I saw this message on Sina yesterday (the gist of it is):
Iran is demanding that oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz pay their tolls in cryptocurrency.
Upon seeing this news, my first reaction was that this cryptocurrency was most likely not a stablecoin like USDC or USDT. Then, I wondered: why didn't the news report specify the exact cryptocurrency?
Then I looked at the news details and it said that no cryptocurrency was specified for payment.
But then I checked the internet, and news reports showed that Iran was demanding payment in Bitcoin.
Why is my first instinct that it's unlikely to be one of these stablecoins?
The reason is simple:
Because these are inherently centralized assets, and tightly controlled by the US government. For adversaries caught in intense political conflict, using such assets could result in their accounts being frozen by these stablecoin issuers, leaving Iran with no recourse but to suffer in silence.
The values of freedom and resistance to censorship are of paramount importance and invaluable in this momentous historical conflict. They hold a supreme, intangible value not only for Iran but for all groups and individuals.
For censorship-resistant assets like Bitcoin to build and demonstrate such value and make the world aware of it, they need one major historical event after another and one dramatic conflict after another that changes the course of history.
The historical weight of gold is built up over time; crypto assets are clearly experiencing a similar historical process.
I have always held this view:
The most valuable things are those that both angels and devils can use and trust.
This is just like the air we depend on every moment—the Creator provides us with this substance without distinguishing who is qualified to breathe it, and does not deprive a person of the right to breathe air just because they are a devil or have committed heinous crimes.
As for whether there are other ways to prevent devils and heinous criminals from breathing air, that's a human matter to be dealt with by humankind. The Creator should strive to remain neutral.
Only by transcending such conflicts can the things created by the Creator be recognized by all humankind.
The best crypto assets should be viewed from the perspective of the Creator, rather than presupposing human values and value orientations.
I'm reminded of the FOCIL mechanism for Ethereum that I read about a while ago.
In real-world scenarios, we inevitably encounter situations like this:
Some nodes, for whatever reason, will block certain accounts or block certain transactions at the request of regulators in order to please them.
This is the "blacklist" mechanism we often hear about.
To prevent this, Ethereum's FOCIL mechanism establishes a "jury" of 17 nodes. These 17 nodes are randomly selected from the entire network. Each node contains a list of transactions that must be included in a block. If a block packager's block is missing any transaction from the list of these 17 nodes, the resulting block will be deemed invalid by the entire network and discarded.
With the FOCIL mechanism, unless a regulatory body can enforce oversight of all nodes on the network, it is difficult for it to interfere with Ethereum's neutrality through transaction blocking.
Regarding the FOCIL mechanism, Vitalik also mentioned that the mechanism will be further strengthened in the future to consolidate Ethereum's censorship resistance and make it as neutral as possible.
