US Accuses China of Model Theft; Iran Sets New Maritime Sanctions Zone

The pairing of AI model theft allegations with Iran's maritime sanctions zone underscores how geopolitical friction is now converging across tech and energy markets. For crypto/RWA observers, the oil price spike past $100 matters because it could reignite inflationary pressures, potentially influencing risk asset sentiment and the appeal of tokenized commodities as hedges. The open question is whether these US-China tech tensions and Gulf shipping risks become structural, reshaping supply chains and pricing benchmarks that RWA protocols increasingly reference.