FORGET THE FED: The US Treasury Just SILENTLY Targeted Bitcoin!??? | EP 1558

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Well, everyone will be distracted with today's Fed meeting. We got some massive news coming out of the US Treasury. They have officially targeted Iran for accepting Bitcoin for payments through the Strait of Hormuz. The framing is very interesting. So as we restart the war in the Middle East, Bitcoin is once again at the center of the story. So for everyone that's not really falling along on what's going on in the Middle East, it's on, it's off. There's pauses, there's agreements. Trump's always like, Iran wants to negotiate the IRDC or official spokespeople from Iran are like, actually, I don't know what he's talking about. Well, just to update you a little bit on the updated tensions here that are happening. Here is probably the latest update on where it stands. Just short of it, it looks like it's back on. If again, if you're not following what exactly is going on in the war, maybe you're tired of it. It's been, I think, 152 days now. It was supposed to be over in one weekend. Now we're over 150 days.
Yesterday, yeah, yesterday night, well, yesterday, we heard that Iran bombed a military base in Jordan. And what was interesting about this, which does kind of change the scenario here, it was, I believe, the first offensive front from the Iranian regime. Most of this kind of skirmishes were like tip for tat. Iran would only bomb something if the US did. Well, this was the first time, throughout this whole time, that they went in and attacked first, or at least that's kind of what it looks like. And now we're getting updates that the US is gonna go even harder. So Walter Bloomberg this morning, basically summarizing goes, the Middle East conflict escalates. Fighting between Iran and the US intensified overnight as Iran launched ballistic missiles at US forces. Again, this was in Jordan. While the US and Saudi Arabia responded with strikes on Iran-backed militaries in Iraq, ending a brief diplomatic pause. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted drones targeting its oil facilities for a second consecutive day. The US said all Iranian missiles aimed at its forces were intercepted. Oil prices jumped nearly 4%, with Brent crude oil rising to around $87, which is essentially the oil price is coming out of Russia. As traders reacted to renewed supply concerns, the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. So this has been one of the ongoing sagas here. Is the Strait open? Is it closed? I've seen a lot of you guys in the chat essentially ask, did Iran even get any Bitcoin payments throughout this whole process? Well, throughout the whole process, it seems like the Strait was closed. It was opened, it was closed. Last time we talked about it, it seemed like some boats were trying to go through on the southern side of the Strait through Amman, controlled waters, or at least that's kind of what it was being framed at. Now, Iran's basically like, no, we control this whole Strait. So effectively, it's closed right now, which, as we've been covering, a lot of what we're seeing has to revolve around energy, prices of oil, right? So we're shipping heavily disrupted, while tensions are also rising in the Red Sea after attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The widening conflicts now spans Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, raising fears of a broader regional war. Markets are increasingly focused on energy security, inflation risk and the potential economic fallout. While hope for renewed US-Iran peace talks continue to fade. That is obviously just a summary of what we're seeing happen in the Middle East. Now, this update, this one is probably, again, depending on if you listen to the Trump haters, you're like, Trump's just gonna chicken out again, or you are just watching what's going on. And this is probably all fog of war and a part of the strategic strategy going on. This is like the latest announcement, which probably shows you that, one, the war seems to have escalated. Obviously, I think the US really has two choices. It's like, escalate to an extreme level, which we've kind of been seeing that be the general trend here, or literally just like completely pull out. They really have no other choices right now. It's either pretty much admit defeat or just go all in. Now, obviously, a lot of people are saying, maybe it gets so far as dropping a big N-bomb here.
Wait, wait, dropping a nuke. Dropping a nuke, which we probably won't get to, but it seems like the escalation is happening. But this is pretty crazy. So before I get to why I think this is all connected here, it's obviously that it's not just a kinetic war. It is an economic war that we're seeing. And I think a lot of people are missing that concept. And I see listening to Tom Mwango or even, oh wow, why, how come I'm, Simon Dixon. Anyways, Trump goes, the US will strike Iran in response to Iran's ballistic missile attacks on US targets in Jordan last night. Trump adds, quote, we're going to beat the effing shit out of them and we'll be hitting them hard. They're going to get a beating. So very strong words. Obviously, I think before I get any further, just in the context of all of this, what's happening in the Middle East, because this does set up the context for what we saw the US Treasury do this morning, or yeah, this morning.