3 ms·

There's a major distinction, however, in that it's a heck of a lot harder to safely and reliably lug briefcases or suitcases full of $100 bills from Chicago to

There's a major distinction, however, in that it's a heck of a lot harder to safely and reliably lug briefcases or suitcases full of $100 bills from Chicago to Tehran, than it is to click and transfer some Bitcoin. Which is the whole point.

cs702 8mo ago
Yeah, crypto is a safer, more reliable alternative for many use cases, including those that are fundamentally honest. For instance, if you're an honest person trapped as a citizen in a despotic authoritarian state that doesn't respect your property rights, crypto may be the safest, most reliable alternative for storing and transferring your hard-earned savings.
- gpt5 8mo ago
  Ironically, crypto has developed something significantly better for these use cases called stablecoin, which isn't really decentralized.
  - hephaes7us 8mo ago
    A currency peg is a double-edged sword in and of itself, to say nothing of the risk brought into the equation by having to trust a stablecoin issuer.
jazzyjackson 8mo ago
Yes, mostly they are distributed via pallets out the back of C130s (Definitely in Iraq and Afghanistan, I don't know if there's any back channel deals at the moment paying off Iranians in 100$ bills but I wouldn't be surprised if we were nudging for regime change by funding revolutionaries)
- crazygringo 8mo ago
  Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's limited exclusively to countries the US is currently invading...
  - dpc050505 8mo ago
    That cash keeps circulating among global black markets after any given invasion.
    - crazygringo 8mo ago
      Which has nothing whatsoever to do with sending money from Chicago to Iran. The topic here is sending money across sanctioned borders, not local circulation.
YetAnotherNick 8mo ago
It's not hard even for Iran to trade gold and oil in USD. > The Wall Street Journal reported, saying the hidden conduit enabled Tehran to receive up to $8.4 billion last year. [1]: https://www.iranintl.com/en/202510060867 https://www.iranintl.com/en/202510060867

cs702 8mo ago

Yeah, crypto is a safer, more reliable alternative for many use cases, including those that are fundamentally honest. For instance, if you're an honest person trapped as a citizen in a despotic authoritarian state that doesn't respect your property rights, crypto may be the safest, most reliable alternative for storing and transferring your hard-earned savings.

gpt5 8mo ago
Ironically, crypto has developed something significantly better for these use cases called stablecoin, which isn't really decentralized.
- hephaes7us 8mo ago
  A currency peg is a double-edged sword in and of itself, to say nothing of the risk brought into the equation by having to trust a stablecoin issuer.

jazzyjackson 8mo ago

Yes, mostly they are distributed via pallets out the back of C130s (Definitely in Iraq and Afghanistan, I don't know if there's any back channel deals at the moment paying off Iranians in 100$ bills but I wouldn't be surprised if we were nudging for regime change by funding revolutionaries)

crazygringo 8mo ago
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's limited exclusively to countries the US is currently invading...
- dpc050505 8mo ago
  That cash keeps circulating among global black markets after any given invasion.
  - crazygringo 8mo ago
    Which has nothing whatsoever to do with sending money from Chicago to Iran. The topic here is sending money across sanctioned borders, not local circulation.

YetAnotherNick 8mo ago

It's not hard even for Iran to trade gold and oil in USD. > The Wall Street Journal reported, saying the hidden conduit enabled Tehran to receive up to $8.4 billion last year. [1]: https://www.iranintl.com/en/202510060867 https://www.iranintl.com/en/202510060867