#anti crypto currency

[ayeforscotland]

In other news, the ‘Hawk Tuah’ lassie launched a cryptocurrency meme coin called $HAWK and it crashed from $500M to $60M in twenty minutes in what appears to be a very obvious rug pull scam.

People who have lost their life savings want to see her thrown in jail.

“I am a huge fan of Hawk Tuah but you took my life savings.” - Things said in bizarro world.

[dencyemily]

Trump Pledges Opposition to Federal Reserve's Digital Currency in Presidential Bid

In a bold move during his 2024 presidential campaign, former U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to oppose the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) by the Federal Reserve. Speaking in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on January 17th, Trump emphasized his commitment to safeguarding Americans' freedom, categorically stating he would "never allow" the introduction of a CBDC. His stance resonates with other Republican leaders, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, highlighting broader concerns within the party about potential government overreach in personal finance.

Trump's concerns center around the notion that a government-controlled digital currency poses a threat to freedom and privacy. He contends that such a currency could grant excessive power to the government over individuals' financial matters, potentially enabling unauthorized interventions.

[farklelucas]

working with family on any project <<<< i was so angry i had to turn on make some noise to lower my blood pressure

[colomkola]

Nice try crypto bro

[f4iry-bell]

WHO AM I? | 2

pairing: nerd grayson x popular reader

warning: miscommunication? indirect mention of segs but nothing direct or explicit.

taglist (permanent) : @unnoodles @nqds @alwaysthefangirl @clarissaweasley-10 @benny1989fredd @imaseabear @never-enough-novels @elysianwayy77 @whatsamongus @sheisntyou @emelia07 @cassie6392

series taglist: @inmyheaddd

word count: 1.4k

a/n: hope you guys like it, next part will have grayson with GLASSES. JAMIE CAMEO AND MY JAMIE X NERD READER FIC CROSSOVER LOWKEY

part 1 | masterlist

Grayson tried hard not to think about her because he knew that she would have probably forgotten about him by now. There is nothing interesting about him anyway, unlike her. It was getting harder and harder for him to ignore her because they share a class, and well now his Instagram feed is filled with her because he made the mistake of stalking her page the night after their little disagreement. In defense, she was too pretty not to stalk, and everything about her was attractive.

_

Unlike what Grayson might think, Grayson was in her head. Everytime her ‘friends’ say something to her his words will be playing in her head like a broken record. She realised it first when she told her friend Lily that she got an A in her business class and Lily said “Thanks to Grayson. Don't you love being pretty and doing nothing?” in a mocking way. Lily didn't believe her when she said she actually worked on the project, and even caught up on the lessons. 

But Lily laughed “You? Stop joking. You barely know what is going on in class.”

“I do!” She protested but Lily just kept making fun of her for being dumb as if she is anything better. On top of this, the guys she's friends with acted like jerks making awful inappropriate accusations about her and Grayson. She denied them all, but she didn't like how they responded.

“Of course. You wouldn't go for someone with no social status in college.” One of them said. 

Everything after that evening was just proving Grayson’s point. She noticed how mad her friends get when she posts them and forgets to tag them in her story. Or how they'd always want her to post the best pictures of them and always post the pictures in which she isn't that great. It was tiring at one point. 

After two weeks of this realisation and madness she texted Grayson. 

Hey, I'm sorry for calling you a jerk. You were right about my ‘friends’ ;/ 

To which Grayson replied immediately.

G:It's alright. 

Are you mad at me?

G: Why would I be?

Because…I was rude to you.

G: It's fine. I forgive you.

Thanks xo

Grayson wanted to text further and keep the conversation going but he just liked the message and left. Truth is he didn't know what to text her. He knows her but he doesn't know her enough to keep a conversation going. But lucky for him she texted him. She double texted him. It must mean something, right?

Are you asleep?

G: No.

Me too. Also may I know why you're so anti-social? You are sort of cold but sometimes you even crack funny jokes, a VERY interesting person. If you just try, people would love to be friends with you.

G: I don't like people, they're annoying. Always in my business.

Oh! 

G: Yeah.

Good night, gotta sleep.

He didn't know what to reply to, so he just liked and left it. Did he do something wrong? Why didn't she keep the conversation going? He got comfortable in bed to text her for another hour or however long she wanted. 

_

It was the Harvard and Yale football match. Normally Grayson would look into crypto currency or read the newspaper but since his brother Jameson Hawthorne is coming to see the match he has no choice but to go. He wore a burgundy shirt paired with beige pants, he didn't exactly ditch his suits but his brothers forced him quit wearing suits to college, they said someone might mistake him for the professor. Grayson was sitting on the bleachers waiting for Jameson who was late. He looked around taking in his environment and his eyes landed on her. She always stood out from the crowd, she was sitting with her ‘friends’ but she wasn't talking, she was just on her phone. Her hair was done up to a high ponytail, and she was wearing a red sweater. She looked so beautiful.

“How long are you going to stare?” Grayson immediately looked up to see Jameson standing with snacks.

“I wasn't staring.” Grayson tried to deny it.

“Sure.” 

“I wasn't.”

“Look! She's looking at you!” Jameson pointed which got an immediate reaction from Grayson. He looked back at her to find her still on her phone. “So?”

“So?”

“Who is she?” Jameson asked.

“No one.”

“Didn't act like no one the way you looked.” Jameson smirked.

“A friend, I think.”  he wasn't sure.

“You think? Tell me what is it with her?” He asked.

“There's nothing.” Grayson told him.

“You sound like you want something to be there, though.” Jameson read his face.

“Stop analysing me, I thought you were skipping your psychology classes.” Grayson said.

“That was before.”

“Before what?”

“I'll tell you mine, if you tell me about her and what's with you and her.” He asked.

“There isn't anything, Jamie. We didn't hit off well at the start—”

“I'm shocked!” Jameson commented to which Grayson glared. “Sorry, continue.”

“And then we were assigned as project partners. We did more than just the project—”

“You said nothing!” Jameson interrupted.

“—As in we studied. Will you stop interrupting? And I told her that her friends I'll treat her, she was in denial, called me a jerk. She came to realise. She apologised, we texted and then suddenly everything was…off? I don't know why, I thought she wanted to be friends or talk. I don't exactly know what I was expecting but when she stopped texting me, I was disappointed” He tried his best to put everything together.

“Woah. Okay, show me your texts.” Jameson demanded.

“No.”

“I'll help you.”

“With what?”

“To get her! You clearly like her or else wouldn't fret about a girl not texting you!” He took his phone out and gave it to Jameson, Jameson read their texts and spoke.

“You told her you don't like people.” He said.

“I did. Which is true.”

“Idiot. She probably thought she was annoying you by texting you.” Jameson chuckled.

“What? No. I wanted her to text me.” 

“Well, you gotta up your game. Tell her that you like talking to her, ask her out.”

“No! She doesn't know me well enough for me to ask her out.”

“Well, just tell her that you didn't mean everyone, okay?” 

_

Grayson thought of texting her but he decided to tell her directly. He walked to her table in the cafeteria and waited for her to turn to him. Her friend noticed him first.

“Another group project, nerd?” Lily said, rolling her eyes.

“Stop it, Lily.” She stood up from her seat to talk to Grayson. “Hey.” 

“Hi.” He was so nervous.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Can…Can we talk?” God, did he just stutter?

“Uh, sure.” 

They both walked further away from the table and then he spoke.

“A few days ago when I texted you saying I don't like people…” His heart was beating so fast, she looked so pretty he couldn't focus.

“yeah?”

“I didn't mean you.”

“Huh?”

“You, I like you.”

Her eyes widened.

He immediately spoke. “As in, you're not bad, not like I like you romantically, I like you because you're nice. You're not everyone.” His words came out so fast.

She chuckled. “I got it, Grayson. No worries. Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“Well, thanks for saying. I actually thought I was annoying you.” She chuckled.

“Jamie was right.” He mumbled, which she heard.

“Who is Jamie?”

“My brother.”

“Oh?” She was so confused.

“He was the one who told me that you might have thought that I included you in the ‘everyone’” He chuckled awkwardly.

“You told your brother about me?*m” She asked with a smile.

“He sort of forced it out of me.”

Her smile widened. “I'm glad that you did. Because I kind of missed you.”

His heart stopped and started beating again. “You did?”

“Yeah. I missed how you randomly say random facts or one of your many talents.”

He blushed. He actually blushed.

She chuckled at his reaction. “Hey, do you want to hang out after college? There is a party.”

“Party isn't really my scene.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry.”

“Don't apologise. And I'll be there.”

Her eyes lightened up. “Well, okay.” She chuckled. “Have you been to one before?”

“2”

“Woah. Mine is like 20 times or something” she chuckled. “I'll send you the details. 

part 3 →

[darkmaga-returns]

People continue to ask if Bitcoin will replace the dollar. They believe that the recent surge in Bitcoin indicates that it will topple the USD as the world’s reserve currency, but that is merely propaganda. You must understand that Bitcoin is simply a trading vehicle, not a currency. I cannot stress that point enough. My opinion has been unpopular, and clients have walked away due to my stance on crypto. That’s fine, as I am not in this for the money. I can only adequately inform my clients of the unbiased truth and hope that those willing to listen will heed the computer’s warnings.

To begin with, there is much speculation about the founder(s) — Satoshi Nakamoto – who created Bitcoin (BTC) on June 3, 2009. The mystery person or group (or government agency) has been MIA since 2011. Yet 1 million Bitcoins remain in their original account, untouched. His wallet is estimated to be worth over $81 billion at the time of this writing, and if this is indeed an individual, he or she is one of the top 15 richest people in the world. They have never moved a fraction of a BTC from their account. So, one wallet contains 5% of all mined bitcoin. Will this person or entity perpetually hold?

They expect us to believe some mysterious Japanese man created the blockchain technology and simply evaded all world governments. They claim Bitcoin is an anti-government vehicle, but it is a bureaucrat’s dream because it allows them to track where funds are coming from and going. In 1996, the US government released a white paper entitled, “How to make a mint: the cryptography of anonymous electronic cash.” Released by the National Security Agency Office of Information Security Research and Technology, this document explains how a government agency could create something like Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. They had been attempting to create one for years and then magically Bitcoin came on the scene.

I encourage anyone interested in crypto to read my article regarding this study. Blockchain was created with surveillance at the top of mind.

[mhbayzid]

Is it Legal to Buy Crypto in Bangladesh?

Cryptocurrencies have gained global traction in recent years, but their legal status varies significantly from one country to another. In Bangladesh, the question of legality regarding cryptocurrency is a topic of considerable debate and interest among enthusiasts and potential investors. This article will dive into the current legal framework for cryptocurrencies in Bangladesh, discuss the risks and benefits, and explore the future outlook for crypto in the country.

1. Understanding Cryptocurrency: A Brief Overview

Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, are digital or virtual forms of money that operate on blockchain technology. Unlike traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies are decentralized, meaning they are not controlled by any central authority, such as a government or bank. They offer various advantages, including lower transaction fees, faster transfers, and the potential for investment growth. However, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies also presents challenges regarding regulation and legal oversight.

Read More :

What is Staking in Cryptocurrency? A Beginner’s Guide

Top 10 Upcoming Cryptocurrency Trends in 2024

How to Avoid Common Cryptocurrency Scams

2. The Legal Status of Cryptocurrency Globally

Across the globe, cryptocurrency laws differ significantly, with countries adopting a range of approaches. For instance:

The United States has taken a generally positive stance, allowing crypto trading and taxation on profits.

Japan was one of the first countries to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender and has a well-developed regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.

China, on the other hand, has implemented a complete ban on all crypto-related activities, including mining and trading.

The global stance on cryptocurrency often influences other countries, as governments assess both the risks and potential benefits associated with digital assets.

3. History of Cryptocurrency in Bangladesh

Government Stance and Regulations

In Bangladesh, the regulatory environment around cryptocurrency has historically been restrictive. The Bangladeshi government and the Bangladesh Bank have issued warnings and statements advising citizens against using or trading cryptocurrencies. As early as 2014, Bangladesh Bank declared that using Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency was not only discouraged but could result in criminal prosecution.

Key Events and Milestones

Several events have shaped Bangladesh’s crypto landscape:

In 2014, the Bangladesh Bank issued a statement clarifying its position against Bitcoin, mentioning that using crypto could lead to fines or imprisonment.

Over the years, Bangladesh’s government has taken action against crypto traders, emphasizing the risks of money laundering and financing of terrorism.

Despite these restrictions, there remains a growing interest in crypto among Bangladeshis, many of whom continue to invest in and trade cryptocurrencies through various means.

4. Current Legal Framework in Bangladesh

Central Bank’s Role and Statements

The Bangladesh Bank is the primary financial regulatory authority in Bangladesh and has taken a strong stance against cryptocurrencies. According to the bank, cryptocurrencies are not recognized as legal tender, and the trading of these digital assets may violate existing anti-money laundering laws.

The Bank has cited concerns such as:

Risk of Fraud: The unregulated nature of crypto makes it susceptible to scams.

Money Laundering: Due to its anonymity, cryptocurrency transactions may facilitate illegal activities.

Anti-Money Laundering Laws

Bangladesh has stringent anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorism financing (ATF) laws, which apply to all forms of financial transactions. The government has pointed out that cryptocurrency’s anonymous and decentralized nature poses risks in terms of enforcing these regulations.

5. Risks of Buying Cryptocurrency in Bangladesh

Legal Risks

Given the current legal framework, buying cryptocurrency in Bangladesh carries significant legal risks. Individuals caught trading or holding crypto could face penalties, including fines or jail time, as the government views it as a violation of foreign exchange laws and AML regulations.

Financial Risks

Even if legal risks are set aside, cryptocurrency trading comes with financial risks. The crypto market is highly volatile, meaning that values can fluctuate wildly. This unpredictability, coupled with the legal environment in Bangladesh, makes crypto investments particularly precarious for Bangladeshi citizens.

6. Potential Benefits of Cryptocurrency for Bangladesh

While the government has taken a cautious approach, there are several potential benefits that cryptocurrencies could bring to Bangladesh:

Financial Inclusion: With a large portion of Bangladesh’s population unbanked, crypto could provide an alternative means for people to store and transfer value.

Remittances: Crypto could make remittances faster and cheaper, benefiting the many Bangladeshi citizens who work abroad.

Blockchain Innovation: Embracing blockchain technology could foster innovation in various sectors, including supply chain management and digital identity verification.

7. How to Buy Cryptocurrency in Bangladesh (If It’s Legal)

For those interested in exploring cryptocurrency, it is crucial to stay informed about the legal context. However, if one were to proceed, the following steps outline how to do so:

Steps to Safely Purchase Crypto

Research Local Regulations: Before proceeding, consult the latest information on cryptocurrency laws in Bangladesh.

Choose a Reliable Exchange: International platforms like Binance or Coinbase are generally reputable, though accessibility may vary in Bangladesh.

Use a Secure Wallet: After purchasing crypto, transfer it to a secure wallet, such as a hardware wallet, for safekeeping.

Monitor Your Investments: Keep an eye on your portfolio and make informed decisions based on market trends.

Recommended Platforms

Since local exchanges are not available, Bangladeshi users typically access international platforms. These platforms often require additional steps for compliance, such as VPN usage or third-party wallets. However, it’s important to proceed with caution, as legal risks still apply.

8. The Future of Cryptocurrency in Bangladesh

While the current regulatory stance is restrictive, there is a possibility for change as global adoption of cryptocurrency continues. The government may consider the following trends:

Exploring Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs): Some countries have explored CBDCs as a regulated alternative to cryptocurrencies, which could influence Bangladesh's approach.

Adopting Clearer Regulations: As more countries establish frameworks for crypto, Bangladesh may revisit its stance to accommodate blockchain technology’s benefits while minimizing risks.

9. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Is it illegal to own cryptocurrency in Bangladesh?

A: Yes, owning or trading cryptocurrency is currently considered illegal in Bangladesh, according to Bangladesh Bank regulations.

Q2: Can I use a VPN to access crypto exchanges?

A: While some users may use VPNs to access international exchanges, this is still legally risky, as it may violate Bangladeshi regulations.

Q3: Will Bangladesh legalize crypto in the future?

A: It’s uncertain. As crypto adoption grows globally, the Bangladeshi government may consider new regulatory approaches, but no official changes have been announced

[cauchesque]

fucked up how much more ratblr reblogs you now that your name isn't "sbf-did-nothing-wrong". if they didn't like you at your worst they don't deserve you at your best

that is so fucking true anon, but the fight never ends. sam bankman-fried will walk free again, one way or another. the anti-crypto deep state will fall and the people's currency will assume it's rightful place. and then they will all see anon, they'll all see

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Red Team Blues Chapter One, part three

With just days to the publication of my next novel, Red Team Blues, I’m taking the chance to serialize the first chapter of this anti-finance finance thriller, and introduce you to Marty Hench, a 67-year-old forensic accountant who specializes in Silicon Valley finance scams.

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/19/whats-wrong-with-iowa/#henched

Marty is ready to retire, but there’s just one more job he has to do — recover a billion dollars’ worth of cryptographic keys that are claimed by money-launderers, narcos, and shady US three letter agencies.

Here’s the previous installments:

Part one:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/17/have-you-tried-not-spying/#unsalted-hash

Part two:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/18/cursed-are-the-sausagemakers/#henched

Here’s where US readers can pre-order the book:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865847/red-team-blues

Here’s pre-orders for Canadians:

https://services.raincoast.com/scripts/b2b.wsc/featured?hh_isbn=9781250865847&ht_orig_from=raincoast

And for readers in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth:

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/red-team-blues-cory-doctorow/7225998?ean=9781804547755

And now, here’s today’s serial installment:

I grunted noncommittally. Danny had been around since crypto meant “cryptography,” and I hadn’t figured him to become one of these blockchain hustlers. They’re the kind of smart people who outsmart themselves, especially when it comes to shenanigans, forgetting that their public ledger is public and all their transactions are visible to the whole world forever. Forensic accounting never had a better friend than crypto, with its mix of public ledgers, deluded masters of the universe, and suckers pumping billions into the system. It was full employment for me and my competitors until cryptocurrency’s carbon footprint rendered the earth uninhabitable.

“There are certain technical differences between Trustless and other coins. Will you allow me to explain them to you? I promise it’s germane and I’m not trying to sell you anything.” “Aw, hell, Danny, you can tell me anything. I just get sick of being hustled.”

“Me, too, pal. Okay, if you mentioned distributed sudoku puzzles, you know something about proof of work: the way blockchain maintains the integrity of its ledger is by having everyone in the system repeatedly do compute work that reaffirms all the entries in the ledger. So long as the value of all the assets in the ledger is less than the electricity bill for taking over the majority of the compute work, they’re safe.”

“That means that the more valuable all this blockchain stuff becomes, the more coal they have to burn to keep it all from being stolen,” I said. It was something I’d almost said to the bros at dinner the night before, but I didn’t want an argument to distract from the otherwise lovely time I’d been having with my entirely lovely companion.

“That’s fair,” he said. “That’s what every greenie who hasn’t received a couple of mil in donations from surprised crypto-millionaires will tell you. But, Marty, that’s a problem with proof of work, not with distributed ledgers. If you could build a blockchain that had a negligible carbon budget, you could do a lot with it.”

“Launder money. Badly.”

“That,” he said. “Lot of Chinese entrepreneurs and officials are anxious to beat currency controls. But it’s not just money, it’s anything you want to have universally available, unfalsifiable, and cryptographically secured.”

“Laundered money.”

He made a face. “Cynic. Not laundered money. Genocide-­proof ID. Cryptographically secured, write-­only manifests of a person’s identifiers, including nationality, vitals, and ethnic group, but each one has its own key, held by the Blue Helmets. You get to a border and you present your biometrics, and the UN tells the border guards your nationality but not your ethnicity.”

“Fanciful.”

“Cynic! Yeah, fine, no one’s doing it yet, but we could. All that blockchain for good shit that the hucksters talked up to make it sound like proof of work wasn’t a crime against humanity. Trust­ lesscoin lets you do them because it doesn’t need the sudoku.”

I dredged up memories of half-­digested podcasts I’d listened to on the road. “Is it a proof-­of-­stake thing?”

He snorted. “Don’t try to sound smart, Marty, you’ll sprain something. No, it’s secure enclaves. That crypto-­sub-­processor in your iPhone that Apple uses to keep you from switching to another app store? It can run code. What’s more, it can sign the output. So we can send you a program and check to see whether it ran as intended, because we know that the owner of a phone can’t override the secure enclave. Far as Apple’s concerned, iPhone owners are the enemy, and their threat model treats the device owner as an adversary — ­as someone who might get apps someplace that doesn’t kick a fifteen to thirty percent vigorish up to Apple for every transaction, depriving its shareholders of their rake.

“Any device with a secure enclave or other trusted computing module is a device that treats its owner as the enemy. That’s a device we need, because when you’re in the Trustlesscoin network, that device will defend me from you, and you from me. I don’t have to trust you, I just have to trust that you can’t break into your own phone, which is to say that I have to trust that Apple’s engineers did their job correctly, and well, you know, they’ve got a pretty good track record, Marty.”

“Except?”

He finished his lemonade and scowled at the reusable straw.

“Yeah, except. Look, Trustlesscoin is on track to become the standard public ledger for the world. I know, I know, every founder talks that ‘make a dent in the universe’ crap, but I mean it. You want to know how serious I am about this? I took in outside capital.”

He let me sit with that a moment. Danny Lazer, the man who ate ramen in a twenty-­year-­old, bent-­axle RV for decades with the love of his life so he’d never have to take a nickel from any of those bloodsuckers on Sand Hill Road, and he took in outside capital. Danny Lazer, a man who’d owned 75 percent of a unicorn, which is to say, seven-­point-­five-­times-­ten-­to-­the-­eight U.S. American Greenback Simoleon Dollars, and he took in outside capital.

“Why? And also, what for?”

He laughed. “Watching you work out a problem is like watching a bulldog chew a wasp, brother. You’ve got a hell of a poker face, but when you start overclocking the old CPU, it just melts. I’ll tell you why and what for.

“First of all, I wanted to create something for Sethu. She’s never had the chance to live up to her potential. She’s smart, Marty, smart like Galit was, but she’s also technical, and managerial, and just born to run things. I’ve never met a better candidate for a CEO than she is. And I’m not young, you know that, and there’s going to be a long time after I’m dead when she’ll still be in her prime, and I wanted to make something she could grow into and grow around her.

“I’d been playing with the idea behind Trustless since the early 2000s, when Microsoft released its first Trusted Computing papers, all the way back in the Palladium days! So Sethu and I hung up a whiteboard in the guest room and started spending a couple of hours a day in there. I didn’t want to bring in anyone else at first, first because it seemed like a hobby and not a business, and hell, every cryptographer I know is working seventy-hour weeks as it is.

“Then I didn’t want to bring in anyone else because I got a sense of how big this damned thing is. I mean, there’s about two trillion in assets in the blockchain today, and that’s with all the stupid friction of proof-­of-­work. When we lift the shackles off of it, whoosh, we’re talking about a ledger that will encompass more assets than the total balance sheets of twenty or thirty of the smallest UN members . . . ​combined.

“You know me, Marty. I don’t believe in much, but when I do believe in something, I’m all in. All. In. And so I brought some people in.”

“What for, though? Danny, how much of your Keypairs jackpot did you manage to blow? How much money could you possibly need, and for what? Are you building your own chip foundry? Buying a country?”

“We actually thought of doing both of those things, you know, but decided we didn’t need the headaches. The Keypairs money’s only grown since I cashed out, thanks to the bull runs. I can’t spend it all, won’t be able to. It would sicken me to try, because I’d have to be so wasteful to even make a dent in it.

“The reason I went for outside capital wasn’t money, it was connections.”

I groaned. Every grifter in private equity and VC-­land claimed that they had “connections” that represented value add for their portfolio companies. The social butterfly market was implausible on its face, and in practice, it was just a way of turning cocktail parties into a business expense. “Come on, Danny, you know people already.”

“Not these people.” And he did the thing. He looked from side to side, up and down. He turned off his phone and held his hand out for mine and carried them both to the little step next to the water feature and set them down on it so they’d be in the white-noise zone. He came back, looked around again. “I got signing keys for four of the most commonly deployed secure enclaves.” He looked around again.

“I think I know what that means, Danny, but maybe you could spell it out? I’m just a dumb old accountant, not a cryptographic legend like yourself. And for God’s sake, stop looking around. I’ll let you know if I see anyone sneaking up on us.”

“Sorry, sorry. Okay. The secure enclave gets a program, runs it, and signs the output. The secure enclave’s little toy operating system says that it does this reliably and without exception. You see a signature on a program’s output, you know the program produced it. That toy OS, it’s simple. Stupid. Brutal. Does about six things, very well, and nothing else. You can’t change that program. Secure enclaves are designed to be non-­serviceable. Even taking them off the mainboard wrecks them. You get them into a lab and decap them and hit them with an electron-­tunneling microscope, you still won’t be able to recover the signing keys or force a false sig.

“But if you have the signing keys? You can just simulate a secure enclave on any computer. Then you can run any operating system you want on it, including one that will forge signatures. You do that, and you can falsify the ledger. You can move unlimited sums from any part of the balance sheet to your part of the balance sheet. You can jackpot the whole fucking thing.”

I blew out air. “Well, that seems like a defect in the system, all right.”

“It can’t be helped. We call it Trustless, but there’s always some trust in a system like this. You’re not trusting the other users of the system or the company that made the software. You’re trusting that a couple of leading manufacturers of cryptographic coprocessors and sub-­processors, companies with decades of experience, will maintain operational security and not lose control of the keys that their entire business — ­and the entire business of all their customers and their customers’ customers — ­are dependent upon. You’re not trusting the other users, but you’re trusting them.”

“And yet,” I said, looking over at Sethu, who was painting away and performing an excellent simulation of someone who wasn’t eavesdropping, “you found someone willing to sell you some of those keys.”

“Yes,” he said and gave me a calm, no-­bullshit, eye-­to-­eye stare. “I did. It’s useful to have those, especially when you’re first kicking a new cryptocurrency around. You make a smart contract with a bad line of code in it, you create a bug bounty with an unlimited payout. So in the early days, when you’re figuring this stuff out, you do a little ledger rewriting.”

“You do rewriting on a read-­only ledger that no one is ever supposed to rewrite.”

He rolled his eyes. “Ethereum did it early on, moved fifty mil in stolen payout from a bad smart contract out of the crook’s account and back into the mark’s account. No one made too much of a fuss. I mean, the immutable ledger sounds like a great idea until someone no stupider than you gets taken for fifty mil, and then rewriting the ledger is just sound fiscal policy in service to fundamental justice.”

“But Ethereum told everyone they were doing it. Sounds like you did it all on the down low?”

“We were early. No one was even paying attention. All we wanted was a ledger whose early entries weren’t an eternal monument to my stupid mistakes as I climbed the learning curve.”

“Fine. Vain, but fine. Still, getting those keys meant a lot of power for a little reputation laundering.”

He sighed and looked away. “Yeah. The thing is, I’m not the only one who makes mistakes. We are aiming for trillions secured on our chain. Trillions, Marty. Ten to the twelve. It’s an unforgiving medium, and the stakes are high. The Ethereum lesson was clear: a couple of divide-­by-­zeros or fence post errors, a single badly typed variable or buffer overrun, and the whole thing could sink. I needed an eraser. Not on day zero but well before I attained liftoff.”

“Every hacker builds in a back door, huh?”

“Don’t call it that. Call it an Undo button.”

“Okay, then. An Undo button in a system whose cryptography is supposed to prevent undo at all costs. But not a back door.”

“You, my friend, are too smart. I miss the days when forensic accountancy and security engineering were distinct fields. ” “Me, too, pal. So what happened? Your keys took a walk?”

Tomorrow (Apr 21), I’m speaking in Chicago at the Stigler Center’s Antitrust and Competition Conference. This weekend (Apr 22/23), I’m at the LA Times Festival of Books.

[loneberry]

Inventory of Details

Fassbinder dying of a drug overdose while working on a screenplay for a future film on Rosa Luxemburg. “The notes for Rosa L were found next to his body.”

The horror of Sugar Ray’s "Fly" playing in hot yoga. (The horror of hot yoga in general.)

Anti-NMDA receptor autoimmune encephalitis

"We’re just building a coffin for our planet now"

Polar Silk Road (and the future geopolitical significance of Russia and Canada as melting icecaps open up new trade routes)

A hermit crab using a decapitated doll’s head for a shell

Robert Hurley’s psychoanalysis piñata 

A pothos plant that survived for two years under a bed

Squid kite

Crypto currency as beanie babies

"The Swedes have single words for things that take other languages a whole sentence. Take Jantelagen. Literally, 'Jante’s Law', it describes the importance of never thinking you are something special."

#grandpacore

Woman Finds Mastodon Tooth on California Beach

Swans swimming through the flooded city of Nova Kakhovka

Onomatopoeic hymnal to the heartbeat

“Porsches and man caves” 

CrossFit injury

The atomism of Leucippus and Democritus

[inqilabi]

Any resources for understanding financial markets and currency for beginners?

Tbh I don't know. And whatever you will get recommended will be the ruling class Keynesian shit. And that shit doesn't make sense at most theh will say invest in crypto lol.

Anyway I listen to spaces on twitter. Follow ProdigalThe3rd and KimDotCom on twitter as they're anti capitalists. KimDotCom has good analysis but wrong conclusions lol (like invest in crypto??) And see what people on wallstreetbets and wallstreetsilver are saying.

But you want to understand economy as in what's in store in the future, you gotta start with Marx. There's a Read First folder under Marxism in my drive. But tbh I'm still going thru this myself it's a long term study

You can also watch Michael Hudson lectures on YouTube. He predicted the 2008 crash from a Marxist perspective.

[ailtrahq]

On Sept. 20, the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act passed out of the Financial Services Committee. Republican Senator Tom Emmer said it was, “A historical step in defending against an ever-expanding government surveillance state.” The House Majority Whip has been battling against Federal Reserve moves to develop a CBDC. The first anti-CBDC bill in the United States passed out of the Financial Services Committee today! A historical step in defending against an ever-expanding government surveillance state. — Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) September 20, 2023 Anti-CBDC Bill Moves Forward The Act is the first anti-CBDC legislation introduced in the United States. Senator Emmer first proposed the CBDC bill in January 2022, and it was formally introduced to Congress in February 2023. The primary aim is to limit the Federal Reserve from minting a programmable CBDC, which Emmer claims is a “surveillance tool that would be used to undermine the American way of life.” The bill has the support of 60 members of Congress and additional industry groups, Emmer said. He warned that a CBDC is very different from decentralized digital assets in that it transacts on a digital ledger that is designed and controlled by the government. “In short, a central bank digital currency is a government controlled programmable money, if not designed like cash, could give the federal government the ability to surveil and restrict American’s transactions.” Senator Emmer cited China as an example of where this is already happening. The ruling communist party has designed a CBDC to track the spending habits of its citizens, which has been used to create a social credit system that rewards or punishes people based on their behavior. He also cited the Canadian government’s freezing of bank accounts of protesters in the 2020 trucker protests. “That might work in Canada, it doesn’t work here,” he added before concluding: “If not open, permissionless, and private like cash, a CBCD is nothing more than a CCP-style surveillance tool that can be weaponized to oppress the American way of life.” Fed CBDC Prohibitions The bill specifically prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC to individuals. Senator Emmer said this would prevent the central bank from mobilizing into a retail bank able to collect personal financial data. The bill also prohibits the central bank from using any CBDC to implement monetary policy. The legislation will now go for a full vote before the House. If it passes, the Democrat-controlled Senate would also have to weigh in on the matter, and many of them, including the vehemently anti-crypto politicians, oppose it. Moreover, US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. agrees with the principles outlined in Senator Emmer’s bill. “That is why I oppose CBDCs, which will vastly magnify the government’s power to suffocate dissent by cutting off access to funds with a keystroke,” he said in May. Source

[danieldavidreitberg]

Daniel Reitberg Illuminates AI's Crucial Role in Tracking Money Laundering through Cryptocurrency

In the digital age, the intricate world of finance has witnessed a shift towards cryptocurrencies—a realm that not only holds promise but also poses challenges. One such challenge is the growing concern about money laundering through digital currencies. Daniel Reitberg, a distinguished AI expert, leads the charge in harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to combat this pressing issue.

The Dark Side of Cryptocurrencies: Money Laundering 

Cryptocurrencies offer anonymity and global reach, making them an attractive avenue for money launderers. The decentralized and pseudonymous nature of blockchain transactions creates complexities for traditional anti-money laundering (AML) measures.

Daniel Reitberg's Vision for Combating Crypto Money Laundering

In the battle against money laundering, AI emerges as a formidable ally. Visionaries like Daniel Reitberg recognize the potential of AI algorithms to analyze and monitor vast amounts of cryptocurrency transactions, unveiling hidden patterns indicative of illicit activities.

The AI Advantage in Detecting Suspicious Transactions 

AI excels in processing and analyzing massive datasets, enabling the detection of anomalies that often go unnoticed by human eyes. By assessing transaction behavior, source of funds, and transaction destinations, AI algorithms can identify potentially suspicious activities.

Navigating the Complexity of Crypto Money Laundering

Money launderers continually evolve their tactics to evade detection. AI's adaptive learning capabilities allow it to stay ahead of these evolving strategies, enabling financial institutions and regulatory bodies to respond effectively.

Collaboration between AI and Blockchain

Blockchain's transparency can work hand in hand with AI's analytical prowess. Daniel Reitberg emphasizes the importance of integrating AI with blockchain technology to create a tamper-proof and efficient system for tracking transactions and tracing their origins.

Ethical Considerations and Data Privacy

While AI offers groundbreaking solutions, ethical considerations, and data privacy must remain paramount. Ensuring compliance with regulations, safeguarding user privacy, and preventing false positives are critical aspects that AI experts like Daniel Reitberg address.

Shaping a Safer Financial Landscape

The synergy between AI and blockchain holds the potential to revolutionize financial security. By detecting suspicious activities in real time, AI contributes to a safer cryptocurrency ecosystem, instilling confidence in investors, regulators, and the public.

Daniel Reitberg's Legacy of Innovation

Daniel Reitberg's pioneering work in using AI to track cryptocurrency money laundering stands as a testament to the transformative power of technology in safeguarding financial systems. With every advancement, he leads the charge in creating a future where cryptocurrencies thrive without facilitating illegal activities.

Conclusion 

In the ever-evolving landscape of finance, the collaboration between AI and blockchain is a game-changer. Daniel Reitberg's expertise in using AI to track money laundering through cryptocurrencies not only addresses a pressing challenge but also demonstrates the potential of innovation in upholding the integrity of digital transactions. As AI-driven solutions continue to mature, a new era of financial security emerges—one where transparency, accountability, and technology work hand in hand to create a safer, more equitable financial world.

[cryptocozy]

Cryptocurrency Exchange Definition

A cryptocurrency exchange is an online platform where individuals can buy, sell, and trade various digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin. It serves as a marketplace that facilitates the conversion of one cryptocurrency into another or into traditional fiat currencies like the US dollar or Euro.

Cryptocurrency exchanges operate similarly to traditional stock exchanges, providing a platform for buyers and sellers to interact and execute transactions. Users can create accounts, deposit funds, and place orders to buy or sell cryptocurrencies at prevailing market prices. These exchanges also offer features like order books, which display current buy and sell orders, and trading charts to help users analyze price trends and make informed decisions.

Security is a crucial aspect of cryptocurrency exchanges, as they handle large volumes of valuable digital assets. Reputable exchanges employ various security measures, including encryption, two-factor authentication, and cold storage for storing funds offline. However, it's essential for users to conduct due diligence and choose reliable exchanges that prioritize security and have a solid track record.

Cryptocurrency exchanges play a vital role in the overall cryptocurrency ecosystem, facilitating liquidity and price discovery. They provide a gateway for individuals to enter the crypto market, converting fiat currencies into cryptocurrencies and vice versa. Additionally, exchanges enable users to trade different cryptocurrencies, allowing for diversification and potential profit opportunities.

It's important to note that regulations surrounding cryptocurrency exchanges vary across jurisdictions. Some exchanges operate under strict regulatory frameworks, ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, while others operate in more lenient or unregulated environments. Users should be aware of the legal and regulatory landscape in their respective regions before engaging with cryptocurrency exchanges.

Crypto Buy Sell and Trading platform

[darkmaga-returns]

The BIS is still pursuing a retail version of CBDC, where your cash (crypto, not dollars) is held on account directly by the Central Banks, bypassing the commercial banks, making them obsolete. This could wipe out the existing bank system worldwide and put everyone’s fate into the hands of the BIS – the global bank for a global Technocracy. ⁃ TN Editor

The proposed hybrid model combines central bank authority with private sector roles to optimize CBDC deployment and user interaction.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has unveiled a comprehensive framework for designing retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), emphasizing a hybrid model that integrates central bank control with private sector collaboration.

Developed by the Consultative Group on Innovation and the Digital Economy (CGIDE), the report provides a roadmap for central banks in the Americas and globally as they explore this evolving financial tool.

Hybrid model

The hybrid approach proposed in the report enables central banks to retain governance over CBDC issuance and infrastructure while delegating user-facing responsibilities to private intermediaries.

These intermediaries would handle functions such as Know Your Customer (KYC) verification, wallet management, and transaction facilitation. This model ensures efficiency and scalability while addressing concerns about user privacy and compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

The architecture includes four core processes: user enrollment, CBDC issuance (cash-in), CBDC withdrawal (cash-out), and intra-ledger transfers.

Notably, the system supports tiered KYC mechanisms, offering basic wallets for low-value transactions with minimal identity requirements and advanced wallets for higher-value transactions under stricter regulatory standards.

Offline payment capabilities, a significant feature of the proposal, aim to expand access to underserved and unbanked populations. According to the report:

“The hybrid model bridges the gap between centralization and decentralization, offering resilience, accessibility, and enhanced privacy protections.”

[beardedmrbean]

After Hamas’s brutal surprise attack and massacre of Israeli civilians, policymakers are searching for the most effective ways to fight terrorist organizations. They can take an important lesson from something that recently happened to Hamas when it tried to use bitcoin to finance its operations.

Hamas thought it could flout Western surveillance and international sanctions by embracing the world’s leading digital asset. It thought wrong, and the story is illuminating for those who mistakenly believe that bitcoin provides a safe space for criminals, money launderers and the financiers of terror. 

Just last week, Israeli law enforcement successfully located and froze multiple cryptocurrency accounts that Hamas had used to solicit donations. Israel then funneled the assets into its own treasury — the same treasury that is funding the war to wipe Hamas “off the face of the earth.” 

The terrorist organization’s crypto scheme backfired badly, and this wasn’t even the first time it had backfired this year. In April, Hamas begged supporters to stop sending donations via bitcoin, specifically. In a surprise press statement, it announced it was suspending bitcoin donations “to ensure the safety of donors and protect them from any harm.” The terrorist network cited “the intensification of prosecution and the redoubling of hostile efforts against anyone who tries to support the resistance through this currency” as the logic behind this decision.

So what happened? Isn’t bitcoin ideal for money laundering? Isn’t it the preferred currency of terrorists and criminals the world over?

Quite the opposite. Hamas discovered all too late that making illegal transactions in bitcoin is a financial suicide mission. That’s because the open, transparent nature of the blockchain is a panopticon for intelligence agencies, allowing them to track transactions in real time with a speed and precision that would be unthinkable in the world of fiat currency. 

Unlike paper money or computer files, the bitcoin blockchain is permanent, transparent and immutable. This means that each network transaction, whether it’s worth a few cents or millions of dollars, becomes fossilized on the blockchain like a prehistoric bug in digital amber.

These fossilized transactions include every donation to Hamas ever made through this medium. All law enforcement has to do is connect a transaction with a wallet and a wallet with an identity —a task which, in practice, it has had little difficulty doing.

It is for that reason that illicit activity makes up such a small fraction of transactions in the cryptocurrency space — about one quarter of one percent, according to a study by analytics firm Chainalysis. That is an especially small amount when compared to the 2 to 5 percent of fiat currency transactions attributed to money laundering and the like, according to United Nations data. 

In other words, if you don’t like what certain people do with bitcoin, you are going to hate the U.S. dollar. 

It’s an important lesson that certain lawmakers in Washington have yet to learn. And unfortunately, some of them are not open to learning facts that contradict their preconceived ideas.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who openly boasts of raising an “anti-crypto army,” talks about cryptocurrency as if it were terrorist blood money. She remains heedless of countless examples where Western intelligence has leveraged the public nature of the blockchain to choke off illicit financing. This includes not only the most recent example with Hamas, but also 300 crypto accounts the Department of Justice seized to throttle funding for terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS. She might also find illuminating the recent high-profile criminal prosecution of a Manhattan rapper and her husband, who were easily caught when they tried to launder billions in stolen bitcoin. Again, it was the transparency of the blockchain that exposed them.

Warren’s bill solves a problem that no one has. It that would classify nearly all crypto industry participants — from wallet providers to miners to validators — as financial institutions, subjecting them to the onerous compliance regime of the Bank Secrecy Act. Under this bill, a teenager running a bitcoin mining rig in his basement could be subject to the same compliance burdens as JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.

But wallet providers, miners, and validators are not banks. They do not hold custody of assets. They certainly should not be collecting or storing the sensitive personal financial information of individual users of an asset. They merely provide infrastructure — the open-source software and computing power to help secure the network. Much like Microsoft, which also supplies a lot of software and cybersecurity products to financial institutions, they are not financial institutions. 

It would be impossible for the industry to comply with Warren’s requirements, and she knows this. The point of her bill is not to improve national security or stop money laundering, but to kill digital asset innovation.

Instead of participating in Warren’s farce, Congress should seriously explore how to help federal law enforcement crack down on actual illicit finance. The Financial Technology Protection Act — a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) — is a critical first step in that direction. It creates a working group to study and report on how terrorists actually use new financial technologies to advance their missions and ways Congress and regulatory agencies can combat them. Congress could take its findings and construct a regulatory regime that addresses actual risks, not imaginary ones.

This would help deter criminal activity such as money laundering while still preserving the ethos of personal freedom that has long defined the digital asset industry.

Terrorists and criminals — from Hamas and Al-Qaeda to the early drug runners of Silk Road — learned the hard way that bitcoin is not ideal for illicit finance. Lawmakers across the country have yet to receive the memo. So we’re circulating it today and asking that they adjust their policymaking accordingly.