Is Iran arming itself with Bitcoin while the US military is reading Wikipedia?

▲ Is Iran arming itself with Bitcoin while the US military is reading Wikipedia?/AI generated image

As Iran declares it will accept Bitcoin (BTC) for Strait of Hormuz passage fees, weaponizing cryptocurrency, the very US military leadership that should be countering this has revealed a subpar understanding of Bitcoin, drawing strong criticism from the virtual asset community.

According to crypto media outlet Bitcoinist on April 26 (local time), Iran, which controls the Strait of Hormuz through which approximately 20% of the world's oil supply passes, recently officially adopted Bitcoin as a payment method for ship passage fees, alongside Chinese Yuan and dollar-pegged stablecoins. Officials from the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) analyzed that while Iran may prefer stablecoins, they are strategically utilizing Bitcoin because, unlike stablecoins where issuers can freeze funds, Bitcoin possesses perfect censorship resistance that no one can control or block.

Sam Lyman, Research Director at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, emphasized that this incident is the most important example demonstrating Bitcoin's emergence as a clear geopolitical strategic asset. Data showing that transactions related to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard account for almost half of the total cryptocurrency market volume within Iran proves that the Iranian government and military are already utilizing the Bitcoin network very actively and purposefully.

In such an urgent situation where an adversarial nation is weaponizing Bitcoin, the US Navy admiral's congressional testimony brought great disappointment to the market. Admiral Samuel Paparo, Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee last Tuesday, stating that the U.S. government operates Bitcoin nodes and describing Bitcoin as a combination of cryptography, blockchain, and proof-of-work, as well as a computer science tool and a means of projecting power.

However, the virtual asset community harshly criticized his remarks as being merely at the level of reading Wikipedia. Cryptocurrency educator Matthew Kratter directly stated that both Admiral Paparo and Senator Tommy Tuberville do not even understand what they are saying, calling their conversation 'empty nonsense.' Journalist Lola Ritz also dismissed the testimony as mere rambling.

This sharp criticism from the community stems from a fundamental sense of crisis. With Iran wielding cryptocurrency as a practical weapon in the Strait of Hormuz, serious doubts are being raised as to whether the US military leadership can properly control and utilize Bitcoin's strategic value for national security if they remain at a superficial level of understanding, merely talking about 'computer science tools'.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*