zip · 16 pts · 116d
Did they give up using the yuan?
deathbird@mander.xyz · 16 pts · 116d
They're doing both.
CannonFodder@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 116d
How could that work? Doesn't it take some time for a bitcoin transaction to get pulled into the chain?
commander@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 116d
At the size of transactions they'd be doing, it'd probably be worth it to set a high fee so that it gets picked up and processed faster. Should still be peanuts compared to the value of cargo these tankers are carrying
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip · 14 pts · 116d
It takes 10 minutes to get a single confirmation, but I'm assuming that it takes more than 10 minutes for a ship to transit this waterway, so it wouldn't matter.
echodot@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 115d
I don't imagine trying to trick Iran out of their money is a particularly good long-term strategy anyway. Nothing unless you're going to turn up in a new ship every time.
CannonFodder@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 115d
Yeah, but the article says they have seconds to pay with bitcoin.
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 114d
Something tells me the article doesn't understand the way Bitcoin works. A transaction takes 10 minutes to clear on-chain, unless you're using the lightning network, and the lightning network is fucking terrible, especially for high-value transactions like this. Because you can be rug-pulled. That and you can't send high-value transactions on a lightning network because every link in the chain has to have the proper amount of liquidity to make that transaction occur.
Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 116d
The ships can wait, I guess.
ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip · 6 pts · 115d
A couple minutes?
CannonFodder@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 115d
Yeah, and the article says the shippers are given a couple of seconds to pay in bitcoin.
ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip · 5 pts · 114d
I mean, all the steps leading up to that take way more than a few seconds, including...getting the email. This seems like someone misspeaking or not understanding what's going on...
fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 115d
Layer 2 networks like the lightning network operated in the milliseconds time frame.
CannonFodder@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 114d
Doesn't that require trust in the provider hosting the off chain transactions? And lightning transactions can get preempted by conflicting moves from a wallet, and invalidated? I'm no expert, but it seems like these big regular transactions would be targets for abuse.
fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 114d
Yes, as far as I understand it. No you create a mutisignature wallet first that holds the funds that can be moved around the layer 2 network.
On chain makes more sense for this application to me too
username_1@programming.dev · 12 pts · 116d
Bullerfar@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 116d
Haha Trump Coin and Trump retarded model wife coin. Good one.
Anivia@feddit.org · 4 pts · 115d
Wasn't even a "real" coin, just a token on the Solana network
Bullerfar@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 115d
I know, but wasn't "coin" in the name as I recall?
Anivia@feddit.org · 2 pts · 115d
I didn't mean to correct you on the name, just that it doesn't live up to its name
Bullerfar@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 115d
No true, I got it, no offense taken at all. Just curious if I was right about it 😅
db2@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 116d
Comparing his scamcoin to bitcoin is like comparing Flooz to a Visa gift card.
username_1@programming.dev · 4 pts · 116d
db2@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 116d
I just don't get many opportunities to make fun of Flooz 😆
commander@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 116d
I'd absolutely use crypto if it was more available in anything I'd want to pay for. So far it's mostly just VPNs and donations
HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 20 pts · 116d
People tried that, it failed. It's too volatile.
It's basically a way for people to think they are being sneaky and shit when it's all trackable anyways.
p4rzivalrp2@piefed.social · 4 pts · 116d
Is it though? Obviously bitcoin, eth, etc. Arent, but xmr and zec would be, no?
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip · 16 pts · 116d
Correct. Monero would be untraceable.
HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 116d
To an extent it is but with enough resources and knowhow anything is traceable.
It's not always about direct traceability it's the little bread crumbs that get left by everything. Nothing is absolute and everything we think is secure leaks like a mofo it's just a matter of translating the data.
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 116d
True, a place like Iran could keep it untraceable, although they would have to take some extra care in order to do so. But for your average person that's not being looked at by a nation state, it is much easier to remain untraceable.
Kissaki@feddit.org · 6 pts · 114d
“can't be traced” - it's a public blockchain, though. Everyone can see and trace transactions.
When the money source is clear - it's the shipping companies - you can trace their transactions.
devolution@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 116d
Halal scamming.
Doomsider@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 115d
Cool, now we can add global extortion to cryptocurrency benefits.
mathemachristian@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 114d
it's a fucking toll you dingus those are iranian waters
knotRyder@lemmy.ca · -1 pts · 114d
No it's not it's an international trade route they're just being Pricks because anything to piss off maga
mathemachristian@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 114d
Those iran's waters. These ships are literally passing through their country, I think you're confused with "territorial waters" as defined in UNCLOS as well but neither Iran nor the US nor pissrael ratified that treaty. Here is a good opinion on why the UNCLOS doesn't really apply
https://www.simplelaw.blog/p/the-strait-of-hormuz-a-3-minute-international
Samskara@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 114d
Have you read your link?
mathemachristian@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 114d
yes
Samskara@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 114d
International customary law applies even if you’re not a treaty member.
mathemachristian@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 114d
** Iran is right about which rules are universal **
I don't know how much clearer it gets??? Who's gonna argue that UNCLOS is universal anyway? The US or pissrael? Neither of which are party to the UNCLOS and who very much assert authority outside their territorial waters?
BoJackHorseman@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 113d
International law has no meaning if nations don't participate.
For example, the United States has laws and policies designed to prevent the arrest of U.S. personnel and its allies by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The 2002 American Service-Members' Protection Act (ASPA) authorizes the US President to use "all means necessary and appropriate" to release U.S. or allied personnel detained by the ICC, often termed the "Hague Invasion Act".
BoJackHorseman@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 113d
Up to 200 nautical miles from the coast is nation's territory.
knotRyder@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 113d
Can you tell me how wide that straight is and what's on the other side of it so it's contested isn't it
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 116d
Do they accept Walmart gift cards?
SuiXi3D@fedia.io · 1 pts · 116d
sigh
themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 113d
Why not Monero?
asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev · 1 pts · 108d
they're uneducated in this regard
humanspiral@lemmy.ca · -1 pts · 115d
Preferred crypto payment is USDT (Thether) stable coin. Which is the least US regulated, and most popular, US $ equivalent/backed stable coin. They are unlikely to refuse bitcoin, though.
Nomorereddit@lemmy.today · -6 pts · 114d
A million a ship on avg, high sea piracy is back.
3 to 8 ships have paid in last 72hrs. Normally 320-600ships would have gone thru for free in that window.
IEatDaFeesh@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 114d
I mean... this happened after an illegal war, with probably hundreds of war crimes committed to Iran and hundreds of thousands from israel/US in totality across the region.
This toll is nothing in comparison to that and I prefer this as Iran's form of retaliation compared to more killing.
DirtSona@feddit.org · 8 pts · 114d
The strait of hormus does not lie in international waters. What do you mean by "high sea piracy"?
CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca · 7 pts · 114d
It is considered international for transit passage.
BoJackHorseman@lemmy.today · 10 pts · 114d
Considered international by people who want to pass through the strait without paying.
CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca · -1 pts · 114d
A quick google search will give you the history.
Samskara@sh.itjust.works · -2 pts · 114d
It’s considered international by international maritime law. Free passage, freedom of navigation is essential to trade and commerce.
Iran‘s attack on international shipping is a breach of international law and an act of war.
A blockade can be legal under international law, but it’s always an act of war. Demanding a toll to pass means it’s not a legal blockade.
BoJackHorseman@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 113d
There is no such thing as international law if countries don't agree to it.
For example the United States has laws and policies designed to prevent the arrest of U.S. personnel and its allies by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The 2002 American Service-Members' Protection Act (ASPA) authorizes the US President to use "all means necessary and appropriate" to release U.S. or allied personnel detained by the ICC, often termed the "Hague Invasion Act".
DirtSona@feddit.org · 1 pts · 113d
This one? United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)?
As far as I found out neither the US, nor Iran ratified this.
If you want to argue with law you need to have a law which all states involved follow.
Nomorereddit@lemmy.today · -2 pts · 114d
Piracy = taking or using something that is not yours.
DirtSona@feddit.org · 1 pts · 113d
That doesn't apply here?