L0laL33tz
L0la L33tz

Independent Journalist. Bylines in too many places. "Anonymous Internet Commentator" –US Department of Justice. Privacy is not a crime.

💌 DMs on Matrix only: @l0lal33tz:bitcoin.kyoto
Fund The Rage: https://geyser.fund/project/therage

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relay.nostr.band

relay.damus.io

relay.snort.social

nostr.mutinywallet.com

nostr.oxtr.dev

nostr.fmt.wiz.biz

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Last Notes

2025-03-21 20:28:49 GMT

From today, it is officially legal again for US persons to use Tornado Cash – But that doesn't mean that the Government's witch hunt on privacy services is over.
Announcing the reversal of sanctions, the Treasury Department issued a warning for US persons engaging with privacy services that may be used by North Korea.
According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, "securing the digital asset industry from abuse by North Korea and other illicit actors is essential to establishing U.S. leadership and ensuring that the American people can benefit from financial innovation and inclusion."
The sanctions on Tornado Cash were lifted under the current interpretation of IEEPA, while the judges found that Congress may choose to amend the Act to cover sanctions against privacy software if it deems fit.
The Treasury is pissed, and that is not a good sign.
https://www.therage.co/tornado-cash-officially-removed-from-sanctions-list-treasury-issues-warning/

2025-03-21 13:02:10 GMT

GM, the SEC just declared Bitcoin miners exempt from SEC oversight
“It is the Division’s view that “Mining Activities” […] do not involve the offer and sale of securities." "Accordingly, it is the Division’s view that participants in Mining Activities do not need to register transactions with the Commission.”
https://m.primal.net/Pnmr.png
https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/statement-certain-proof-work-mining-activities-032025

2025-03-20 18:04:42 GMT

What was once intended to be a money without state is, by many, now argued to be a money for the state. No longer do we want to spread ourselves across the planet, so that no one can arrest our thoughts.
What we actually want, it seems, is to incorporate in Delaware, build mining facilities in rural Texas, and dream of making it big on the New York Stock Exchange — only to eventually end up in jail for compliance failures.
In the latest BM print issue, I wrote about Trump's plans to make the US the "mining capital of the world", and the consequences this would have on Bitcoin's use as permissionless money, looking at recent comments made by regulators and mining execs on how to implement sanctions on Bitcoin.
Buy it now or forever hold your peace 🤘
https://m.primal.net/PmqO.jpg

2025-03-20 16:02:03 GMT

https://m.primal.net/PmjP.mov
"With the Dollar backed stablecoins, you'll help expand the dominance of the US Dollar [...] It will be at the top, and that's where we want to keep it"
What he means is:
with Dollar backed stablecoins, the Global South will pivot towards digital Dollars over local currencies, allowing private, US Gov controlled entities to replace bank accounts around the globe.
This does not just allow for the expansion of USD dominance by bypassing local governments – it gives the US unprecedented and direct control over worldwide economies as every stablecoin can be effectively frozen on behalf of the US with the click of a button.
Additionally, it will provide the US with never seen before surveillance capabilities, providing real time access to financial transactions around the globe – fueling the unparalleled public-private partnership between Silicon Valley and the US war machine.
If you are promoting stablecoins, you are promoting the end of national sovereignty in favor of total techno-fascist dystopia.

2025-03-18 21:56:30 GMT

Today I criticized a friend on X for his reporting, and I was a bitch about it, so I think it may be time that I make something very clear.
I am a very nuanced person. When I criticize someone‘s work, I do not generalize my criticisms onto their *body of work* or onto their person.
I can disagree with something someone has done or said, or how someone has handled a situation, without discrediting what they have done in the past or will do in the future. My criticisms apply to what I criticize and to nothing above or beyond that.
Given the comments Ive received not just today but on previous criticisms ive voiced on other people/entities in this space - for example my criticisms of BPI’s EO draft - it seems that this nuance is not always clear to everyone.
Criticizing something a person has done does not make them a bad person, even less does it imply that *I* think that they are a bad person. Criticizing something and entity has done does not make the entity a bad entity, nor does it imply that *I* believe so.
I am very harsh in my criticisms because this nuance exists in the way I think about the world. If you werent aware, please make sure to keep this in mind. PSA over🤘

2025-03-18 21:42:03 GMT

In the beginning of the year, many were hopeful that the US Gov would drop the charges against Samourai Wallet.
Turns out the best they can do is schedule more pretrial hearings:
https://www.therage.co/samourai-wallet-hearing-sets-key-dates-for-criminal-trial/

2025-03-17 14:59:10 GMT

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👇 🫴

2025-03-17 14:51:33 GMT

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I've never tried Chromium, there's a bunch of different implementations no? any particular one you can recommend?

2025-03-17 14:41:31 GMT

While other girls are looking for a man in finance i am literally just looking for a browser that supports ad- & js-blockers prevents fingerprinting doesnt sell my data to the AI overlords wont crash with my VPN and lets me have 100+ tabs open without teleporting my Computer back to the stone age
Send help

2025-03-08 18:44:50 GMT

https://m.primal.net/PYdX.png
note1rdmqznnwtpkv4d748qazr2csj5xp2avcd58khvs2szh7ympkfehsjpujpg

2025-03-08 02:16:14 GMT

You can also just not do things btw

2025-03-07 20:16:27 GMT

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hmmmm, how do you mean?

2025-03-07 01:24:25 GMT

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102

2025-03-05 21:29:51 GMT

My heart goes out to the poor guy at chainalysis in charge of nostr lmao 🌈󠅓󠅑󠅣󠅘󠅥󠄲󠅟󠄢󠄶󠅤󠅕󠄳󠄺󠅟󠅔󠄸󠅂󠅧󠅓󠅪󠅟󠅦󠄼󠄢󠄡󠅠󠅒󠅞󠅁󠅥󠅒󠅇󠅜󠅥󠅑󠅇󠄺󠅠󠅔󠄸󠄽󠅥󠅉󠄢󠄶󠅪󠅑󠄳󠄩󠄳󠅑󠅈󠅂󠅚󠅒󠄢󠅜󠅥󠅉󠅈󠅆󠅚󠅓󠄢󠄶󠄠󠅉󠅈󠅃󠄲󠅟󠅝󠄶󠅠󠅃󠄱󠄲󠅁󠄲󠅆󠄴󠅧󠅃󠅅󠄶󠄷󠅉󠅈󠄳󠄷󠅠󠄷󠄶󠅘󠄷󠅁󠄹󠄱󠅉󠅈󠄾󠄤󠅁󠄴󠄺󠅝󠅉󠅄󠅔󠅜󠄾󠅄󠄶󠅘󠄿󠄷󠄵󠄤󠅊󠄴󠅗󠄠󠄽󠄴󠄱󠄣󠄾󠅚󠅁󠅨󠄽󠄢󠄽󠄤󠄽󠄴󠄱󠄤󠄿󠄷󠅆󠅛󠄾󠅝󠅅󠅪󠄾󠄴󠅛󠄠󠅊󠅄󠄽󠄤󠄽󠅪󠅗󠄠󠅉󠅚󠅅󠅧󠄽󠅄󠅗󠅨󠄽󠅪󠅆󠅝󠄾󠄢󠅆󠅘󠅊󠅄󠄽󠄤󠄿󠅇󠅅󠄠󠅊󠄴󠄹󠅩󠄾󠄴󠅜󠅘󠅉󠄡󠅗󠅘󠄱󠅝󠅉󠅔󠄢󠅛󠅥󠅩󠅤󠄠󠄢󠄱󠄝󠅁󠄱󠅆󠅒󠅤󠄦󠅜󠅡󠅃󠅃󠄶󠅛󠅔󠄨󠄳󠅝󠅈󠄽󠅘󠄨󠅚󠅟󠄲󠅝󠄝󠅓󠄧󠄣󠅚󠄵󠅏󠅉󠅇󠅃󠅚󠅉󠅇󠅆󠅉󠄹󠄽󠅘󠄺󠅞󠅩󠅇󠄧󠄶󠄥󠄧󠄩󠄲󠅁󠄱󠄾󠅊󠅘󠄸󠅆󠅇󠄩󠅡󠅞󠅢󠅑󠄽󠅒󠄣󠄳󠅏󠅗󠄨󠄵󠄝󠅡󠅉󠄣󠄨󠄹󠄠󠅇󠅥󠅜󠅉󠅈󠄾󠅉󠄹󠄻󠄾󠅀󠅕󠅆󠅊󠅅󠅅󠄥󠄩󠅚󠅡󠅉󠄵󠅣󠄶󠅨󠅀󠄺󠄨󠅩󠅞󠅒󠅈󠄾󠅂󠅝󠄝󠅞󠄨󠄿󠅕󠄺󠅛󠅥󠄩󠅀󠄥󠅈󠅨󠄴󠅚󠅖󠅉󠅈󠄺󠅉󠄹󠅀󠅤󠅢󠅁󠄢󠅊󠅅󠄨󠄣󠅥󠄼󠅀󠄿󠄷󠄱󠅁󠄶󠅪󠄳󠅞󠄷󠅥󠄢󠄽󠄵󠄴󠄧󠄡󠅁󠅦󠄴󠄦󠅣󠅒󠄽󠅆󠅃󠅪󠄾󠅊󠅩󠅅󠅏󠅠󠄷󠄶󠅘󠄷󠅁󠄵󠄱󠅉󠅈󠄾󠄤󠅁󠄴󠄵󠄠󠄿󠄴󠅛󠄢󠄽󠅪󠄽󠅪󠄾󠅄󠅗󠄥󠄽󠅄󠄵󠄡󠄿󠅇󠅂󠅙󠄾󠅄󠅜󠅜󠄽󠄢󠄾󠅛󠅊󠅄󠅅󠅪󠅊󠅚󠄲󠅝󠄽󠄴󠅗󠄤󠄿󠅄󠅅󠄠󠄾󠅪󠅗󠄡󠅉󠅝󠅂󠅙󠄿󠅄󠅛󠄡󠄽󠅚󠄶󠅘󠄿󠅇󠅅󠄠󠅉󠅄󠄽󠄣󠄽󠅄󠄵󠄥󠅊󠄴󠄱󠅩󠄾󠅄󠅘󠅜󠅊󠄴󠄶󠅘󠅉󠄡󠅗󠅘󠄱󠄝󠅑󠄣󠄺󠅓󠅊󠅀󠅣󠄣󠄸󠄶󠅥󠄷󠅒󠄢󠅟󠅈󠄺󠄧󠅤󠄹󠄤󠅖󠅆󠄶󠅀󠄽󠅤󠅖󠄩󠅃󠅪󠄲󠅠󠅉󠅥󠄨󠄼󠅂󠄷󠄿󠅧󠄶󠅉󠅇󠅃󠅚󠅉󠅇󠅆󠅉󠄹󠄼󠅙󠅢󠄣󠄦󠅔󠅥󠄾󠅢󠅞󠅙󠄾󠅏󠄱󠅕󠅇󠄷󠄿󠅠󠅨󠅨󠅣󠅊󠅊󠄶󠄶󠄠󠄠󠄴󠄠󠅪󠅩󠅒󠄼󠄿󠄧󠄧󠅒󠅈󠅧󠅧󠅪󠄽󠅉󠅈󠄾󠅉󠄹󠄵󠄧󠅩󠅞󠅣󠅂󠅢󠅩󠄴󠄹󠄣󠅊󠅉󠄦󠄥󠄼󠄵󠅏󠄻󠅧󠅢󠄦󠅚󠅜󠅟󠅜󠄦󠅀󠅟󠄶󠅒󠅊󠅦󠄶󠄷󠅢󠅢󠄢󠅝󠄩󠅔󠅡󠅨󠅉󠅈󠄺󠅉󠄹󠄿󠄿󠅂󠄳󠅒󠄹󠄴󠅁󠅏󠅕󠅝󠄺󠅇󠅥󠅪󠅞󠅄󠅣󠅑󠅗󠅘󠄥󠅊󠅙󠄿󠄨󠅩󠄩󠄨󠅟󠄶󠄦󠅟󠄝󠄸󠅧󠅝󠄦󠅤󠄝󠄩󠄧󠄱󠅠󠄷󠄶󠅘󠄷󠄹󠄲󠅘󠅓󠄣󠅘󠄱󠄽󠅄󠅅󠄡󠄾󠅝󠄶󠅛󠄾󠅇󠄽󠄡󠅊󠅚󠄾󠅝󠅉󠄢󠅊󠅜󠄽󠅪󠄹󠄠󠅊󠅄󠄱󠄥󠅊󠅇󠄾󠅚󠄾󠄢󠅉󠄣󠄽󠅝󠅂󠅚󠅊󠅚󠄵󠄢󠅊󠄷󠅁󠅩󠅊󠅇󠄺󠅚󠄽󠅄󠅜󠅜󠅊󠅄󠄵󠄠󠅊󠄷󠅁󠄣󠅉󠅪󠅗󠄣󠄽󠅇󠅊󠅙󠅉󠅇󠅅󠅩󠅊󠅄󠅊󠅚󠅉󠅚󠄺󠅘󠅊󠄷󠄶󠅚󠅇󠄳󠄵󠄴󠅡󠅓󠄴󠄷󠄳󠅃󠅃󠄢󠄨󠅏󠅣󠅠󠄺󠄡󠄳󠄝󠅢󠄝󠄢󠅢󠅁󠅀󠅏󠄦󠄦󠅀󠅆󠄡󠅘󠄶󠄲󠄽󠅃󠅄󠄠󠅒󠅩󠄽󠅑󠅀󠅃󠄻󠅂󠅘󠅊󠄻󠄾󠅘󠅊󠅆󠅗󠅗󠅥󠅂󠅁󠅔󠅀󠅑󠅖󠄧󠅉󠄻󠄳󠄳󠅧󠅏󠅠󠅨󠄾󠄨󠅜󠅦󠄾󠄩󠅨󠅢󠄳󠅏󠅞󠅝󠅂󠅉󠅗󠅊󠅗󠅓󠅏󠄩󠅈󠅣󠄵󠄾󠅚󠄼󠄲󠅘󠅓󠄡󠅗󠅗󠄡󠄼󠅨󠅉󠅖󠄾󠅈󠅛󠅀󠄷󠅙󠅀󠄸󠅥󠅙󠄼󠅛󠅓󠄶󠅈󠄤󠄤󠅢󠅁󠅆󠅥󠅣󠄼󠄧󠅑󠄨󠄹󠄲󠄼󠄸󠄹󠅀󠅝󠅀󠅅󠅠󠅡󠅊󠅘󠅓󠅜󠅗󠅗󠄽󠅊󠅧󠅂󠅩󠅠󠅦󠅚󠅁󠅞󠄥󠅜󠄸󠅟󠅠󠄠󠄣󠄧󠅈󠄠󠅉󠅁󠅛󠅏󠅁󠄽󠅣󠄵󠅝󠄶󠅇󠅏󠅩󠄾󠄸󠄵󠅑󠅔󠄴󠄠󠄾󠅣󠅕󠅛󠅉󠅇󠄵󠅉󠅁󠄷󠄶󠅪󠅕󠄵󠄱󠅪󠄽󠅚󠅅󠄥󠅉󠅇󠄽󠅧󠄿󠄴󠄱󠅩󠄽󠅄󠄹󠅩󠄽󠄷󠅅󠅩󠄽󠅝󠅁󠄠󠄿󠅄󠅛󠅨󠄽󠅚󠅔󠅚󠄾󠅚󠄹󠄥󠄽󠅪󠅆󠅛󠅊󠅝󠅉󠅧󠅊󠅄󠄵󠅪󠄽󠄷󠅆󠅙󠄿󠅄󠅉󠄤󠄿󠅄󠄹󠄠󠅊󠅄󠅘󠅜󠅉󠅇󠄶󠅚󠄽󠅇󠅉󠄡󠄾󠅝󠅁󠅪󠄾󠅄󠅅󠅪󠄾󠄴󠅘󠅜󠅉󠅇󠄾󠅉󠄹󠅁󠄿󠅘󠄵󠄺󠅡󠅙󠄹󠄝󠄤󠄼󠄷󠄦󠄳󠅩󠅁󠅕󠄢󠅄󠅅󠅢󠄡󠅧󠅘󠅀󠄵󠄨󠄷󠅈󠅚󠄣󠄝󠅛󠄹󠄣󠅈󠅁󠄠󠄱󠄡󠄺󠅂󠄣󠅡󠄢󠄶󠅛󠅟󠄢󠄶󠅜󠅇󠄳󠄴󠅛󠄹󠅑󠅦󠅖󠅇󠄤󠄦󠅅󠅃󠄼󠅅󠄶󠅖󠅇󠅣󠄥󠅜󠅤󠄵󠅝󠅈󠄳󠅝󠅓󠄻󠅈󠄲󠅤󠅤󠄽󠄡󠅇󠄤󠅚󠄺󠄣󠄳󠄹󠄲󠄠󠄻󠅇󠄶󠅪󠅇󠄳󠄳󠄡󠅜󠄥󠄥󠅀󠅢󠄢󠅂󠅇󠅪󠄩󠅡󠅇󠅔󠅣󠅙󠅠󠅢󠅚󠅑󠄴󠄣󠅜󠅥󠄣󠄳󠄶󠄼󠅖󠅄󠄻󠄱󠄥󠅁󠄡󠅏󠄲󠄼󠄵󠄶󠄺󠅥󠄷󠄶󠅩󠅇󠄳󠄳󠅃󠄠󠄲󠅊󠅧󠅉󠅀󠅏󠅆󠅚󠅅󠅀󠅩󠄺󠄹󠅨󠄦󠄳󠅧󠅂󠅁󠅒󠄽󠄸󠅦󠄩󠅆󠅢󠄶󠅨󠅛󠅒󠅊󠅥󠅢󠄺󠄻󠄺󠅖󠄻󠅤󠄦󠅡󠅂󠅘󠅉󠅂󠅗󠅗󠅉󠅈󠄾󠄤󠅁󠄴󠅆󠅚󠄽󠅪󠄾󠅜󠄾󠅄󠄲󠅝󠅊󠅇󠄹󠄠󠅊󠅇󠄹󠅨󠄾󠅚󠅓󠅨󠅉󠄢󠄺󠅛󠅉󠅄󠄲󠅛󠅉󠅄󠅂󠅘󠄾󠄴󠅗󠅪󠅉󠅪󠅛󠄢󠅉󠅄󠅗󠄤󠄿󠅇󠅉󠅨󠅉󠅚󠅛󠄡󠄾󠅄󠅁󠅪󠄾󠅪󠅉󠄢󠅉󠅚󠅛󠄤󠄽󠅄󠅂󠅙󠄽󠅪󠅓󠄢󠄾󠅚󠅁󠅩󠄾󠅝󠅁󠄠󠄿󠄴󠄶󠅘󠅉󠄡󠅗󠅘󠄱󠄨󠅪󠅠󠅙󠅡󠄸󠅑󠄥󠄻󠅄󠄱󠄻󠅀󠅒󠄵󠅦󠅛󠅄󠄦󠅥󠅢󠄽󠄻󠄥󠅙󠄠󠄩󠅃󠅑󠅜󠅜󠄲󠄠󠅕󠄿󠅟󠄢󠅀󠄤󠅖󠄤󠄵󠅦󠅉󠅇󠅃󠅚󠅉󠅇󠅆󠅉󠄹󠄲󠅡󠄻󠄿󠄾󠅥󠅜󠅅󠄱󠅊󠄧󠄠󠅊󠄱󠅊󠅝󠅗󠅛󠅑󠅏󠄠󠅕󠄺󠄵󠅘󠅓󠅦󠄽󠅡󠄿󠅦󠅂󠅃󠄝󠅥󠅀󠅓󠅊󠄨󠅒󠅗󠄢󠄦󠅉󠅈󠄾󠅉󠄹󠄵󠅞󠄻󠅛󠅉󠄣󠅣󠅓󠅗󠄨󠄽󠄿󠅈󠅉󠅊󠅢󠅗󠅒󠅛󠅥󠅩󠅑󠅜󠅔󠅇󠅗󠅉󠅃󠅂󠅖󠅄󠅞󠄾󠅧󠄥󠄥󠄾󠅩󠅞󠅚󠅪󠄽󠄿󠅉󠅈󠄺󠅉󠄹󠄾󠄲󠄡󠅒󠅃󠅗󠅑󠄧󠅀󠅀󠅅󠄵󠄢󠄵󠅢󠅪󠅨󠅚󠅄󠅨󠅀󠅝󠅤󠄨󠄧󠅄󠅒󠄴󠅏󠄲󠅘󠄿󠄵󠅞󠄝󠅡󠅕󠄼󠄹󠅛󠅝󠅕󠄶󠅠󠄷󠄶󠅘󠄳󠄷󠄶󠅪󠅕󠄵󠄲󠅛󠄾󠄢󠄹󠄤󠄾󠅚󠄾󠅘󠄾󠅇󠄽󠅪󠄿󠅄󠅂󠅘󠄽󠅇󠅊󠅝󠅉󠅝󠅆󠅙󠅊󠄷󠅉󠄠󠄽󠅇󠄺󠅝󠅉󠅄󠅓󠄠󠄾󠅚󠅜󠅛󠅊󠅄󠅅󠄤󠄽󠄴󠅜󠅝󠄽󠅄󠅜󠅚󠅊󠄴󠅆󠅘󠅉󠅪󠅗󠅪󠅉󠅚󠅜󠅘󠅊󠅄󠄱󠅧󠅊󠅝󠄽󠄥󠅉󠅝󠄹󠅨󠄽󠄴󠅓󠄣󠅊󠅚󠅔󠅘󠅉󠅇󠄾󠅉󠄹󠅁󠄹󠄶󠄴󠅉󠄺󠅖󠅓󠄻󠅊󠅏󠅜󠄡󠅙󠄹󠅆󠅝󠅟󠅈󠄾󠅂󠅆󠄧󠄷󠅗󠅛󠅁󠄡󠅨󠅆󠄢󠅘󠄲󠅩󠅘󠄳󠅣󠄴󠅔󠅈󠄦󠅇󠅛󠅅󠄢󠄶󠅛󠅟󠄢󠄶󠅜󠅇󠄳󠄳󠅁󠅓󠄱󠅄󠅝󠅠󠄻󠅤󠅞󠅚󠄾󠄠󠅣󠅣󠄻󠅃󠅢󠄩󠄻󠄸󠅡󠅃󠄼󠅦󠅒󠅇󠅨󠄵󠅀󠄻󠄝󠄥󠅀󠅨󠅦󠅙󠄳󠄾󠅁󠄝󠅠󠅪󠄷󠄶󠅪󠅇󠄳󠄳󠅇󠅜󠅢󠅦󠅗󠅑󠅔󠅣󠄨󠄿󠄴󠅪󠅒󠄻󠅆󠄳󠄲󠅊󠅈󠄲󠄸󠄢󠅇󠅨󠅜󠅕󠄷󠅨󠄠󠅞󠄡󠄶󠄺󠄹󠅢󠅨󠅂󠅅󠅞󠅉󠅔󠅉󠅝󠄶󠅩󠅇󠄳󠄳󠄾󠅙󠅝󠄤󠄤󠄿󠅞󠅊󠅁󠅦󠅜󠅑󠄧󠅏󠅤󠅏󠅟󠄾󠄿󠅝󠅝󠅥󠅪󠅦󠄶󠄤󠅑󠄡󠅡󠅠󠅚󠅙󠅄󠅚󠄢󠅛󠄡󠄣󠅤󠅊󠅅󠅤󠅗

2025-03-05 19:42:17 GMT

Yesterday, the Senate voted to overturn the IRS' broker rule, which effectively requires non-custodial software developers to KYC their users.
Getting rid of the broker rule would be a massive achievement, but it's not the end of the road to protect our financial privacy.
For Bitcoin Magazine:
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/legal/the-current-state-of-the-irs-broker-rule

2025-03-05 13:00:02 GMT

Some years ago, we speculated that a black and white market price may develop for bitcoin.
Yesterday, BTC was traded at a high of ~88k € on exchanges – while people paid an almost 30k € premium for peer-to-peer sats.
Parallel economy bitcoin > Wall Street bitcoin ftw 🔥 https://image.nostr.build/f3d331245d5298a3754feed5442aa8f9d44ce918bb1bedb46eaa2237a427da02.jpg

2025-03-03 17:13:27 GMT

Stop selling your bitcoin to the vultures you dumb fucking retards

2025-03-03 13:10:19 GMT

https://m.primal.net/PSMU.png

2025-02-27 18:21:01 GMT

🚨 🚨 🚨 HELP ME BULLY @nprofile…2wva INTO ASKING SEN LUMMIS WHY SHE PROPOSED AN AMENDMENT TO COMBAT ANONYMOUS CRYPTO TRANSACTIONS!!!!!!🚨 🚨 🚨
(PROPOSED TOGETHER WITH ELIZABETH WARREN!!!!!!)
THIS QUESTION MUST BE ASKED TO STOP THIS POLITICIAN FROM GETTING AWAY UNSCOLDED!!!!!!
YOUR FREEDOM OF TRANSACTION DEPENDS ON IT
https://m.primal.net/PNfk.png
https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/news/press/release/gillibrand-lummis-warren-marshall-announce-senate-passage-of-amendment-to-ndaa-to-prevent-use-of-crypto-assets-in-illicit-financial-transactions/
nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzqmxyyf0hjux9dw0559uy4pwah00fwkv7xed63jry5nv3qk2zku3zqqsdypp3tqzs9spquxvczcd9v0qvpw4wkgn2rn75ws7jj2aa9cuy3jg4pf89d

2025-02-27 12:36:22 GMT

Yesterday's first Digital Assets Subcommittee hearing has us down bad for privacy, my guys.
As stated by former CFTC Chair Timothy Massad, self-custodial wallets are the reason we are seeing digital assets used for sanctions evasion, money laundering and Hamas financing, with other witnesses piling on the lack of KYC.
Going purely on vibes, it seems plausible that we may see Congress attempt to rewrite IEEPA and US Code to apply KYC/AML/CFT requirements to self-custodial wallets and decentralized services as suggested by the Fifth Circuit's Tornado Cash sanctions reversal as well as Financial Action Task Force virtual asset guidance.
S/o to the retards calling this administration the "Bitcoin President"
Full Story:
https://www.therage.co/self-custodial-wallets-are-hamas/

2025-02-26 20:52:06 GMT

TLDR from the Senate Banking Subcommittee:
Self-custodial wallets are Hamas, KYC all the things, Tether is toast, bitcoin below 30k this year inshallah
(article coming tomorrow bc this is my face rn)
https://m.primal.net/PMZZ.png

2025-02-26 19:01:59 GMT

"Bitcoin isn't Money"
In his first meeting with the SEC's Crypto Task Force, Michael Saylor proposes a regulatory framework that mainly benefits Michael Saylor.
https://m.primal.net/PMTq.png
Full Story:
https://www.therage.co/saylor-sec-bitcoin/

2025-02-22 16:57:38 GMT

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for Encryption!

2025-02-20 18:40:38 GMT

This is CRAZY.
In TWO DAYS we are almost 50% to covering the entire Tornado Cash trial, ONLY raising funds via NOSTR 🔥
That means we'll definitely be able to cover almost an entire week!!
Donation spread so far:
$1427 via Geyser
$1298 in XMR
$355 via NOSTR
$140 on Chain
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
If you want to keep donating and help us cover the entire trial, all info in Quoted Note 👇
nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpk9xancv89h24rme53yhl6dh0hyhwce528eu5hrrfcsgvkg3vermqy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qgkwaehxw309ajkgetw9ehx7um5wghxcctwvshsqgqx7srfxfrpy4268ly9r5cdusnxmggeydu3vauyd5kvmns86pd7ycemrzfe

2025-02-19 16:35:32 GMT

You guys are incredible 🩷
In 24 hours we raised 20% of our goal at ~$1500 via NOSTR ONLY. This means that we'll definitely be able to report at least two days of the trial!!
Here's the donation spread from yesterday:
$654 in XMR
$591 via Geyser
$200 via Zaps
$100 on Chain
So let's try this again: How many more days can we fund?!?
Donate XMR: 47xmhbRuYpSYSrVZx2RsPBhaAQByZq3ucAT6ULxHvDAu8c853ErpLHqBdDmpVzcmWFdZFCWrfZYwp3rqs14zxXx95S7Fyv2
Donate BTC on-chain:
bc1q6knt9ln4z2tvduc436ezsvx22q89a9memv964p
Zap this post 🤘⚡
Or donate via Geyser: https://geyser.fund/project/therage
nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpk9xancv89h24rme53yhl6dh0hyhwce528eu5hrrfcsgvkg3vermqyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezucnfw33k76twv4ezuum0vd5kzmp0qqszdzqhr6vlm0wtgyfggfr45q77ly8flf7mhztpsge8l2xlxa4gadcmrzpdv

2025-02-18 17:57:56 GMT

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Two journalists. One is David Z Morris, who has covered some of the TC hearings before for us, as well as a professional court reporter to cover the days that are more procedural.
There's several reasons for best case having two journalists fyi. One, in a court room, you are not allowed to take any electronic devices, meaning that you have two write everything down on paper. Four ears catch more than two.
Second, a classic court reporter reports with high accuracy, but does usually not put events into perspective. This is what David is for, who has extensive experience covering high profile cases like SBF's.

2025-02-18 17:08:19 GMT

🚨 🚨 🚨 CALL FOR DONATIONS 🚨 🚨 🚨
To cover the Tornado Cash trial in April, as well as an upcoming Samourai Wallet hearing, The Rage needs $8000 USD CUCKBUCKS.
Court cases are long, and journalists need to be paid. Unless we can raise the $8000 USD we will not be able to cover the trial.
It's incredibly important that this case gets covered from a perspective critical of the DOJ's witch hunt that aims to put the proceedings in broader context on the effects it will have on all of us.
We make no money other than donations. We have no paywalls and no data-leeching advertisements. None of this money will go to me personally, all will be used to pay the reporting journalists. Please help us make this happen.
Donate on-chain for transparency:
bc1q6knt9ln4z2tvduc436ezsvx22q89a9memv964p
Or via Lightning on our Geyser Fund:
https://geyser.fund/project/therage

2025-02-17 20:25:06 GMT

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If you think the guy that lets Palantir and friends run the Government would have done any better I have bad news for you

2025-02-15 23:31:38 GMT

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I'm sorry that giving historical background to what the man says hurts your feelings

2025-02-15 23:19:31 GMT

https://m.primal.net/OyKU.png
https://m.primal.net/OyKV.png

2025-02-15 15:27:44 GMT

can someone lmk how we are still surprised by crypto politicians rug pulling people I am trying to catch up

2025-02-09 16:01:52 GMT

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Innnnnterestinggg

2025-02-06 21:34:03 GMT

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🫡

2025-02-04 17:20:35 GMT

A lot of people approached me in the past weeks on a new regulation in Switzerland, which limits no-KYC Bitcoin transactions from 1.000 CHF per day down to 1.000 CHF per month.
Turns out that the regulation is likely illegal:
https://www.therage.co/leaked-email-finma-abused-authority-to-implement-new-kyc-rule-based-on-tabloid-news-2/

2025-02-04 15:53:13 GMT

gmgm
the Feds run nodes to spy on your transactions, a new indictment unsealed yesterday reveals:
https://m.primal.net/OQEh.png
https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1388021/dl?inline

2025-01-29 20:43:02 GMT

EFF joins Roman Storm's defense 🔥
Tornado Cash sanctions reversal is not "irrelevant", says EFF, urging the court to directly dismiss the criminal charges against the Tornado Cash developer.
"If Congress wishes to pass a law that is intended to reach a tool like Tornado Cash, it can do so."
If the court does not wish to dismiss the case on grounds of the reversal of sanctions, it should dismiss the case on grounds of due process, says EFF:
Because the Government's argumentation is a too broad interpretation of the law, it runs the risk of criminalizing privacy software development as an expression of free speech.
The court "should clearly reject the implication that any tool that allows (or supports) people having 'enhanced anonymity' is inherently suspect."
The EFF additionally rejects the Government's argumentation that Storm attempted to profit from illicit activity:
"The argument is akin to claiming that Visa or MasterCard would be criminally liable based solely on receiving transaction fees whenever its customers transferred money as part of some underlying criminal activity."
Full story 👇
https://www.therage.co/eff-tornado-cash/

2025-01-28 19:10:13 GMT

If you know what website I stole this from I want to follow you https://image.nostr.build/417997a026e17081d78226e17bb322f24bdcc4d48b7a794fd4cb6436d3b57427.jpg

2025-01-27 20:07:29 GMT

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The bill pay tools used to be going strong but they all disappeared somehow - thank you for sharing!

2025-01-27 18:28:55 GMT

Another day, another exchange I am suspended from.
All of my funds are conjoined or swapped between LN/XMR for privacy before sending to exchanges, triggering all sorts of nonsense AML flags.
The exchange I am with now is requesting proof of funds, meaning it wants to see fiat coming into my bank account from an entity I have a business relationship with, asking me to "kindly assist them" in surveilling me.
Except that all of my business relationships are handled in bitcoin – meaning that it is impossible for me to show proof of fiat funds.
Alternatively, the exchange says, I could send them “the address” to which I received payment in the last year, matching the amount of money I have exchanged on their platform.
Obviously no such address exists as I create a new address for each transaction (and so should you). Additionally, much of my money comes in through donations, for which I simply do not have an invoice.
I could now send them every single zap I ever received on nostr in the past year – for context, that would be over 250 zaps in the past week alone, s/o to all the zappers – or I could move my business to Switzerland, where I can exchange up to 1000 CHF per day KYC-free (for now), which is what I’m going to do.
However, since I’ll be more heavily relying on peer-to-peer exchanges from now on, I’ll likely have my bank account flagged for receiving weekly payments from randos on the internet, making it fairly foreseeable that I’ll be losing my bank account in the coming months as well.
Fundamental rights violations aside, the amount of complete nonsense work – and with that costs – this system creates both for the Government and private institutions is absolutely astonishing. If there ever was a true bullshit job, compliance officer would no doubt be it.
It’s time we end the global discrimination complex inherent to the financial system in which we are all guilty until proven innocent, only to upkeep an inefficient system that is useless in preventing crime but formidable for imposing mass surveillance on the people.
So no, I will not "kindly assist you" in surveilling me, and if I die on this hill.
Until then, shill me your favorite tools to pay my bills in bitcoin 👇
https://m.primal.net/ODEx.jpg

2025-01-27 13:08:34 GMT

Pre-crime is here baby!
After “we have closed your account because we suspect you have committed a crime,” here comes “we have closed your account because we suspect you may commit a crime in the future.”
DARPA has announced plans to launch a pre-crime AML program that attempts to stop money laundering before it happens, and it’s just as bad as it sounds.
This is the stuff that nightmares are made of.
https://www.therage.co/darpa-aml-precrime/

2025-01-24 23:53:56 GMT

TFTC says 98% of the govs digital asset stock pile is bitcoin. Just so we're clear, that's bitcoin stolen from the American people. Much of it likely still bitcoin that belongs to Ross.
They should give it back. Just my 2 cents.
https://m.primal.net/NykG.png

2025-01-24 17:37:57 GMT

Hearing a lot of people in Bitcoin describe journalists in the space as „doom pillers“ lately.
Its fine that there‘s things you‘d rather stay ignorant of and you prefer to stick to your pink little bubble in which everything in Bitcoin is made of unicorns and rainbows.
But the people writing these stories are doing a very thankless and unlucrative job at great personal risk and expense, because they believe that the stories they are telling can make the world a better place.
Stop trying to tear them down.

2025-01-24 00:00:52 GMT

So the Trump's 'crypto* EO is out, and I'm seeing lots of weak bitches cry that its a shitcoin reserve.
Given the fact that the proposed digital assets stockpile would possibly be built on *seized* coins, let me give you a quick introduction to forfeiture law, and why crying for daddy to please please make its pile of flying horseshit "bitcoin only" *literally* the most retarded thing you could be wishing for, ever.
Forfeiture law – or civil asset forfeiture, to be precise – is this fun little game the government plays in which it does not have to accuse you of a crime to confiscate your property.
Instead of accusing you of a crime, the Government claims that the asset itself has facilitated a crime, and can therefore be seized by the Government.
In civil asset forfeiture, there is no innocent until proven guilty. To get your property back, *you* have to prove that the Government is wrong – which turns out pretty complicated seeing how its impossible to prove a negative.
Civil asset forfeiture results in cases that are not filed against a person, but filed against the property itself. This results in fun little cases like US vs. Binance Account XYZ, or US vs. 123 Wilmington Drive.
To extend this idea to Bitcoin, in a civil forfeiture case, the US Government is in theory able to seize *any bitcoin* that has *ever* come out of a criminal transaction.
Made some bitcoin for selling a service? Bought some bitcoin on a P2P exchange? Unless you checked that the UTXO you received has never touched a criminal transaction in its entire history, your coins can be confiscated, and there's pretty much nothing you can do about it.
As Cato Institute points out in its piece on civil forfeiture reform, forfeiture law is routinely misused to enrich the Government – Philadelphia, for example, has seized over 1000 homes, over 3000 vehicles, and over $44M in cash over an 11 year period. In 2010, the city tried to seize *an entire fucking house* because a woman's grandson sold less than $200 of weed out of the basement.
If you think that taxes are bad, civil asset forfeiture is straight up evil.
It doesn't matter whether you participated in a crime. It doesn't matter whether you know that someone else participated in a crime. If it involved your property, even if said property was fully legally acquired, the Government will come and take it.
Civil asset forfeiture is the most insane Government funding technique that is out there, and you most definitely do not want this declared as a strategic means to pump the Government's bitcoin bags.
You are *literally* asking the Government to steal your coins with a practice that *every* libertarian advocate wants to see abolished.

2025-01-23 17:12:19 GMT

GM, the internet says Bhutan is coinjoining
Based if true
https://m.primal.net/NwdR.jpg
https://m.primal.net/NwdT.jpg
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/royal-government-of-bhutan-once-again-moves-bitcoin-btc-through-anonymous-addresses/ar-AA1xnoFw

2025-01-23 15:18:29 GMT

Can we please remove the auto-follow primal friends thing when creating a new account, I just had to manually unfollow 228 people

2025-01-22 19:00:22 GMT

Ross Ulbricht was not just robbed of over a decade of his life – he was smeared by the US Government as a human being.
While this corner of the internet celebrates his freedom, others are asking why on earth would we would defend an attempted murderer.
I wrote about the murder-for-hire charges against Ross for @nprofile…w22j – let this be your reminder that:
1️⃣ The agents who investigated Ross, who posed as hitmen and faked Ross' colleague's death, were sentenced to years in prison for corruption, stealing and trying to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from Ross
2️⃣ Both agents had administrative access to the site
3️⃣ According to the Department of Homeland Security, former site administrators, and people with personal contact to Ross, DPR was more than one person
4️⃣ DPR logged into his account while Ross was in prison
5️⃣ All murder-for-hire charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they could never be filed again
For all we know, we are all Dread Pirate Roberts 🕊️
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/silk-roads-ross-ulbricht-why-defend-a-murderer

2025-01-22 07:37:42 GMT

District Court officially ordered to reverse sanctions against Tornado Cash
https://m.primal.net/NuMI.jpg

2025-01-20 14:21:49 GMT

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The Gov can sue every developer in Bitcoin just as they are suing the Tornado Cash developers. It's time to get a grip on reality.

2025-01-17 18:47:28 GMT

Oopsiedoozles, Chainalysis wrongfully attributed almost twice the volume of hacked funds to North Korea than funds it found actually related "upon further investigation"
This software is used to put people in jail
https://m.primal.net/NlOi.png

2025-01-03 16:33:22 GMT

Me, every time the Government tells me to do something
https://m.primal.net/NQZj.png

2025-01-03 09:50:44 GMT

HOW TO HACK A CONSTITUTION
Talk on the Right to Digital Integrity at #38c3 (starts at 1:36:00) 👇
https://www.youtube.com/live/dGWRYMU353Y?feature=shared&t=5706

2025-01-03 08:42:40 GMT

Good morning! It's January 3rd, which means its not your keys, not your coins day.
Unfortunately, this year the EU has decided to make withdrawing from exchanges a hell of a lot harder by extending FATF's Travel Rule to digital assets.
The FATF Travel Rule is not just a remarkable shitshow for your financial privacy and security – it's also a law to which authorities appear to have no data on its effectiveness to prevent financial crime.
What this means for you: If you want to withdraw funds exceeding €1.000, you'll need to prove that you own the address you are intending to withdraw to to your custodian.
It also means that exchanges are required to forward your personal information, including things like your name and address, to any custodian you are transacting with, and that an exchange may collect information on whom you are sending funds to and whom you are receiving funds from.
The Travel Rule does not just make withdrawing from exchanges harder, as custodians will need to employ third party software, employ a signing protocol like AOPP, or have you conduct a micro transaction to the custodian before making your transfer.
It also poses an incredible risk to your financial privacy and security, as your KYC info will not just be stored with a custodian you trust, but with any custodian you transact with – increasing the risks of hacks and identity theft.
In its current form, the Travel Rule has been mandatory in tradfi in the EU since 2012 – But nobody seems to know whether it actually works to prevent money laundering or not.
That's why I filed a FOIA request with German authorities last month, requesting data on all money laundering convictions in Germany since 2008.
Interestingly, the Ministry of the Interior responsible for national security and overseeing Germany's law enforcement, responded that it had no such information - instead asking me to file FOIA Requests with the German Ministry of Finance, the German Customs Authority, as well as with every public prosecutors office...
...which means that the updated Travel Rule is the extension of a law to whichs effectiveness law enforcement appears to have no data.
(FOIA Response in picture translated with ChatGPT)
https://m.primal.net/NQCL.png
Full Story:
https://www.therage.co/travel-rule-crypto-surveillance/

2024-12-30 09:57:46 GMT

Good morning!
The UK's National Crime Agency really doesn't want to let us know what methodologies and data it used to come to the conclusion that cryptocurrencies and E2EE pose a serious threat to national security.
By refusing to answer our request, the NCA is in violation of FOIA laws. A follow up will be filed before we write them up with the Information Commissioner again 🫡
https://m.primal.net/NLRK.png

2024-12-27 21:59:33 GMT

ok can we chill with the fucked up ideas for like 5 minutes
https://m.primal.net/NIgK.png

2024-12-27 21:37:02 GMT

The UN just approved the UN Cybercrime Treaty, a drastic global surveillance law that gives UN member states the ability to freeze assets in other countries
I'm too tired to explain, so here's an overview 👇 longer post coming next week
Zap so I can hire help
https://www.therage.co/un-cybercrime-convention-bank-secrecy/

2024-12-27 18:26:34 GMT

The IRS just finalized its new broker rule, finding that control is not necessary to be considered a broker subject to IRS reporting requirements.
It's a nightmare for every non-custodial exchange and swap provider.
Built a website to let users swap between currencies? You're a broker under IRS reporting requirements.
Built a mobile app to let users swap between currencies? You're a broker under IRS reporting requirements.
Built a browser extension to let people swap between currencies? You're a broker under IRS reporting requirements.
As long as you have the ability to collect fees on a trade, or have the ability to affect the terms under which a trade is provided, or a whole bunch of other nonsense, you're a broker, which makes pretty much any non-custodial exchange or swap provider a broker.
While wallets without swap or exchange features are excluded by the broker rule, it's a taste of what's to come for BSA reporting requirements for non-custodial software.
INB4: "bUt ThEy CaN'T FoRcE mY nOn-CuStOdIaL wAlLeT tO Do aNyThiNg"
That's right they can't. But they can force the people building the software and services. And if they don't, they'll go to jail.
Unless challenged, the rule goes into effect in 2027.
https://www.therage.co/broker-rule-irs-requires-non-custodial-services-to-report-trading-information/

2024-12-24 13:16:13 GMT

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Great report, thank you Lyudmyla!

2024-12-20 11:22:03 GMT

Wake up babe, there's a new filing in Tornado Cash:
Roman Storm's defense has filed to drop all criminal charges as last months sanctions reversal shows all counts of the indictment are "fatally and legally flawed".
In the sanctions reversal, the Fifth Circuit found that the software does not constitute property and cannot be owned or controlled, leaving the Government's case against Storm hardly a leg to stand on:
Much of Storm's prosecution relies on the Government's ability to prove that Storm operated a service over which he held sufficient control.
According to the defense:
If Tornado Cash is not property and cannot be owned, then it cannot be a “business” at all, let alone a “money transmitting business.”
As argued in the newly filed motion:
The Fifth Circuit "confirms that the government will never be able to prove that Mr. Storm had control over the proceeds of the specified unlawful activity."
In the legal system, Circuit appellate courts exist to review whether district courts have applied the law correctly, holding the ability to set binding precedent.
While Storm's criminal prosecution lies outside of the Fifth Circuit's jurisdiction, the ruling may be sufficiently persuasive to end the US Government's witch hunt and incredible misinterpretation of the law.
Full story: https://www.therage.co/tornado-cash-storm-van-loon/

2024-12-17 20:16:38 GMT

David Bailey just posted the draft for an executive order for the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve under Trump – and it's an absolute nightmare for anyone using bitcoin as money.
First, the draft order defines Bitcoin as "a finite store-of-value asset, akin to digital gold."
As someone who has lived on Bitcoin for a fairly long time, I can say that Bitcoin is not merely a "store-of-value asset", but a money for payment and day to day purchases.
Defining Bitcoin as a "store-of-value asset" reinforces the ossification narrative (who needs to move a stonk several times in a day?) which may put developers at risk when prioritizing changes to btc to make it more usable as money (think scaling for example).
With this definition, a softfork to activate covenants may become an issue of US national security that goes against the US' definition of its primary goals - directly putting developers in the firing line of the United States Government.
The draft states that federal agencies, such as the US Marshall's Service, may not auction seized Bitcoin off, but must contribute them to the strategic reserve.
This not only reduces the Bitcoin in circulation available to the public, but additionally sets the incentive for the US to increase its seizing efforts – think increased AML/KYC.
While I'm no fan of the strategic reserve in general, this draft is an even bigger disappointment than Sen. Lummis' proposed Bitcoin Act.
To compare this to how El Salvador has implemented Bitcoin, which I admit I initially wasn't a fan of either, ES directly gives citizens rights to use Bitcoin as money - which is a huge upside to benefit the people, and not just the national security state.
No offense, but letting a couple of children that just graduated college and a guy who runs a magazine draft US policy is a scene straight out of idiocracy.
Next time, maybe try speaking to the people actually building and using bitcoin, not just to the boomers and national security goons that sit on the money like a fat kid at the cake buffet.
Incredibly unprofessional conduct here by BPI, a huge risk to anyone using Bitcoin for anything other than an investment, and a testament to the people involved being more interested in furthering their own importance than to empower people with a money without state.
Sincerely hope that this EO is drastically challenged on all levels and hopefully somehow deemed unconstitutional to protect btc and the people developing it.

2024-12-16 18:56:01 GMT

Remember when TDev's attorney said that the volume of discovery was equal to 75% of the Library of Congress, or that, if stacked, it would reach from earth to the moon 22 times?
The Government since added two new batches of discovery – now totaling 17 terabytes – and is in the process of providing an additional batch to Rodriguez' defense in the next seven days.
To give the defense more time to sort through the available information, the next hearing has been postponed until March 12th.
The trial date has been set for Nov 3rd 2025.
Full Story:
https://www.therage.co/samourai-wallet-trial-set-for-november-3-2025/

2024-12-14 17:33:13 GMT

20+ years of internet history to look back on telling us how peer-to-peer software is corrupted by corporate and government interests, and yet we have learned nothing anon
https://m.primal.net/MwBp.png

2024-12-11 13:38:41 GMT

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You are conflating the money with the system that governs it. Bitcoin is definitely not "more fungible than fiat" – cash is the king of fungibility.
I don't mean to put you on the spot, but these are exactly the misconceptions I'm talking about.

2024-12-11 13:19:15 GMT

This is a community note proposed to Anita's post, and I think we need to talk about it.
https://m.primal.net/MszH.jpg
The past years have brought a swarm of new people into Bitcoin, and these posts and comments show how hard we failed them.
First off, to address the majority of commenters in Anita's post that also like to spam my posts with the same nonsense (and then tell me that I'm stupid because I have a vagina (?)), in the Bitcoin network, you do not get to vote for anything. Your node allows you to control the rules that your node runs by. That's it. That's all it does.
There is no voting in Bitcoin.
Second, miners run profit oriented businesses. This means that miners follow the rules adapted by the nodes with the majority of economic activity.
In the event of a hard fork, it does not matter how many nodes you run – if the majority of nodes generating profit for miners apply new rules, those are the rules the miners will follow.
Bitcoin positions do matter to the extent that they generate economic activity.
I understand that the voting analogy can be helpful, so here's one that you can make: in Bitcoin, you vote with your feet.
If a large exchange was to signal for, say, a Bitcoin compliance fork, you can threaten to pull your money out – to the extent that the exchange still allows you to.
Lastly, what Anita is referring to in her post is Bitcoin's social layer.
Bitcoin is run by humans, and humans can be influenced.
Humans can be influenced by setting positive incentives, such as gov subsidies or developer grants, or by applying violence, such as threatening to throw the people running and building Bitcoin in jail.
This is a reality of human nature and should not be controversial - How to prevent such actors from influencing open source development is often discussed in the open source community.
If this topic interests you, look up Operation Orchestra at FOSDEM.
Let's remember that the memes are not always your friends.
Influencers spent the past few years so focused on "hyperbitcoinization" that half-truths about how Bitcoin works are now taken at face value.
Because so many "Bitcoiners" now genuinely believe things like "Bitcoin can't be censored," "one node equals one vote", "Bitcoin is for enemies," or "everything is good for Bitcoin," we have created a culture that believes paying attention to the creation of an adversarial environment is unnecessary.
These memes are mental shortcuts. They are true to some extent, but do not reflect reality.
In the case of my posts, next to the obviously snarky comments here and there, the majority of commenters are not posting these things with bad intentions - they genuinely think that this is how Bitcoin works.
If you are an educator, influencer, or in any other way have the capacity to better explain these things to people, _please_ take the time to do so.
The memes are fine to get people interested, but we all need to do a better job at combating these misconceptions. The future of BTC could depend on it.

2024-12-09 23:15:29 GMT

https://m.primal.net/Mrba.jpg

2024-12-08 20:49:47 GMT

"I remain committed, until the end, to the struggle for liberation and to the beauty and love it creates."
Abdullah Öcalan
#note1twr…t9jh

2024-12-07 17:52:59 GMT

It's impressive how many people are unable to simultaneously hold two thoughts in their head.
Yes, it's great that we're talking about debanking.
No, it's not great that this conversation is driven by investment interests attempting to mandate even more nonsense surveillance that effectively does nothing to solve the problem (to the contrary, it likely makes it worse).
Nuance, my guys. It really ain't so complicated.

2024-12-07 17:26:45 GMT

The US' new "AI and Crypto Czar" David Sacks:
"It's so important that Chokepoint 2.0 got the crypto debanking conversation going"
How the crypto debanking conversation is going:
https://m.primal.net/Mplu.mov https://m.primal.net/Mplz.png https://m.primal.net/MpmA.png https://m.primal.net/MpmB.png

2024-12-07 15:11:31 GMT

As pushes to reform the BSA increase, we're going to see an epic showdown between factions of the US Gov that want to protect citizen's constitutional rights, and the alleged "pro-freedom" faction which has bet much of their networth on the NatSec surveillance complex (Musk, Sacks, Lutnick, possibly Andreessen if rumours on DOGE advisory position are true) – therefore unable to conceed that the US' massive surveillance of its own citizens is inefficient in fighting crime while infringing on the rights of the American people without tanking their own gainz.
This may actually be the administration to finally transcend the nonsense partisanship of left vs. right. What a time to be alive 🍿
h/t @npub15dn…3lfc
https://m.primal.net/MpiQ.png

2024-12-03 09:08:35 GMT

Coinbase last week: flagging all crypto users as high risk because of a few fraudulent projects is discriminatory banking 🦾
Coinbase this week: Criminals use VPNs so we flag all VPN users 🫠
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2024-12-01 19:07:22 GMT

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Thats why mints are auditable

2024-12-01 18:39:55 GMT

Just saying but debanking would become a hell of a lot harder if all banks ran on ecash

2024-12-01 15:55:20 GMT

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Those are good analogies as those examples can be used to enforce similar control mechanisms to a CBDC (so can btc btw), but the key difference is that govs can (and do) force their use - so actually, no. https://image.nostr.build/e6b8722579fe1afdaf0784cb28f3541b929a205e2c3a6c273f13d21e4eb0a88e.jpg

2024-12-01 10:18:08 GMT

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Do you understand what a CBDC is

2024-12-01 02:42:55 GMT

Over on the hellsite David Marcus is complaining about the government shutting down his Libra/Diem stablecoin so I thought now would be a good time to remind everyone that this actually saved you from running head first into a CBDC testflight program
There's not a lot of times to be thankful for the government, but I'm pretty sure that this is one of them
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2024-11-28 22:38:59 GMT

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I would not call those people "somewhat informed", but who needs journalistic integrity as long as it is good PR.

2024-11-28 22:25:17 GMT

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Don't say things that are wrong for clickbait?

2024-11-28 22:17:03 GMT

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I did watch it. The only thing that tells me is that this "documentary" was intentionally misframed.

2024-11-28 22:04:43 GMT

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if you guys want to solve the mystery on how "this parliament" could fumble 50k btc, you were in the wrong place – it was the prosecutors office of Saxony, not the government of Germany. Nice blending scene tho.

2024-11-27 02:37:23 GMT

"Legislating is Congress’s job—and Congress’s alone."
The Fifth Circuit's ruling to remove Tornado Cash from OFAC's sanctions list is a direct stab at the Government's recent regulation by enforcement strategy.
Here are the most important arguments:
1. The court has found that Tornado Cash smart contracts do not constitute a service or property, defining the contracts as tools that are "nothing more than lines of code," which cannot be sanctioned under current OFAC regulation.
2. The court has found that Tornado Cash does not own or control the smart contracts, as the developers revoked any role in the software's operation – making important distinctions between "mutable", which it defines as custodial, and "immutable" software.
3. The court recognizes that OFAC's framework may be outdated to apply to modern technologies, but explicitly states that it "declines the Department's invitation to judicial lawmaking", stating that
"Legislating is Congress’s job—and Congress’s alone." ✊
Updated story: https://www.therage.co/fifth-circuit-lifts-tornado-cash-sanctions/
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2024-11-27 00:13:07 GMT

A judge just ruled that Tornado Cash is to be removed from the OFAC sanctions list.
The court found that Tornado Cash smart contracts do not constitute property, finding that Tornado Cash software is not covered by the IEEPA's.
The court found that while "OFAC’s concerns with illicit foreign actors laundering funds are undeniably legitimate," "perhaps Congress will update IEEPA [...] to target modern technologies like crypto-mixing software."
"Until then," the court found, "we hold that Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts (the lines of privacy-enabling software code) are not the “property” of a foreign national or entity, meaning they cannot be blocked under IEEPA, and OFAC overstepped its congressionally defined authority."
This is hugely good news for anyone developing privacy software and will likely have a positive impact on Roman Storm's trial, where it is debated whether the court may criminally charge the developers of software.
s/o to all the people that fought for our right to privacy on this ❤️
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(this is a developing story – we'll update this article as we go through the information available): https://www.therage.co/fifth-circuit-lifts-tornado-cash-sanctions/

2024-11-26 14:02:52 GMT

A few months ago I filed a FOI Request with the UK's National Crime Agency which claimed that cryptocurrency and end-to-end encryption pose a risk to National Security.
First they ignored me, so we reported the NCA to the Information Comissioner's Office, who then denied my request for filing under a pseudonym. Today @npub1wl3…znlx and @npub1z74…d4yx filed a new FOI Request to obtain information on how the UK came up with their outlandish claims.
But here's the catch: we realized that the NCA is exempt from the FOIA process, and only liable to environmental requests.
Thankfully, Freddie and BTCPolicy UK have done extensive work detailing how Bitcoin can cause a positive change in reaching the UK's sustainable energy goals and further a shift toward renewables – meaning that the NCA's criminal framing of cryptocurrencies does not just impact your right to privacy, but directly impacts UK environmental policy.
Stay tuned for the next reason they'll come up with to deny our request, because we're not backing down 🔪
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If you want to support our work, please consider donating to our Geyser Fund: https://geyser.fund/project/therage

2024-11-20 21:23:00 GMT

In October, we reported that Colombia's Financial Intelligence Unit was under investigation for the purchase of Pegasus Spyware.
Now the US admits that it helped make the deal:
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/colombia-pegasus-nso-group-israel-white-house

2024-11-08 23:12:49 GMT

Roman Sterlingov, the alleged operator of the Bitcoin mixer Bitcoin Fog, has just been sentenced to 12.5 years in prison.
The government is now seizing the little Bitcoin he has left (hint hint that's how your strategic bitcoin reserve gets built), while the Billions of Dollars he allegedly made operating Bitcoin Fog continue to remain unaccounted for.
Here's a primer on the wild story of his prosecution and why it shook the chain analysis space – full story coming when more info on the sentencing is available.
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https://www.therage.co/bitcoin-fog-sentencing/

2024-11-08 21:49:34 GMT

Keep fighting.
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2024-11-08 20:29:32 GMT

Copy/Pasting this conversation here since it seems important to understand how exactly a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve will be financed.
Bailey points out that Lummis' Bill notes that nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize the gov to seize, confiscate, or otherwise impair any property right in the >>>lawfully acquired Bitcoin holdings<<< of any person.
To Lummis, as she lays out in both her amendment to the 24 NDAA and the Responsible Financial Innovation Act I cited in my previous post, lawfully acquired Bitcoin holdings are Bitcoin acquired in adherence to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws and IRS compliance.
Lummis' Bill does not need to authorize the confiscation of Bitcoin as the confiscation of Bitcoin is governed just like the confiscation of any other asset, namely forfeiture law. This is how the government has acquired the Bitcoin it already owns.
Lummis' NDAA amendment plus her introduced Responsible Financial Innovation Act will greatly expand the Bitcoin the government is able to seize by increasing KYC/AML/OFAC requirements, codifying IRS compliance, and outlawing privacy, i.e. "combating anonymous crypto asset transactions."
Bailey also points out that Lummis plans to finance the reserve with the Fed's surplus fund. But the Fed's surplus fund only generates a surplus when the Fed buys securities. When the Fed buys securities, it expands the money supply. When the Fed expands the money supply, it increases inflation. When inflation increases, purchasing power sinks, resulting in an involuntary tax.
The secret ingredient to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve continues to be ✨stealing✨.
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2024-11-08 15:34:04 GMT

Hate to be the one to shit on the Parade, but a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve *will* be built through confiscation and taxation.
Here's Senator Cynthia Lummis already hard at work to make it happen:
Cynthia Lummis teamed up with Elizabeth Warren to propose the regulation of Bitcoin under anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws to "combat anonymous crypto asset transactions".
Cynthia Lummis also re-introduced the Responsible Financial Innovation Act "inspired by Senator Warren", which introduces higher penalties for "crypto asset crimes", regulates "mixers and tumblers", and increases KYC requirements.
For the amount of time Bitcoiners have claimed to be of peculiar intelligence, you are all getting played *incredibly* hard right now.
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2024-10-24 12:58:32 GMT

SCOOP: In an alert issued yesterday, FinCEN finds cryptocurrencies are not a preferred financing method for Hezbollah.
Who would have thought.
https://www.therage.co/fincen-alert-hezbollah-financing-cryptocurrencies/

2024-10-07 17:28:36 GMT

Are you losing your mind and business to the US’ regulation by enforcement approach?
The WEF is here to tell you not to worry. In its new report on digital asset regulation, it has found that industry players see the US’ “tough approach” a “positive for the industry”.
It also finds that the EU’s reserve requirements for stablecoins are too strict, and that we should all be using digital identities and the blockchain for AML/KYC.
Full story:
https://www.therage.co/wef-crypto-regulation-report/

2024-09-30 19:53:49 GMT

Last year, 58 Congressmen sent a letter to Secretary Yellen asking for clarity on the scope of Hamas' cryptocurrency financing. But Secretary Yellen's response was never published.
Today, I filed a FOIA Request with the Department of Treasury for Yellen's response.
We already know that the dollar amounts published in the media were inaccurate and that cryptocurrencies are not a popular tool used by Hamas and the PIJ in their terror financing efforts.
Yellen's official response could still be instrumental in combating the current alarmist narrative that cryptocurrencies pose a threat to US national security to demand tighter regulation and increasingly unproportionate AML/CFT measures for the entire industry.
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Questions asked and link to the full letter:
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https://emmer.house.gov/_cache/files/3/d/3d43d8c0-a0a8-40ed-864d-059ba2b5a681/CBF7D1BC15D13A231C7270CDD161308D.te.pmc.fh.rt.letter.11.15.23.pdf

2024-09-27 21:53:48 GMT

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It's the weakest argument the judge made, and probably the last one you should be worried about.

2024-09-27 21:46:13 GMT

Yesterday, Tornado Cash judge stated code is not speech, non-custodial software providers can be money transmitters, and specific knowledge of criminal activity is not required to be charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
A breakdown of all the arguments:
https://www.therage.co/tornado-cash-code-not-speech-non-custodial-msbs-knowledge-not-required/

2024-09-27 00:51:58 GMT

Tornado Cash judge says code isn't speech and control isn't needed to qualify as MSB. Article coming tomorrow. GN 🫂
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2024-09-27 00:28:32 GMT

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Computer says no
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2024-09-26 22:13:46 GMT

Tornado Cash? Needed a banking license. Samourai Wallet? Needed a banking license. WhatsApp, Apple, X, probably all need licenses too.
Sounds retarded? Correct. That's why the SEC has proposed a rule to formalize licensing requirements for communication protocols.
In a speech at the annual U.S. Treasury Market Conference, Gensler announced to rule on proposed amendments to the Exchange Act by November, which expand the definition of the term "exchange" to mean "systems that bring together buyers and sellers of securities [...] (i.e. "communication protocols")."
Critics argue the rule may be weaponized to criminally indict software developers given the already hostile environment for crypto- and privacy devs.
If this rule passes, we are fucked beyond comprehension.
Full story:
https://www.therage.co/gensler-to-rule-on-licensing-requirements-for-communication-protocols-2/

2024-09-24 10:11:20 GMT

Good morning! Lots of talk yesterday about the German government's new security package enabling mass biometric surveillance & suspicionless searches.
But the proposed law also drastically expands the surveillance of bank accounts.
According to the proposed law, banks are to be alleviated of the suspension of accounts under investigation for AML/CTF violations, enabling the prolonged and undetected surveillance of bank accounts via the German federal police.
In 2023, the German FIU received 337,000 suspicious transaction reports, of which roughly 63,000 had little or nothing to do with AML/CTF violations.
Under the proposed law, close to 20% of accounts under investigation for AML/CTF violations would be subject to increased and unjust spying on their financial activities through police.
Full Story:
https://www.therage.co/german-government-plans-expansion-of-bank-account-surveillance/

2024-09-20 14:34:59 GMT

GM, the German Government just flat out lied denying the use of chain analysis software.
In an answer to a inquiry made by MPs, the German Government denied the use of chain analysis software for asset seizures – but procurement records show contracts with Chainalysis for German federal agencies, which directly advertises its software for the use of asset seizures.
Questions on the use of mixers to conceal criminal activity were classified as secret citing risks to national security, while the Government responded that the German FIU and customs had received merely 27,000 reports regarding crytocurrency transactions on suspicion of money laundering between 2020-2024, compared to over 280,000 suspicious transaction reports overall in the year 2020 alone.
Full story:
https://www.therage.co/german-interior-ministry-dodges-questions-on-chain-analysis-software-mixer-risks/

2024-09-19 11:22:12 GMT

First they came for Bitcoin projects funding aid in Palestine, and I did not speak out, because I was not Palestinian.

2024-09-19 11:20:24 GMT

Geyser Fund has shut down the crowdfunding project Bitcoin for Palestine, citing regulatory uncertainty.
Let this be your reminder that you cannot code faster than the state can invoke arbitrary penalties. Permissionless money is under massive threat by the global AML regime. It's time to wake up.
Full story:
https://www.therage.co/geyser-bitcoin-for-palestine/

2024-09-13 21:19:42 GMT

A Kraken spokesperson has issued a correction of statements made by Kraken Support attributing the halting of Lightning Network support for German clients to regulatory changes. Updated story 👇
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https://www.therage.co/kraken-germany-lightning-support/

2024-08-28 15:08:46 GMT

I have been chasing this story since October 2023.
I spoke to sources in Gaza whose Binance accounts had been frozen – The addresses they provided were not listed in Israel's official seizure orders.
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I was then put in touch with Turkish and Saudi Arabian nationals whose Binance accounts were frozen, who were allegedly told to contact Israeli police.
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The claim that Binance is freezing all Palestinian accounts, to my knowledge, is not correct. And this is what kept the story from being published.
Palestinians in the Westbank appear to be unaffected, while Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were only affected so long they had a certain balance in their account. But we couldn't figure out what that threshold was, as communication into Gaza was effectively cut off.
So I reached out to other news outlets hoping that I'd get help investigating the story. I reached out to CoinDesk editor in chief Kevin Reynolds, both via email and on the personal phone number he gave me – and got ghosted.
I reached out to Forbes, who were initially interested in the story, but Forbes refused to let me publish under my pseudonym.
Just recently I reached out to Bennet Tomlin
and Cas Piancey of Protos and got ghosted there too.
In November 2023, a journalist from Reuters contacted my source to write about the account seizures, but dropped the story as well.
Binance owes us an explanation under what legal framework it seizes the accounts of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip not listed in official seizure orders, and under what legal framework it seizes the accounts of foreign nationals on behalf of the Israeli government.
#note17en…8f89