CoinDesk Podcast Network

Iran wants bitcoin and stablecoins for Strait of Hormuz toll payments.

Iran is now accepting bitcoin and stablecoins from cargo ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, charging $1 per barrel of oil. Experts say the move fits into the IRGC's existing crypto-based sanctions evasion network, which has facilitated billions in cross-border trade. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily."

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This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

Iran reportedly wants shipping companies to pay a toll in BTC to leave the Strait of Hormuz, and the NYT thinks it has cracked the case on Satoshi’s identity.

Get your tickets to OPNEXT 2026 before prices increase! Join us on April 16 in NYC for technical discussions, investor talks, and intimate conversation with the brightest minds in Bitcoin.

Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Antoine Poinsot of Chaincode Labs joins us to discuss how the Great Consensus Cleanup addresses poison block attacks (among many things), and Lygos Finance CEO Jay Patel gives a breakdown of the current state of private credit markets. For news, we cover Iran demanding bitcoin tolls for tankers to navigate the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran War’s two week ceasefire, Morgan Stanley becoming the first US bank to offer a Bitcoin ETF, and Bitdeer’s new ASIC. Plus, we take to task the New York Times' latest claim that Adam Back is Satoshi Nakamoto.

Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com

Notes:

- Iran demands $1 in BTC toll per oil barrel.

- A supertanker toll would be $2 million in BTC.

- Morgan Stanley ETF fees half of BlackRock's.

- Oracle credit default swaps at 2008 levels.

- Bitdeer launches SEALMINER A4, with hydro model at sub 10 J/TH

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

03:33 Antoine Poinsot: Poison blocks demo

15:47 Iran wants Bitcoin

34:18 Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF

42:16 Jay Patel

1:03:06 Bitdeer ASIC

1:15:10 NYT thinks Adam Back is Satoshi

👉CleanSpark

CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world.

👉Luxor, Blockspace's preferred mining pool

Bitcoin mining revenue changes every day. Difficulty adjusts. Fees move. Prices shift. And that makes it hard to plan. Luxor Pool’s Fixed Payouts let miners lock in revenue at a guaranteed daily rate for up to 18 months. According to Hashrate Index, miners who used rolling fixed payout strategies since the last halving have outperformed FPPS mining by up to 15 percent. Fixed Payouts give you predictable daily revenue, so you can plan, budget, and grow with confidence. With Luxor, uncertainty is optional. Learn more at luxor.tech/mining

Morgan Stanley's spot Bitcoin ETF is here.

Morgan Stanley's spot Bitcoin ETF begins trading today under the ticker MSBT, making it the first proprietary Bitcoin fund from a major U.S. bank. With 16,000 financial advisors and $6.2 trillion in client assets behind it, the launch could open a new phase for institutional Bitcoin adoption. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily."

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This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

Will AI companies fight bitcoin miners for energy infrastructure?

Anthropic's multi-gigawatt compute deal with Google and Broadcom highlights how AI companies are now directly competing with bitcoin miners for the same energy infrastructure. Several major miners have already started converting capacity to AI hosting, but does this mean that bitcoin mining is dying? CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily."

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This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

Matt Odell joins the show to discuss OpenSats’ 17th grant round, and Ben Carman also joins to explain why the Austin Bitdevs meetup is saying sayonara for now.

Get your tickets to OPNEXT 2026 before prices increase! Join us on April 16 in NYC for technical discussions, investor talks, and intimate conversation with the brightest minds in Bitcoin.

Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Matt Odell, Co-founder of OpenSats, joins us to talk about their 17th wave of grants and the importance of funding open-source Bitcoin privacy projects, and Spiral bitcoin developer Ben Carman hops on to explain why the longest running Bitdevs meetup is taking a break. We also dive into the $270M Drift Protocol exploit and the sophisticated social engineering tactics used by North Korean hackers. Plus, we cover Charles Schwab launching Bitcoin trading, the first investment bank rating for Keel Infrastructure (formerly Bitfarms), and how a solo miner secured a $250,000 block reward. 

Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com

Notes:

- Drift Protocol lost $270M in a painstaking hack.

- OpenSats has distributed over $33M in grants from ~10,000 donors

- OpenSats grants ~$1M in Bitcoin every month.

- Solo miner earned $250,000 for a single block.

- Charles Schwab to offer spot BTC and ETH trading in H1 2026

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

02:32 Strait of Hormuz: A Citrini Field Trip

06:33 Drift Protocol (SOL) Hack

15:15 Matt Odell: OpenSats 7th wave of grants

32:45 Ben Carman: Austin BitDevs go bye bye

48:09 Bitfarms becomes Keel

54:38 Charles Schwab opens BTC trading

59:11 Solo miner wins block

👉CleanSpark

CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world.

👉Luxor, Blockspace's preferred mining pool

Bitcoin mining revenue changes every day. Difficulty adjusts. Fees move. Prices shift. And that makes it hard to plan. Luxor Pool’s Fixed Payouts let miners lock in revenue at a guaranteed daily rate for up to 18 months. According to Hashrate Index, miners who used rolling fixed payout strategies since the last halving have outperformed FPPS mining by up to 15 percent. Fixed Payouts give you predictable daily revenue, so you can plan, budget, and grow with confidence. With Luxor, uncertainty is optional. Learn more at luxor.tech/mining