joenakamoto on Nostr: Hello, my name is Joe Nakamoto and I’m not a captured voice Despite dedicating the ...

Hello, my name is Joe Nakamoto and I’m not a captured voice

Despite dedicating the past four years to advocating, educating, and creating content about Bitcoin all around the world, I’ve been accused of being a Tether shill. I’d like to address that in this article.

But let’s start with a few things that I can’t believe I need to write out.

If you are employed by someone, your voice is not captured.
If you are hired by a company, said company has not “manufactured your consent.”

Accepting money can, of course, mean capture and indeed sometimes it does, but for me, and I hope most people, it’s simply not the case. It’s absurd and draconian to think you can buy someone’s favour in such a way.

Usually, your company and/or employer may understand and even sympathise with your point of view on a personal level while being obliged to manage it from a company PR optic.

What do I mean by this? And how can I prove to you that I am not captured?

* Well, I regularly challenged Cointelegraph (the largest crypto media), and I tried to push Bitcoin-only reporting as best as I could while working as their employee.

Despite their crypto and multicoin push, I resisted and managed to put more and more Bitcoin-only and Bitcoin maxi stories on their homepage. I also called Cointelegraph "ShitCointelegraph" in public at times, which I actually regret saying because it simply wasn't productive and it's not respectful...

but anyway, we learn. In short, I was paid by them for years, but they did not manufacture my consent.


* I recently made a documentary about a Bitfinex tour of Turkey. Bitfinex is, of course, an exchange that makes money from trading fees and listing crypto tokens. Bitfinex paid me to be their Bitcoin educator during the tour, but they could not influence my reporting.

I explicitly spell out the issues of crypto, exchanges, and rug pulls. I was paid by them, but they did not manufacture my consent.


* I have done sponsorship agreements with Bitrefill. Despite this, I also make Bitrefill FAIL content, in which I highlight when the app and solution do NOT work or have not worked in the past.


* I have been paid to MC at Bitcoin Conferences such as the Miami Conf and Bitcoin Asia in Hong Kong. However, if you follow me, you may have spotted that I still call out what I perceive as questionable practices from David Bailey or BM generally.

I do not like how close UTXO management is to Bitcoin Magazine, for example. I have been hired by them on several occasions and I have been paid to write articles in the Bitcoin Magazine Print Edition, but I have kept my voice. They have certainly not manufactured my consent.


Now, to address the first line of this article, I have not been paid directly by Tether before (I don't even know why that would make sense to do so because I make content about Bitcoin), but they own a lot and fund a lot of Bitcoin entities and initiatives.

The main sponsor for my YouTube Channel, Joe Nakamoto, is Plan B Network. As I understand it, Plan B Network is supported by Tether.

In fact, the overall Plan B initiative from the Plan B Conferences to Lugano’s Plan B is heavily funded by Tether. Plan B Network wanted to sponsor my content because I engage in Bitcoin advocacy journalism.

I care deeply about getting a Bitcoin-first message out there. I don’t think there’s a single moment in my reporting where I shill or even discuss Tether. I would if it came up, but I’m not seeking it out.

So have they tried to change what I say? No, never. The guys I work with at Plan B are Bitcoiners. Has the fact that Plan B is funded by Tether influenced my videos so that I start shilling Tether, or I change my focus to “Bitcoin as a Store of Value” as opposed to “peer to peer cash”?

Erm no.

My videos show people using Bitcoin as money in creative ways all around the world. And my content is not NGU, SoV nonsense.

But Joe, I bet you still can't call Tether a shitcoin? erm no.

Tether is a shitcoin.

*dies of shock*

The dollar is a shitcoin and Tether is a virtual copy. How can it not be a shitcoin?


Furthermore, I really don't like that Tether on Tron and Tether on Etheriyum have become so prolific, particularly in the Global South.

*oh no, my contract is over*

But hey, I've seen Tether in use in places like Cape Verde, Senegal, and across Latin America.

It’s bloody useful to people, but it’s not in my interest to make “Tether ADOPTION BOOMS in the global south” documentaries


I don’t think it’s much use to the guys at Tether, either—otherwise they’d be promoting it with someone else. Maybe Joe TetherStables or JoeTetherMoon’s channel.

So if you want to make the argument that Joe is captured by Tether or that his consent has been bought by any of the companies he’s worked with, then knock yourself out! I will chuckle.

Then I will continue to work harder making educational Bitcoin content about how Bitcoin is evolving as money in the real world.


The TL;DR here is that you can be paid by someone or something and keep your voice.


I grew up untrusting of institutions and entities, and in an environment where I could express that mistrust without fear of repercussions.

That's a TREMENDOUS privilege, one I would be incredibly sad to lose.

That said, I think it's a privilege that a lot of us in the West take for granted. Your voice is unique and you might not realise it, but it's not for sale—even if you’re being paid.

Please refer to my YouTube channel, and subscribe (pretty please) to watch me shilling Tether.

Oh crap, sorry, I meant bitcoin.

Brb. gonna invoice Tether 1 BTC for the previous sentence.

Thanks for reading