As Trump Threatens the ‘End of Iran’ Its People Flock to Bitcoin

Thanks to Trump, Iran is between a rock and a hard place. As US sanctions squeeze the country tighter, inflation rises, and war drums echo in the distance, its people are flocking to bitcoin.

Storm Clouds Are Gathering Over Iran

Powered by an erratic, unpredictable man egged on by extremist advisors, this US administration is playing a dangerous game.

Ever since Trump ascended to power, he’s had Iran in his sights. First, he withdrew from the Iran Nuclear deal put in place by the Obama administration. Then, he imposed grueling sanctions on the country to pressure its regime further.

There’s nothing like the choke of sanctions to provoke knee-jerk acts of aggression.

With the world’s most powerful country breathing down your neck and its national security advisor John Bolton screaming for regime change, it’s not unreasonable to expect a reaction.

According to Washington, Tehran was preparing for acts of war against US forces in the area. They allegedly placed several missiles on boats which were removed shortly after. However, Trump tweeted out on Sunday that it would be the ‘end of Iran’ if they ever threatened the US again.

“If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!” the U.S. President wrote.

With Bolton calling the Ayatollah’s 40-year anniversary this February, “40 years of terrorizing your own people,” he’s clearly baying for blood. And sparks are beginning to fly.

A message to the Ayatollah of Iran: “For all your boasts, for all your threats to the life of the American President, YOU are responsible for terrorizing your own people.” #40YearsofFailure pic.twitter.com/gpCL1FeLis

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 11, 2019

bitcoin Buying in Iran Skyrockets

Inflation is rising in the country, its people are living hand to mouth. And now it seems its leadership is getting ready to retaliate. It’s probably no coincidence then, that bitcoin sales have hit an all-time high since January 2018 in Iran.

Amidst an uncertain panorama and a weakening national currency, people are desperate to protect their savings or move them out of the country. bitcoin purchases are booming.

Last week’s trading saw over 45 billion IRR ($1.35 million USD) worth of bitcoin traded on the LocalBitcoins platform alone.

Bitcoinist has reported many times that certain geopolitical factors can create ideal conditions for BTC. That is, a plunging currency, massive inflation, and falling stock markets that send investors towards safe-haven assets like gold. And bitcoin.

With takers for Iran’s “crypto rial” few and far between, it’s not surprising that bitcoin sales in Iran are soaring.

Why are fiat inflows into bitcoin skyrocketing in Iran? Share your thoughts below!

Images via Shutterstock

The Rundown

Published at Mon, 20 May 2019 13:00:32 +0000

July 7, 2017

Voorhees: Bitcoin Will Probably Be Replaced If Scaling Resolution Not Found This Summer

bitcoin has always been seen as the king of the world of cryptocurrency due to its network effects and first-mover advantage, but ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees thinks bitcoin could be replaced as the top dog if a scaling resolution is not found this summer. Voorhees shared this point of view on the most recent episode of Epicenter with co-hosts Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture.

The debate over scaling bitcoin has been the main topic of conversation in the ecosystem for the past two years, but it appears that the network will get the long-awaited Segregated Witness (SegWit) upgrade by August 1st.

During his appearance on Epicenter, Voorhees discussed his support for the SegWit2x proposal, his impression that many bitcoin users aren’t paying attention to the scaling debate and whether bitcoin needs an improved system of governance.

Is SegWit2x bitcoin’s Short-Term Scaling Solution?

SegWit2x, which is supported by a large number of Bitcoin companies and miners, is a proposal for adding SegWit and a hard-forking increase to the block size limit to bitcoin. Voorhees described himself as a “big proponent” of the proposal during his appearance on Epicenter, saying that it’s the “only viable, actual option to moving bitcoin forward.”

“I want SegWit on bitcoin as soon as possible,” said Voorhees. “I also want a hard fork to a larger base block size as soon as possible, and SegWit2x hopefully will make those things happen.”

Voorhees said that he is also bullish on the possible success of SegWit2x due to the declared support of the proposal from over 80 percent of the network hashrate.

According to Voorhees, the activation of SegWit2x will move bitcoin out of a “trough of misery” that he believes the digital cash system has been in for the past two years, though he also believes the deployment of these changes has the potential to cause some volatility in the near term.

“This stagnation has been really horrible for bitcoin,” said Voorhees.

In Voorhees’s view, the activation of SegWit2x on the bitcoin network will lead to a rally in the bitcoin price that “will be unlike anything that people have ever seen before.” He also believes the activation of the scaling proposal will allow everyone in the ecosystem to refocus on building on top of bitcoin rather than debating over the base protocol.

At one point during his Epicenter interview, Voorhees admitted that he almost doesn’t care which scaling proposal is activated on the network.

“I just want something to happen,” said Voorhees. “If this summer fails to find some kind of resolution to this debate, then I’m pretty bearish on bitcoin, and I think it’ll probably be replaced.”

bitcoin’s Userbase is Much Larger Than /r/bitcoin

Voorhees also discussed the bitcoin community as a whole during his appearance on Epicenter, and he noted that bitcoin’s userbase is much larger than some may realize.

“The community is so much larger than Reddit, and people that live on Reddit don’t realize this,” said Voorhees.

While the /r/bitcoin subreddit is still a main hub of the community, Voorhees pointed out that both Blockchain and Coinbase have 10 million users each. By comparison, /r/bitcoin has roughly 250,000 subscribers.

Voorhees then told a story of going to a recent bitcoin meetup in Berlin, Germany, where Blockchain CEO Peter Smith asked the audience how many of them had heard of the SegWit2x proposal. According to Voorhees, about 5 percent of the crowd raised their hands.

Does bitcoin Need a Better System of Governance?

Voorhees’s story about the Berlin meetup eventually turned into a broader conversation of how changes should be made to the bitcoin protocol. Crain pointed out that some of the newer altcoins coming onto the market, such as Tezos, are heavily focused on the issue of network governance.

“It’s a slippery slope,” said Voorhees. “When you start having structured governance, you start moving toward an organization that can be compromised. As difficult as bitcoin has been in making progress on this one debate, it also is showing immense resilience to change, which is good and bad — it depends what the issue at hand is. You have to be careful if you want something like a blockchain project to turn into a more traditional-looking organization with a hierarchical structure and certain people who make key decisions. That’s not necessarily the best way that a blockchain should exist.”

Voorhees then admitted that he does not know the best governance model for a blockchain, but he thinks it’s great that there is so much experimentation taking place in this area right now.

Watch the whole episode here:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4UeHbv7-tA?feature=oembed&w=480&h=270]

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