@ db39407c:a36c161e

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@ 6d8e2a24:5faaca4c

Sam Adeyemo

Apr 2, 2025 at 5:43 PM

Updated: May 8, 2025 at 1:08 PM

Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Investments and Securities Act 2025, officially recognizing crypto assets and placing them under the Nigerian SEC.

Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has signed the Investments and Securities Act 2025 into law, making its provisions officially enforceable.

The act now classifies digital assets and cryptocurrencies as securities, bringing them under the regulation of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The details

*According to reports, the SEC announced the development last Saturday, adding that the act supersedes the previous ISA 2007 Act.*

*The new act, apart from granting legal recognition to cryptocurrencies, also expands the definition of securities to include investment contracts.*

*This expansion grants the SEC regulatory authority over crypto exchanges and other virtual asset service providers and ensures that their activities are governed by the regulator’s provisions.*

*In addition, the act put forward stricter penalties for Ponzi schemes and their operators, many of whom have used crypto to run their scams in recent years.*

Key quotes

• The director-general of the SEC, Emomotimi Agama commented:

*“The ISA 2024 reflects our commitment to building a dynamic, inclusive and resilient capital market. By addressing regulatory gaps and introducing forward-looking provisions, the new Act empowers SEC to foster innovation, protect investors more efficiently and reposition Nigeria as a competitive destination for local and foreign investments."*

Why this matters

*Regulations around digital assets in Nigeria have begun to pick up pace in recent years with the SEC leading the country’s crypto regulatory drive.*

*In February, Mariblock reported that the SEC was working on revising existing regulations to allow for the taxation of crypto assetsin a revenue generation move.*

*The SEC wanted to expand its licensing > framework to allow Nigerians to trade on centralized exchanges where transactions can be easily monitored for tax purposes.*

*It is unclear if the proposed amendments on crypto taxation are included in the just-assented ISA 2024.*

Before now

*In 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria permitted local banks to serve virtual assets service providersbut only if they are licensed by the SEC.*

*Midway through last year, the SEC started its regulatory drive. It expanded its accelerated regulatory incubation program (ARIP) to include digital assets and allow virtual assets service providers (VASPS) to registerand operate within the sandbox.*

*The move, meant to fast-track the onboarding process for VASPs, culminated in two local exchanges — Busha and Quidax — receiving provisional licenses to operate in the country.*

https://www.mariblock.com/nigerias-president-signs-bill-recognizing-digital-assets-into-law/#:~:text=Nigeria's%20President%2C%20Bola%20Ahmed%20Tinubu,and%20Exchange%20Commission%20(SEC).

@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Ein Kind schweigt nicht aus Höflichkeit. Es hört bloß Dinge, die Erwachsene längst verlernt haben zu hören.

2. Das System gibt dir einen Namen, damit du vergisst, wer du vorher warst.

3. Liebe ist nicht das Gegenteil von Angst. Sie ist nur deren zärtlichste Form.

4. Manche Wahrheiten tragen Masken – nicht, um zu lügen, sondern um nicht zerschlagen zu werden.

5. Ein Kind versteht die Welt nicht weniger. Es sieht sie nur ohne die Lügen, mit denen wir sie uns erklären.

6. Die Erinnerung ist ein Dieb, der sanft stiehlt und erst später das Gewicht seiner Beute offenbart.

7. Man flieht nicht vor dem Käfig. Man flieht vor dem eigenen Wunsch, darin bleiben zu dürfen.

8. Wo Worte enden, beginnt nicht die Stille, sondern das, was wir nicht zu denken wagen.

9. Ein System überlebt nicht durch Kontrolle, sondern durch den Glauben, es sei nötig.

10. Die Zeit heilt nichts. Sie deckt nur zu, was niemand mehr sehen will.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Was man nicht selbst trägt, trägt einen am Ende zu Boden.

2. Erinnerungen sind Splitter eines Spiegels, der zerbrach. Sie schneiden dich, während du dein Gesicht in ihnen suchst.

3. Jede Berührung trägt den Abdruck der Vergänglichkeit. Selbst die zärtlichste ist nur ein Schatten.

4. Was ist die Grenze zwischen dem, was wir nennen, und dem, was wir nie sagen?

5. Fragen sind die Flügel eines Vogels, der nie den Himmel berührt.

6. Wir nennen es Familie. Aber manchmal ist es nur eine Geschichte, die keiner mehr zu Ende erzählen will.

7. Ein Kind, das fragt, bringt das System ins Wanken. Nicht durch die Antwort, sondern durch das Fragen selbst.

8. Je lauter die Behauptung, desto größer die Vorsicht.

9. Das Nichts ist der heimliche Gott, der im Zerfall des Seins thront.

10. Stille fließt durch uns, als wäre sie immer schon gewesen. Wir sind die Frage, die nie die Antwort findet.

@ 4d2ae391:8ab9bc34

Test

@ 4d2ae391:8ab9bc34

Test

@ c11cf5f8:4928464d

This post may sound like a rant, hope not! Just want you to take a minute and think about our shameless collective behaviors.

In the past few weeks have been framing a simple idea, proposed to @AGORA for adding a V4V tag to be used in the ~AGORA marketplace here on SN. A new way to incentivize this Value 4 Value thing that many keep talking about, and just few actually have the bullish balls to adopts and embrace at 360 degrees. Oh yep, that's cool, it has been implemented in Podcasting 2.0, Nice! So we don't need to think about it anymore, the platform takes care, we trust the Fountain... The worse is that this approach has been taken like an invitation for people to create contentless podcasts, AI music is booming... Why? Because they know is profitable and effortless (kind of...) but if you are lucky with your phone camera repeatedly streaming on YT, you can maybe be able to entertain enough fans and start to be paid for it. Our values are misleading us, we don't do stuff because we aim to create some kind valuable, we do it mostly because it is easily profitable.

But what about adopting it in our daily life? Making it a way to live by, instead just a platform implementation? How we can change the currently widespread disease of fiat mentality? How can we find ways to create a circular economy that has its fundamentals on other values? Does need profit always be in the first place or can we define value in non-monetary terms? Does this hourly rate really reflect the value you provide? Can we really place a value in the seconds of this precious lifespan we have? Time is money? Money is Time? really?

Would we live one day in a word where there is so much abundance that it will be meaningless to associate numbers with stuff we do? A time when resources will be equally available to all, energy endlessly provided following Tesla standards—Nikola Tesla, not Elon's Tesla—like the air we are now breading? Are we ready to drop and unlearn all the behaviors we have been indoctrinated with since birth, with something that can benefit the entire world population instead of just ourselves or the few around us?

These are the questions that have been bothering me since a long time. I'd like some responses. It's this Value for Value thing, then, just a new fancy word to define voluntarism? A way to give without expecting nothing back? a bunch of people, ones can profit from? Or is Value4Value just a marketing strategy to access bitcoiners and nostriches zaps? Because that what it looks to me when most of us approach this idea. Let's join nostr, people give you zaps... Come to SN, you can earn sats! 💡sats=money, fiat money, I can pay bills with... sure lets' do it! If someone can gimme gimme money just for a comment and GMs... obviously I'll do it and spam everyone in the network with dummy, unfollowed unread two-letters acronym and get my daily satstash to grow. What about quality content? What about creating and spreading Value?

Honor

Trust

Credibility

Faith

Morality

Compassion

Would be a one simple, beautiful and bright smile enough to compensate all the efforts you invested for years or decades in that alpha, even if it is not yet profitable? Do we really need to go into the NGO compliance hell of asking permission, registering with the local gov to be let alone and do what we love, allowing surveillance and eyesight from entities we don't really care, but we do because is the way that allow us to do what we love), is the way we know.

Buddhism have been embracing something similar for long time, has been thought for millennia uninterruptedly. We still ignoring it, at least in the west. Defined as karma as a unit of measurement to define the good and the bad seeds one accumulate along the multi-life journey. Does karma need to be count? Who keeps the karmaccounting books in order? Only you can, but when your values are misaligned with the community and centered in your selfish ego, then you are probably keeping the books in dis-order then. So, how one can evaluate if we are doing right or wrong... considering there's no right or wrong, how one then can know if what has been done, what is doing and what will be done as consequence of today decision will be aligned with good values? What are good values?

Natural Law provides us an inalienable framework where objective moral truths, rooted in human nature and discerned through reason, guide ethical behavior and honest governance. It defines simple values anyone already knows and rules that we take so granted, that we ignore. Or maybe we just don't think about them when acting, privately and publicly.

These few simple value and rules, that if considered when taking action ensure us good outcomes will be, not guaranteed, but at least scheduled to be delivered. We just don't know when thought, can be in this life or in another one... who knows!

https://stacker.news/items/986449

@ fbf0e434:e1be6a39

Hackathon 概要

AI BUIDL Lab: 基于提示工程（Prompt Engineering）在 Rootstock 上构建真实 Web3 应用的黑客松 近日收官，共有 211 名开发者注册并提交 22 个项目。本次活动旨在鼓励开发者借助 AI 驱动的工作流程，在 Rootstock 平台开发 Web3 应用。参与者聚焦三大领域：去中心化金融（DeFi）与支付、商业与零工经济，以及 Web3 身份与声誉体系，通过 AI 技术加速去中心化应用（dApps）的创新迭代。

活动产出丰硕成果，包括去中心化金融解决方案、AI 增强型身份管理系统等，凸显了 AI 与 Web3 集成的潜力。赛事奖金池包含 1.5 万美元的 RIF 代币，用于奖励在创意性和技术执行力方面表现突出的顶尖项目。

本次黑客松不仅印证了 AI 在简化去中心化应用开发中的价值，也展现了 Web3 生态系统的进阶成果。活动与 thirdweb、Alchemy 及 RootstockLabs 的合作，为开发者高效参与及产出创新项目提供了有力支持。

Hackathon 获奖者

DeFi 和支付奖项得主

• ProtectedPay_Rootstock：一个在 CrossFi 链上的 DeFi 平台，通过先进的区块链功能促进安全转账、群体支付和智能储蓄。
• AIFi: AI-Powered DeFi Hub on Rootstock：利用 AI 提供汇款、信用评分和用户界面改善，提高拉丁美洲的金融可访问性。

商业和零工经济奖项得主

• SwipeGig：一个利用区块链和 AI 连接自由职业者和客户的去中心化人才市场，确保安全交易。
• HireStamp：使用 AI 评分的凭证进行简历验证，将信誉锚定于比特币的安全基础设施。

Web3 中的身份和声誉奖项得主

• AgenticID：提供自我主权身份验证，结合区块链和 AI，使用零知识证明进行安全的用户认证。
• TrustScan：使用 AI 分析 Rootstock 上的钱包活动，生成信誉和身份评分，加强信任。

赏金最佳 AI 提示使用

• AuditFi_Rootstock：提供 AI 驱动的智能合约安全审计，通过链上验证增强透明度和信任。
• RSK Smart Yield Engine：一个 AI 驱动的 DeFi 协议收益优化器，通过智能合约和 AI 管理资金和制定策略。

有关所有项目的更多信息，请访问 DoraHacks。

关于组织者

Rootstock

Rootstock - 比特币 DeFi 层 - 专注于将比特币强大的网络与以太坊的智能合约功能相结合，提升区块链的互操作性。Rootstock 以技术专长著称，已经创建了一个支持去中心化金融应用的平台。该组织致力于通过扩展在金融服务中智能合约的可访问性和功能性来推动区块链领域的创新。

@ 7459d333:f207289b

CC: Martti Malmi

https://stacker.news/items/986445

@ fbf0e434:e1be6a39

Hackathon 概要

JAMHacks 9 于 2025 年 5 月 16 日至 18 日在滑铁卢大学举办。作为 JAMHacks 系列的第九届黑客松，该活动汇聚了 170 名高中黑客爱好者，最终评审通过 49 个项目，充分彰显了年轻开发者的技术实力。此次黑客松旨在为高中生打造培育成长的平台，搭配工作坊与互动活动，助力提升技术能力并拓展社交网络。

参与者带来了丰富的项目成果：基于 Pico-8 的创意开发、运用 MongoDB Atlas 的创新应用，以及展示新兴技术应用的生成式 AI 模型项目。活动设置多个奖项类别，包括最佳新手项目、最佳开发者工具、生成式 AI 最佳应用等。奖品涵盖智能手表、无人机、QuillBot 连帽衫，以及其他黑客松的参赛资格。

除技术成果外，JAMHacks 9 同样注重营造趣味互动体验，特别举办扑克之夜、社交派对等活动。此次黑客松成功为年轻开发者搭建了技能提升、创意孵化与专业联结的平台，切实践行其推动科技行业包容性与可及性的愿景。

Hackathon 获奖者

总奖项获奖者

• Mr. Goose：一个有趣的VS Code扩展，为初学者提供提示和鼓励，促进学习而不直接解决问题。
• Guideline：一个基于AR的工具，通过增强现实引导初学电子爱好者进行面包板组装。
• ARmatica：将2D硬件示意图转换为3D AR模型，通过改进可视化增强工程和原型设计过程。

初学者赛道奖项获奖者

• Duedle：一个任务管理应用，利用AI将大型任务分解为可管理的小任务，并提供进度跟踪以提高生产力。

单人赛道奖项获奖者

• Lofied：一个Python应用程序，将Spotify播放列表变为lo-fi版本，具有音乐分离和乐谱生成功能。

女性赛道奖项获奖者

• Doomlings：结合游戏化和教育任务，通过战斗游戏界面提高学生的学习和参与。

Warp 赛道奖项获奖者

• Mr. Goose

Hack Canada 赛道奖项获奖者

• Dionysus：一个用于组织协作活动和参与的平台，提供实时活动管理的统一界面。

MLH 赛道奖项获奖者

• Karma：一个记录和分享积极行动的社交平台，促进自我提升和环境保护，以鼓励社区参与。
• helpidontknowhowtonetworkin.tech：一个使用面部识别和LinkedIn数据的AI驱动网络助手，帮助在活动中建立专业联系。
• SnapCAD：从图像或图纸生成可定制的3D模型，简化工程项目的集成。

PEX Labs 奖项获奖者

• Arctic Explorer：一个Pico-8开放世界游戏，通过探索北极环境促进可持续实践，可以扩展附加小游戏和地图。

查看所有项目 JAMHacks 9。

关于组织者

JAMHacks

JAMHacks 在科技和区块链领域因促进技术爱好者之间的创新与合作而备受认可。该组织擅长举办Hackathon，为开发现实世界挑战的实际解决方案提供了一个平台。JAMHacks 聚焦于技术赋权，已组织多场活动，吸引了来自不同背景的参与者。他们的倡议强调技术技能发展和网络拓展，充分体现了他们致力于推进技术教育和培养一个包容的社区，为有抱负的技术人员和开发者服务。

@ 2b24a1fa:17750f64

Es ist pure Freiheit, Geschwindigkeit durch die eigene Kraft oder Bergab-Beschleunigung zu spüren. Kein störendes Motorengeräusch, das auch noch das ökologische Gewissen aufruft. Einfach nur Sein, an der Luft, im Wind. Wenn da doch nur … keine Ampel wäre.

Hören Sie den Beitrag „Ja oder ja – Begegnung mit der Staatsmacht, von Isa Mitza.

https://soundcloud.com/radiomuenchen/ja-oder-ja-begegnung-mit-der-staatsmacht-von-isa-mitza?

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

Legal developments show that prosecutors may have concealed evidence in the case against the Tornado Cash mixer.

The legal case involving the Tornado Cash mixer may be at a turning point. Roman Storm’s legal team, one of the platform’s developers, has asked the court to reconsider the motion to dismiss the case, arguing that the prosecution deliberately withheld evidence favorable to the defense. These documents, originating from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and dating back to 2023, would demonstrate that non-custodial cryptocurrency mixers like Tornado Cash do not fall under the legal definition of a “money transmitting business.”

According to a letter dated May 16 addressed to Judge Katherine Polk Failla, prosecutors were aware of FinCEN’s guidelines on cryptocurrency mixers but nonetheless proceeded with charges against the developers of both Samourai Wallet and Tornado Cash. The prosecution denies having withheld evidence, claiming it provided the FinCEN communications within the established deadlines during the discovery phase.

Source: Court Listener

Similarities with the Samourai Wallet case

Storm’s defense team cited the same legal documents and arguments presented by the attorneys for the Samourai Wallet developers in a legal letter dated May 5. The attorneys wrote:

“The disclosures in the Samourai case reveal that the government, at the very least, played fast and loose and, at worst, affirmatively misled this Court with its arguments about FinCEN guidance when responding to the motions to dismiss and to compel discovery.”

Although on April 28, federal judge Robert Pitman issued a ruling denying the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) the ability to reimpose sanctions on Tornado Cash — setting a legal precedent for cases involving non-custodial mixers — federal prosecutors are nonetheless moving forward with the case against Storm, albeit with modified charges.

The post Tornado Cash case: new evidence reveals potential procedural misconduct appeared first on Atlas21.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Ein Riss teilt nicht. Er erinnert nur daran, dass da einmal etwas ganz war.

2. Die Stille spricht lauter als jedes Wort, das ich nicht zu sagen wagte. Und jedes gesprochene klingt wie ein Verrat.

3. Ich suche mich in den Zwischenräumen der Dinge, weil ich dort zuletzt war, bevor ich jemand wurde.

4. In der Reflexion erkenne ich nicht mich, sondern das Verschwinden eines Gedankens, den ich einmal „Ich“ genannt habe.

5. Wenn ich falle, dann nicht nach unten, sondern nach innen. Und da ist nichts, außer dem, was ich nicht geworden bin.

6. Ich bin kein Fragment. Ich bin der Moment, in dem etwas in Fragmente zerfällt.

7. Was von mir bleibt, ist das, was ich nicht zeigen konnte.

8. Ich war nie dort, wo ich war. Nur meine Abwesenheit hat Spuren hinterlassen.

9. Vielleicht bin ich nur das Zittern einer Erinnerung, das sich für eine Gegenwart hält.

10. Ich gehe nicht verloren. Ich löse mich nur langsam aus dem Zusammenhang.

@ 662f9bff:8960f6b2

This past week I have been very busy in Holywood - just outside Belfast, Northern Ireland with a lot to do on top of my day-job! It was an unplanned trip but mission accomplished and we are off on the road again. I am writing this on my 3h30 Ryanair flight - so even in weeks like this you can find time to reflect quietly and think clearly if you look for it and seize the opportunity.

You might have noticed that I have "rebranded" the website and newsletter as "Letter From ...around the world". This reflects the reality that Hong Kong is not currently the "Asia World City" and I am not there. Whether it will ever reclaim that title again and when, or even if I can return remains to be seen. I am deeply saddened that after living 10 fabulous years in HK we had to abandon everything that Saturday night at the end of February.

This is the third time in my life that I have chosen Exit from "Loyalty, Voice or Exit" - (recall issue 09 - On Location).... Expect both Voice and Exit to become increasingly difficult or even unavailable in many jurisdictions. It is time to wake up. Talk to me if you are awake or curious!

One thing I learned back in 2004 on my first businss trip to New York is that "The way you react to a situation determines how you feel about it". This is one of so many insights that I learned from "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Steven Covey. I found the book at 4pm in the afternoon walking around outside my hotel trying to stay up to overcome jet-lag. I got back to the hotel and proceeded to devour the entire book overnight. I had never done that with any book before and I do not think I have done it since. Look out for a full review in an upcoming newsletter.

Thanks to Ali Abdaal for his passionate and insightful review of "Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon - clearly this is something that he has internalised and he does practice what he preaches. Indeed this is a short and easy read with many pictures and simple suggestions - recommended! I did read it on my Kindle and I am enjoying how the highlights automagically sync into Obsidian (see last week's find).

I was also inspired by Ali's How to Start a Youtube Channel explainer. I have been following Ali for about 5 years since he was a student doing these videos in his student room on his iPhone while studying Medicine in Cambridge. His passion for sharing his insights on how to study effectively as well as facilitating the learning that medical students needed to do enabled him to set up his own businesss. This set him on the road to his current 3 million subscribers and a business employing over a dozen people inspiring and helping others to acquire skills that are increasingly valuable in the the world today and going forward.

Over the coming months I will be experimenting with different channels and different media not only to discover new insights for myself but also to share things that I distill and find interesting. Also somewhat loosely inspired by "How to Get What you want and Want What You Have" by Jon Gray, I do recognize that I am now in the latter of the "Ten Time Periods" - if I had to pick one, I would say number 8 - at least that is how I feel!

So do subscribe to the newsletter and do follow along on Youtube. I'm obviously still in stage 1 of Ali's 3-stage process - so be patient and do give feedback, questions and suggestions!

Another day - another Airport...

That's it!

No one can be told what The Matrix is.\ You have to see it for yourself.**

Do share this newsletter with any of your friends and family who might be interested.

You can also email me at: LetterFrom@rogerprice.me

💡Enjoy the newsletters in your own language : Dutch, French, German, Serbian, Chinese Traditional & Simplified, Thai and Burmese.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

„Die Welt folgt keiner Moral, nur der Logik der Macht. Wer an Ideale glaubt, handelt gegen die Natur.“

– aufgeschnappt zwischen Start und Ziel in einem endlosen Kreisverkehr

Der Mensch baut Städte, hebt Staaten aus der Taufe, erfindet Maschinen und stürzt sich in den Weltraum. Doch sein moralischer Horizont bleibt eng und eingeschränkt durch egoistische Triebe und ökonomische Begierden. Kriege, Armut, ökologische Verwüstung und soziale Ungleichheit sind nach wie vor prägende Konstanten des globalen Systems. Inmitten dieses widersprüchlichen Gefüges erhebt sich die zentrale Frage: Was ist der Sinn und Zweck menschlicher Existenz im größeren Zusammenhang des Lebens auf diesem Planeten? Und inwiefern ist unser aktuelles System — insbesondere das Geldsystem — nicht nur Teil des Problems, sondern strukturell dessen Wurzel?

Moral ist in einer Welt der Konkurrenz nicht nur wirkungslos, sondern ein Hemmschuh für den individuellen Erfolg. Statt im Einklang mit den natürlichen Gegebenheiten eine gewaltfreie, gerechte Welt aufzubauen, hat der Mensch Systeme erschaffen, die Ausbeutung, Konkurrenz und Leid systematisch belohnen. Die Frage nach einer neuen Ordnung wird nicht als moralisches Projekt formuliert, sondern als Frage nach der Überlebensstrategie im Kontext eines anarchischen Marktes. Im Zentrum steht die Überlegung, ob eine radikale Entmoralisierung und die Etablierung eines deflationären Wertspeichers wie Bitcoin einen strukturellen Hebel für eine solche Transformation darstellen könnte.

Der Mensch, dieses Wesen der Vernunft, bleibt ein Tier der Triebe. Die Aufklärung wollte ihn zähmen, ihn in den Käfig der Rationalität sperren und zur Moral erziehen. Doch die Vernunft hat nicht zur Weisheit geführt, sondern zur Effizienzsteigerung von Grausamkeit und Zerstörung. Kant glaubte an die Autonomie der praktischen Vernunft, als könnte der Mensch die moralische Verpflichtung aus sich selbst heraus gebären. Doch die Geschichte zeigt: Wer moralisch handelt, verliert. Die Moral ist ein Instrument der Schwachen, eine Illusion der Ohnmächtigen.

Im anthropologischen Grundproblem offenbart sich der Kern der gegenwärtigen Krise: Der Mensch kann die Welt formen, aber ihm fehlt der Wille, diese Macht zu seinem Vorteil zu nutzen. Die Welt ist ein Krieg aller gegen alle, und wer nach moralischen Prinzipien handelt, wird zermalmt. Technik und Wissenschaft sind Waffen, nicht Werkzeuge. Die Zivilisation hat sich von der Weisheit des Seins abgekoppelt und ist zu einem unaufhörlichen Machbarkeitswahn geworden. Moral wird in diesem System zur Schwäche, zur Selbstaufgabe. Der Starke handelt nicht moralisch — er handelt effektiv.

Das Fiat-Geldsystem ist keine bloße finanzielle Architektur — es ist die ontologische Verankerung von Kontrolle. Es schafft einen permanenten Wachstumsdruck, weil es auf endloser Geldvermehrung beruht. Inflation ist nicht nur eine ökonomische Tatsache, sondern ein struktureller Zwang zur Ausbeutung. Jedes neu geschaffene Geld ist eine Schuld, und diese Schuld muss getilgt werden, indem Ressourcen geplündert, Arbeiter ausgepresst und Natur zerstört werden.

In dieser Ordnung wird Gier rationalisiert und Mitgefühl pathologisiert. Unternehmen, die ökologische Nachhaltigkeit und soziale Fairness priorisieren, sind systematisch benachteiligt. Wer sich der Logik des permanenten Wachstums verweigert, wird ökonomisch sanktioniert. Fiat-Geld ist somit nicht nur ein monetäres Instrument, sondern ein moralischer Käfig, der den Menschen zur Einhaltung eines Systems zwingt, das er nicht kontrolliert. In einer Welt, die dem Geld huldigt, wird Moral zu einem Luxus, den sich nur die Schwachen leisten können. Der Starke lässt die Moral fallen und nutzt die Struktur zu seinem Vorteil.

Bitcoin ist mehr als ein technologisches Artefakt — es ist die Negation des Fiat-Geldsystems. In einer Welt, in der Fiat-Geld Inflation erzwingt, ist Bitcoin deflationär. Es schafft keine Schulden, sondern belohnt Sparsamkeit und langfristiges Denken. Doch Bitcoin ist kein moralisches Subjekt. Es ist ein Werkzeug der Entmoralisierung, ein System, das sich dem Zugriff von Staaten und Institutionen entzieht. Es setzt den Einzelnen in die Lage, sich der inflationären Logik zu entziehen und seine Ressourcen zu sichern.

In einer Bitcoin-basierten Ökonomie wird die Zeit nicht mehr durch den Zins entwertet, sondern aufgewertet. Konsum ist keine Pflicht mehr, sondern eine Wahl. Die Spirale des Wachstumszwangs wird durchbrochen, und der Mensch kann seine Energie nicht nur der Produktion widmen, sondern der Selbstbestimmung. Bitcoin könnte als struktureller Anreiz dienen, um den Menschen aus der Logik der Expansion zu befreien und ihn zur radikalen Selbstermächtigung zurückzuführen. Doch auch hier bleibt die Frage: Reicht ein neues Geldsystem, um ein altes Denken zu überwinden? Bitcoin ist eine Möglichkeit zur Selbstermächtigung, aber keine Erlösung. Es bleibt ein Werkzeug in den Händen derer, die bereit sind, ihre Ideale fallen zu lassen und die Realität zu akzeptieren.

Die kapitalistische Logik des ewigen Wachstums zwingt zur Selbstoptimierung, zur Selbstausbeutung, zur Selbstzerstörung. Doch was wäre, wenn der Mensch die Moral fallen ließe? Wenn er die Natur nicht als Ressource, sondern als neutrale Machtstruktur betrachten würde? In einer Welt, in der Bitcoin zur normativen Grundlage des Geldsystems würde, könnte die Wirtschaft entschleunigt, die Zeit zurückgewonnen und das Leben wieder als strategisches Spiel anerkannt werden.

Albert Schweitzers „Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben“ ist ein moralisches Gebot, doch in einer anarchischen Ordnung ist Moral ein Zeichen der Schwäche. Der Mensch kann wählen: Entweder er beutet weiter aus und maximiert seinen Vorteil — oder er verweigert sich und geht unter. Diese Entscheidung ist nicht ethischer, sondern pragmatischer Natur. Bitcoin könnte ein struktureller Hebel sein, um diesen Paradigmenwechsel zu erleichtern. Doch der eigentliche Wandel muss im Inneren des Menschen beginnen: in der Bereitschaft, die Welt nicht mehr moralisch, sondern strategisch zu betrachten.

Eine neue Zivilisation entsteht nicht aus Moral, sondern aus Macht. Was braucht der Mensch, um sich aus der Knechtschaft des Fiat-Systems zu befreien? Strukturelle Reformen:

• Ein Bildungssystem der Entmoralisierung, das nicht Leistung und Effizienz, sondern strategisches Denken und Selbstermächtigung in den Mittelpunkt stellt.

• Eine Wirtschaft des Verzichts, die nicht auf Konsummaximierung, sondern auf Ressourcenakkumulation und Kontrolle basiert.

• Eine Politik der globalen Konkurrenz, die nicht auf Gleichheit abzielt, sondern auf individuelle Unabhängigkeit und Machtanhäufung.

• Ein neues Geldsystem, das nicht auf Schuld basiert, sondern auf Wert. Bitcoin könnte ein Instrument sein, um diese Umkehr zu ermöglichen — für diejenigen, die bereit sind, moralische Illusionen abzulegen.

Dieser Wandel ist kein utopisches Projekt. Es ist eine strategische Notwendigkeit. Die Welt hat ihre Grenzen erreicht, und der Mensch muss lernen, in diesen Grenzen zu manövrieren. Es geht nicht um Gerechtigkeit, sondern um Überleben; nicht um Moral, sondern um Macht.

Die Botschaft ist klar: Der Mensch hat sich in der Illusion des Fortschritts verloren. Er hat seine Macht gesteigert, doch seine Weisheit nicht vertieft. Er hat die Welt in Zahlen vermessen, aber den Wert des Lebens nicht verstanden. Der Fortschritt war echt, aber nicht weise.

Die Umkehr beginnt nicht mit einer neuen Technologie oder einem neuen Geldsystem, sondern mit einem neuen Denken. Bitcoin könnte ein Werkzeug sein, um den Menschen aus der Logik der Expansion zu befreien. Doch es bleibt ein Werkzeug. Es wird zur Gefahr, wenn es als moralisches Projekt missverstanden wird.

Wenn der Mensch seine Energie, Kreativität und Technik nicht für moralische Illusionen, sondern für strategische Selbstbestimmung einsetzt, kann eine neue Ära beginnen. Eine Ära, in der der Mensch nicht als wirtschaftliches Subjekt, sondern als souveränes Individuum agiert. Diese Umkehr ist keine Utopie, sondern eine Notwendigkeit. Denn solange Geld Zerstörung belohnt, wird die Welt zerstört. Wenn aber Geld wieder ein Mittel der Macht wird, kann eine Welt entstehen, in der der Einzelne seine eigene Ordnung bestimmt.

@ 2a7cc007:ce0cc497

A era digital transformou completamente a forma como as pessoas se divertem, e a plataforma 5542 é um exemplo claro dessa evolução. Com uma proposta inovadora, acessível e repleta de possibilidades, a 5542 vem conquistando milhares de usuários brasileiros que buscam entretenimento seguro, moderno e de alta qualidade.

Desde o primeiro acesso, a 5542 impressiona pela interface intuitiva e pelo seu desempenho fluido tanto em computadores quanto em dispositivos móveis. Isso garante uma experiência agradável para todos os perfis de usuários, desde os mais experientes até os iniciantes no mundo dos jogos online.

Variedade que Encanta Um dos grandes destaques da 5542 é sua ampla gama de opções de jogos. A plataforma oferece títulos que agradam a diferentes gostos e estilos, desde clássicos consagrados até novidades empolgantes. Todos os jogos são desenvolvidos por fornecedores reconhecidos internacionalmente, garantindo gráficos de alta qualidade, trilhas sonoras envolventes e mecânicas de jogo equilibradas.

Jogos de cartas, roletas, slots e modalidades ao vivo com interação em tempo real são apenas alguns dos destaques que fazem parte do portfólio da 5542. Essa diversidade é um dos motivos pelos quais a plataforma se mantém em constante crescimento e atrai cada vez mais usuários em todo o Brasil.

Segurança e Confiabilidade A segurança é um fator primordial na escolha de uma plataforma de entretenimento online, e a 5542 leva isso muito a sério. O site utiliza tecnologia de criptografia de ponta para proteger os dados pessoais e financeiros dos usuários, além de contar com um sistema rigoroso de verificação de identidade, garantindo um ambiente confiável e livre de fraudes.

Além disso, a 5542 é comprometida com o jogo responsável, oferecendo ferramentas para que os usuários possam definir limites de tempo e de gastos. Essa abordagem mostra o compromisso da plataforma com o bem-estar dos seus participantes.

Promoções e Bônus Atrativos Outro diferencial da 5542 são suas promoções constantes e bônus generosos. Desde o momento do cadastro, os usuários já são recebidos com vantagens especiais, como bônus de boas-vindas e giros grátis em jogos selecionados. A plataforma também realiza campanhas temáticas e sorteios com prêmios reais, tornando a experiência ainda mais envolvente e recompensadora.

Essas promoções são atualizadas com frequência e muitas vezes incluem eventos sazonais, o que incentiva os jogadores a retornarem sempre e aproveitarem novas oportunidades.

Suporte de Qualidade e Atendimento em Português Um ponto que merece destaque é o suporte ao cliente da 5542. Disponível em português e com atendimento 24 horas por dia, a equipe está sempre pronta para ajudar os usuários com dúvidas, problemas técnicos ou qualquer necessidade. Esse suporte eficiente e humanizado faz toda a diferença, especialmente para quem está começando.

Conclusão A plataforma 5542 se estabelece como uma das líderes no mercado de entretenimento digital no Brasil. Sua combinação de tecnologia de ponta, variedade de jogos, promoções generosas e compromisso com a segurança oferece uma experiência completa para quem busca diversão online com praticidade e confiabilidade.

Se você está em busca de uma plataforma moderna, segura e cheia de opções envolventes, a 5542 é a escolha certa. Explore, jogue e aproveite uma nova forma de se divertir, tudo isso sem sair de casa.

@ cefb08d1:f419beff

https://stacker.news/items/986402

@ 2a7cc007:ce0cc497

Nos últimos anos, o entretenimento online cresceu exponencialmente no Brasil, e plataformas como a 755bet vêm se destacando por oferecer uma experiência completa, segura e repleta de diversão. Com um catálogo variado de jogos, bônus atrativos e suporte eficiente, a 755bet vem conquistando a preferência de jogadores iniciantes e experientes em todo o país.

Interface Moderna e Navegação Intuitiva Uma das grandes vantagens da 755bet é sua interface moderna e amigável. Desde o primeiro acesso, é fácil perceber o cuidado com o design da plataforma. Os menus são bem organizados, facilitando a navegação mesmo para quem não tem muita familiaridade com esse tipo de ambiente. Tudo está a poucos cliques de distância: jogos ao vivo, apostas esportivas, promoções e muito mais.

Variedade de Jogos para Todos os Gostos A diversidade de jogos é um dos pontos fortes da 755bet. Os usuários encontram uma enorme gama de opções que vão desde jogos de cartas clássicos até modalidades mais modernas e dinâmicas, com gráficos de alta qualidade e mecânicas envolventes. A plataforma trabalha com desenvolvedores renomados do setor, garantindo sempre a melhor experiência visual e sonora.

Além disso, há também uma seção dedicada às apostas esportivas, onde os usuários podem apostar em eventos nacionais e internacionais, incluindo futebol, basquete, tênis, e-sports e muito mais. Essa variedade agrada tanto os fãs de esportes quanto aqueles que procuram uma alternativa de diversão com um toque estratégico.

Bônus e Promoções Exclusivas Outro grande atrativo da 755bet são os bônus oferecidos para novos e antigos usuários. Logo ao se cadastrar, o jogador já pode aproveitar ofertas de boas-vindas bastante competitivas. Mas o diferencial está nas promoções constantes para quem já é cliente, incluindo bônus de recarga, cashback, giros grátis e desafios especiais que tornam a experiência ainda mais empolgante.

Esses incentivos são uma forma eficaz de manter os usuários engajados e motivados, oferecendo mais oportunidades de explorar os jogos e, quem sabe, conseguir boas recompensas.

Segurança e Suporte ao Usuário A 755bet preza muito pela segurança de seus usuários. A plataforma utiliza criptografia de dados e outros protocolos de proteção para garantir que todas as informações estejam sempre seguras. Além disso, os métodos de pagamento são variados e confiáveis, incluindo opções populares no Brasil como Pix, boleto bancário, transferência e carteiras digitais.

Outro ponto que merece destaque é o suporte ao cliente. A equipe de atendimento está disponível 24 horas por dia, sete dias por semana, por meio de chat ao vivo e e-mail. O suporte é eficiente, cordial e preparado para resolver qualquer dúvida ou dificuldade rapidamente.

Acesso Fácil em Qualquer Dispositivo Com o avanço da tecnologia móvel, é essencial que uma plataforma esteja otimizada para smartphones e tablets. A 755bet entende isso e oferece uma experiência fluida tanto na versão desktop quanto no mobile. Seja no Android ou iOS, os usuários podem acessar a plataforma de qualquer lugar, a qualquer hora, com a mesma qualidade.

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

The exchange, which collapsed in 2022, will distribute $5 billion to creditors starting May 30.

On May 30, FTX will begin the second phase of repayments, delivering over $5 billion to eligible creditors. According to the official announcement, payments will be processed through two main providers: BitGo and Kraken.

Creditors can expect to receive their funds within a relatively short period — from one to three business days after the distribution begins. This second round focuses on creditors with claims over $50,000, following the first repayment phase launched in February for smaller claims.

John Ray III, current CEO of FTX, has allocated about $11.4 billion for customer repayments. Creditors will receive amounts calculated based on the value of crypto assets at the time of the bankruptcy filing (November 2022).

Variable repayment percentages

The distribution plan foresees differentiated payout rates based on the various categories of claims:

• Dotcom customer claims will receive 72%;
• U.S. customer claims will get 54%;
• General unsecured claims and claims from digital asset loans will each receive 61%;
• Convenience class claims will see a 120% repayment.

“These initial distributions to non-convenience classes mark a significant milestone for FTX,” stated the exchange’s CEO.

Requirements to claim repayments

To receive payments, creditors must complete several mandatory steps:

• Log into the FTX Customer Portal;
• Complete KYC (Know Your Customer) verification;
• Submit the required tax forms;
• Complete onboarding with BitGo or Kraken.

The post FTX: over $5 billion ready for creditors in second repayment phase appeared first on Atlas21.

@ 21335073:a244b1ad

The other day, I had the privilege of sitting down with one of my favorite living artists. Our conversation was so captivating that I felt compelled to share it. I’m leaving his name out for privacy.

Since our last meeting, I’d watched a documentary about his life, one he’d helped create. I told him how much I admired his openness in it. There’s something strange about knowing intimate details of someone’s life when they know so little about yours—it’s almost like I knew him too well for the kind of relationship we have.

He paused, then said quietly, with a shy grin, that watching the documentary made him realize how “odd and eccentric” he is. I laughed and told him he’s probably the sanest person I know. Because he’s lived fully, chasing love, passion, and purpose with hardly any regrets. He’s truly lived.

Today, I turn 44, and I’ll admit I’m a bit eccentric myself. I think I came into the world this way. I’ve made mistakes along the way, but I carry few regrets. Every misstep taught me something. And as I age, I’m not interested in blending in with the world—I’ll probably just lean further into my own brand of “weird.” I want to live life to the brim. The older I get, the more I see that the “normal” folks often seem less grounded than the eccentric artists who dare to live boldly. Life’s too short to just exist, actually live.

I’m not saying to be strange just for the sake of it. But I’ve seen what the crowd celebrates, and I’m not impressed. Forge your own path, even if it feels lonely or unpopular at times.

It’s easy to scroll through the news and feel discouraged. But actually, this is one of the most incredible times to be alive! I wake up every day grateful to be here, now. The future is bursting with possibility—I can feel it.

So, to my fellow weirdos on nostr: stay bold. Keep dreaming, keep pushing, no matter what’s trending. Stay wild enough to believe in a free internet for all. Freedom is radical—hold it tight. Live with the soul of an artist and the grit of a fighter. Thanks for inspiring me and so many others to keep hoping. Thank you all for making the last year of my life so special.

@ 866e0139:6a9334e5

Autor: Milosz Matuschek. Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben. Sie finden alle Texte der Friedenstaube und weitere Texte zum Thema Frieden hier. Die neuesten Pareto-Artikel finden Sie auch in unserem Telegram-Kanal.

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Die neuesten Artikel der Friedenstaube gibt es jetzt auch im eigenen Friedenstaube-Telegram-Kanal.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjndTXyk3mw

Im Jahr 1954, als Frankreich gerade dabei war, seine kolonialen Kriege in Indochina und Algerien zu verschärfen, schrieb Boris Vian ein Lied – oder vielmehr: einen poetischen Faustschlag. Le Déserteur ist keine Ballade, sondern ein Manifest. Keine Hymne auf den Frieden, sondern eine Anklage gegen den Krieg. Adressiert an den Präsidenten, beginnt das Chanson wie ein höflicher Brief – und endet als flammender Akt des zivilen Ungehorsams.

„Herr Präsident,\ ich schreibe Ihnen einen Brief,\ den Sie vielleicht lesen werden,\ wenn Sie Zeit haben.“

Was folgt, ist ein klassischer Kriegsdienstverweigerungsbrief, aber eben kein bürokratischer. Vian spricht nicht in Paragraphen, sondern in Herzschlägen. Der Erzähler, ein einfacher Mann, will nicht kämpfen. Nicht für irgendein Vaterland, nicht für irgendeine Fahne, nicht für irgendeinen ideologischen Zweck.

„Ich soll zur Welt gekommen sein,\ um zu leben, nicht um zu sterben.“

70 Jahre später klingt diese Zeile wie ein Skandal. In einer Zeit, in der die Ukraine junge Männer für Kopfgeld auf der Straße zwangsrekrutiert und in Stahlgewitter schickt, in der palästinensische Jugendliche im Gazastreifen unter Trümmern begraben werden, während israelische Reservisten mit Dauerbefehl marschieren – ist Le Déserteur ein sakraler Text geworden. Fast ein Gebet.

„Wenn man mich verfolgt,\ werde ich den Gehorsam verweigern.\ Ich werde keine Waffe in die Hand nehmen,\ ich werde fliehen, bis ich Frieden finde.“

Wie viele „Deserteure“ gibt es heute, die wir gar nicht kennen? Menschen, die sich nicht auf die Seite der Bomben stellen wollen – egal, wer sie wirft? Die sich nicht mehr einspannen lassen zwischen Propaganda und Patriotismus? Die ihre Menschlichkeit über jeden nationalen Befehl stellen?

Der Krieg, sagt Vian, macht aus freien Menschen Befehlsempfänger und aus Söhnen Leichen. Und wer heute sagt, es gebe „gerechte Kriege“, sollte eine Frage beantworten: Ist es auch ein gerechter Tod?

Darum: Verweigert.

Verweigert den Befehl, zu hassen.\ Verweigert den Reflex, Partei zu ergreifen.\ Verweigert den Dienst an der Waffe.

Denn wie Vian singt:

„Sagen Sie's den Leuten:\ Ich werde nicht kommen.“

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LASSEN SIE DER FRIEDENSTAUBE FLÜGEL WACHSEN!

Hier können Sie die Friedenstaube abonnieren und bekommen die Artikel zugesandt.

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Wenn Sie auf anderem Wege beitragen wollen, schreiben Sie die Friedenstaube an: friedenstaube@pareto.space

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Sie sind noch nicht auf Nostr and wollen die volle Erfahrung machen (liken, kommentieren etc.)? Zappen können Sie den Autor auch ohne Nostr-Profil! Erstellen Sie sich einen Account auf Start. Weitere Onboarding-Leitfäden gibt es im Pareto-Wiki.

@ f5369849:f34119a0

Hackathon Summary

The AI BUIDL Lab: Use Prompt Engineering to Build Real Web3 Apps on Rootstock recently wrapped up, with registration from 211 developers and the presentation of 22 projects. This hackathon focused on encouraging the development of Web3 applications using AI-driven workflows on Rootstock. Participants engaged in three primary tracks: DeFi and Payments, Commerce and Gig Economy, and Identity and Reputation in Web3. AI was utilized to enhance innovation and speed in the creation of decentralized applications (dApps).

The event yielded notable outcomes such as decentralized finance solutions and AI-enhanced identity management systems, highlighting the integration of AI in Web3. A prize pool of $15,000 USD in RIF Tokens was distributed to top projects, rewarding their creativity and technical execution.

The hackathon underscored AI's potential in streamlining decentralized application development, demonstrating advancements in the Web3 ecosystem. Collaboration with thirdweb, Alchemy, and RootstockLabs supported impactful participation and innovative project outcomes.

Hackathon Winners

DeFi & Payments Prize Winners

• ProtectedPay_Rootstock: A DeFi platform on the CrossFi chain, facilitating secure transfers, group payments, and smart savings via advanced blockchain features.
• AIFi: AI-Powered DeFi Hub on Rootstock: Enhances financial accessibility in Latin America, utilizing AI for remittances, credit scoring, and UI improvements.

Commerce & Gig Economy Prize Winners

• SwipeGig: A decentralized talent marketplace that leverages blockchain and AI to connect freelancers and clients, ensuring secure transactions.
• HireStamp: Uses AI-graded credentials for resume verification, anchoring credibility to Bitcoin's security infrastructure.

Identity & Reputation in Web3 Prize Winners

• AgenticID: Provides self-sovereign identity verification with blockchain and AI, employing zero-knowledge proofs for secure user authentication.
• TrustScan: Analyzes wallet activities on Rootstock using AI to generate reputation and identity scores, enhancing trust.

Bounty Best Use of AI Prompt

• AuditFi_Rootstock: Delivers AI-driven security audits for smart contracts, enhancing transparency and trust through on-chain verification.
• RSK Smart Yield Engine: An AI-powered yield optimizer for DeFi protocols, managing funds and formulating strategies with smart contracts and AI.

For more information on all projects, visit DoraHacks.

Organization

About the Organizer: Rootstock

Rootstock - the Bitcoin DeFi layer - specializes in integrating Bitcoin's robust network with Ethereum's smart contract capabilities, enhancing blockchain interoperability. Known for technical expertise, Rootstock has created a platform supporting decentralized finance applications. The organization is committed to advancing innovation in the blockchain space by expanding the accessibility and functionality of smart contracts within financial services.

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Hackathon Summary

JAMHacks 9 was held from May 16-18, 2025, at the University of Waterloo. As the 9th hackathon in the JAMHacks series, the event brought together 170 high school hackers and resulted in the approval of 49 projects, highlighting the abilities of young developers. The hackathon's objective is to offer a nurturing atmosphere for high school students, supplemented by workshops and activities designed to boost technical skills and networking opportunities.

Participants engaged in projects with creative uses of Pico-8, innovative applications utilizing MongoDB Atlas, and generative AI models illustrating the effects of emerging technologies. The hackathon recognized achievements in categories like Best Beginner Hack, Best Developer Tool, and Best Use of Gen AI. Prizes included smartwatches, drones, QuillBot hoodies, and entries to other hackathons.

Beyond the technical accomplishments, JAMHacks 9 stressed the importance of creating a fun and engaging experience, hosting events like poker nights and social meetups. The hackathon successfully provided a platform for young developers to cultivate skills, generate ideas, and establish professional connections, supporting its vision of inclusivity and accessibility in the tech industry.

Hackathon Winners

Overall Prize Winners

• Mr. Goose: A playful VS Code extension supporting beginners with hints and encouragement, fostering learning without directly solving problems.
• Guideline: An AR-based tool that assists novice electronics enthusiasts with breadboarding by guiding them through assembly using augmented reality.
• ARmatica: Converts 2D hardware schematics into 3D AR models, enhancing engineering and prototyping processes through improved visualization.

Beginner Track Prize Winners

• Duedle: A task management app utilizing AI to break down large tasks into manageable sub-tasks, with progress tracking to boost productivity.

Solo Track Prize Winners

• Lofied: A Python app that transforms Spotify playlists into lo-fi versions, featuring music separation and sheet music generation capabilities.

Female Track Prize Winners

• Doomlings: Combines gamification with educational tasks, motivating students through a battle game interface to enhance learning and engagement.

Warp Track Prize Winners

• Mr. Goose

Hack Canada Track Prize Winners

• Dionysus: A platform for organizing collaborative events and participation, offering a unified interface for real-time event management.

MLH Track Prize Winners

• Karma: A social platform documenting and sharing positive actions, promoting self-improvement and environmental conservation to encourage community engagement.
• helpidontknowhowtonetworkin.tech: An AI-powered networking assistant using face recognition and LinkedIn data to assist in making professional connections at events.
• SnapCAD: Generates customizable 3D models from images or drawings, simplifying integration into engineering projects.

PEX Labs Prize Winners

• Arctic Explorer: A Pico-8 open-world game designed to promote sustainable practices by exploring Arctic environments, scalable with additional mini-games and maps.

View all projects at JAMHacks 9.

Organization Details

About JAMHacks

JAMHacks is recognized in the technology and blockchain sector for promoting innovation and collaboration among tech enthusiasts. The organization is skilled in hosting hackathons that provide a platform for developing practical solutions to real-world challenges. With a focus on technological empowerment, JAMHacks has organized multiple events attracting participants from various backgrounds. Their initiatives emphasize technical skill development and networking, underscoring their dedication to advancing technology education and fostering an inclusive community for aspiring technologists and developers.

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Autor: Jana Moava. Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben. Sie finden alle Texte der Friedenstaube und weitere Texte zum Thema Frieden hier. Die neuesten Pareto-Artikel finden Sie auch in unserem Telegram-Kanal.

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Zwei Worte nur braucht man – und die Sache ist klar. Jeder gebildete Russe kennt diese Worte: sie stammen aus dem XIX. Jahrhundert, als Nikolaus I. die Krim-Kampagne begann und das Zarenreich nach üblen Querelen ganz Europa und die Türkei zum Gegner hatte - allen voran die Herrscher der Weltmeere: das British Empire mit Queen Victoria. Der historische Ausdruck anglitschanka gadit (locker übersetzt: die Engländerin macht Shit) besitzt bis heute verdeckte politische Sprengkraft und ist seit Ende Februar 2022 in Russland wieder populär. Wer auch immer der Urheber dieser im Original durchaus diskreten Benennung des Fäkalvorgangs war: der Ausdruck steht für ernste Konflikte mit dem Englisch sprechenden Westen, dem Erzfeind.

Ein kurzer Blick in die Geschichte mag dies erläutern: Fast alle westlichen Historiker benennen als Auslöser des Krimkrieges Mitte des IX. Jahrhunderts die Verteidigung der russisch-orthodoxen Kirche und deren Zugang zur Kreuzkirche in Jerusalem. Es wird vom letzten Kreuzzug u.a. geschrieben. Das ist eine höchst einseitige Interpretation, denn es ging Nikolaus I. vor allem um den Zugang zum einzigen dauerhaft eisfreien Hafen Russlands im Schwarzen Meer, durch die Meeresenge der Dardanellen ins Mittelmeer. Das ist verständlich, war doch die Eroberung der Krim ab 1783 unter seiner Großmutter Katharina II. aus eben diesem Grunde erfolgt. Damals schon wurde der Hafen Sewastopol zum Stützpunkt der russischen Flotte ausgebaut. 

Ende 1825, nach dem plötzlichen Tod des ältesten Bruders Alexander I., war Nikolaus von seiner Erziehung her auf eine Regentschaft ganz und gar nicht vorbereitet gewesen, doch herrschte er dreißig Jahre lang nicht nur über das russische Reich, sondern auch über Finnland und das damalige Königreich Polen unter russischem Protektorat. Nikolaus I. zeichnete sich von Beginn an durch Gewaltmaßnahmen aus: Als ihm im Dezember (russ. dekabr)1825 eine Gruppe sehr gebildeter, freiheitsliebender junger Adligen aus besten Familien den Eid verweigerte (dies zog als Dekabristenaufstand in die Geschichte ein), ließ er fünf der Rebellen hängen, die anderen schickte er in Fußfesseln nach Sibirien in die Bergwerke. Er gründete die berüchtigte Geheimpolizei Dritte Abteilung, ließ Privatbriefe des Dichters Puschkin öffnen (obwohl dieser „in seiner Gnade stand“) und Historikern ist Nikolaus I. als Gendarm Europas bekannt. Im russischen Volk aber nannte man ihn kurz und bündig: *Nicki Knüppel aus dem Sack (Nikolaschka palkin). *

Leo Tolstoj beschrieb diesen Zaren in seinen Erzählungen über die Kriege im Kaukasus (Hadschi Murat) als feist und fett, mit leblosen, trüben Augen und als berüchtigten Frauenjäger. Tolstoj war es auch, der als junger Teilnehmer im Krimkrieg drei Erzählungen schrieb: Sewastopol im Dezember 1854, im Mai 1855 und im August 1855. Nachdem das British Empire unter Queen Victoria Russland den Krieg erklärt hatte (in Koalition mit Frankreich und Piemont-Sardinien als Schutzmacht des Osmanischen Reiches), entstand der Ausdruck anglitschanka gadit – die Engländerin macht Shit. Bis heute findet man dazu drastische Illustrationen im Netz…

Noch bevor russische Truppen Ende Februar 2022 in die Ukraine marschierten, lebte dieser Ausdruck in Russland wieder auf. Wer hierzulande Interesse an der Wahrheit hat, kann deutliche Parallelen zur damaligen politischen Lage entdecken, auch in Bezug auf die Verhaltensweisen des derzeitigen russischen Staatschefs und des historischen Nicki Knüppel aus dem Sack. Obwohl der amtierende durchaus Anerkennung verdient hat, denn nach dem Zusammenbruch der Sowjetunion in den 1990er Jahren unter Jelzin stellte er die Staatlich-keit des verlotterten, hungernden Landes wieder her und trieb den wirtschaftlichen Aufbau voran. Davon kann ich zeugen, lebte ich doch von 1992 – 2008 vor Ort.

Sicher - heute ist längst bekannt, daß die bereits Ende März 2022 in Istanbul laufenden Friedensverhandlungen zwischen Russland und der Ukraine vom britischen Premier und im Namen des US Präsidenten boykottiert wurden. Daniel Ruch, Schweizer Botschafter a.D., sprach gar von Sabotage! Der deutsche General a. D. Harald Kujat kommentierte damals mit den Worten: „Seit April 2022 gehen alle Kriegsopfer in der Ukraine auf das Konto des Westens!“ Der Ausdruck anglitschanka gadit ist seitdem in Russland wieder geläufig. Nun, brandaktuell, treffen sich die Kriegsparteien wieder in Istanbul: Ausgang ungewiss. Doch wird inzwischen auch von einzelnen westlichen Politikern anerkannt, dass Russland eine neutrale Pufferzone zu den Nato-Staaten verlangt und braucht.

Wenn hierzulande gemutmaßt wird, alle Russen würden den Ukraine-Krieg bejahen, so sollte man zur Kenntnis nehmen, dass derartige Aussagen kaum die wirkliche Überzeugung wiedergeben. Seit den Repressionen unter Stalin, seit in jeder zweiten Familie nahe Angehörige im GULAG einsaßen und umkamen und darüber Jahrzehnte lang geschwiegen werden musste, ist der Wahrheitsgehalt öffentlicher Umfragen getrost zu bezweifeln. Hat man hier etwa vergessen, dass seit 2011 auf eine mächtig wachsende zivile Protestbewegung und riesige Demonstrationen in russischen Großstädten immer schärfere Aktionen von Seiten des Staates erfolgten? Dass Knüppel auf Köpfe und Leiber prasselten, wie zur Zeit Nickis I., und der Polizeiapparat derart wuchs, dass heute das Verhältnis von Bürger und Silowiki (Vertreter der Gewalt)1:1 steht?

Offenbar weiß man hier nicht, dass schon Anfang 2022 von Mitarbeitern in jeder staatlich finanzierten Institution, ob im Bereich von Kultur, Wissenschaft, Forschung oder Lehre die schriftliche Zustimmung zur Spezialoperation mit der Ukraine eingefordert wurde! Eine Weigerung hatte den Verlust des Arbeitsplatzes zur Folge, egal welches Renommée oder welchen Rang der Betroffene besaß! Manche Leiter von staatlichen Institutionen zeigten dabei gehöriges Geschick und zeichneten für alle; andere (z.B. staatliche Theater) riefen jeden Mitarbeiter ins Kontor. Nur wenige Personen, die unter dem persönlichem Schutz des Präsidenten standen, konnten sich dieser Zustimmung zum Krieg entziehen. Wissenschaftler und Künstler emigrierten zuhauf. Berlin ist voll mit Geflohenen aus jenem Land, das kriegerisch ins Bruderland einmarschierte! Aber kann denn jeder emigrieren? Die Alten, Familien mit Kindern? Mit guten Freunden, die dort blieben, ist eine Kommunikation nur verschlüsselt möglich, in Nachrichten wie: die Feuer der Inquisition brennen (jeder, der von der offiziellen Doktrin abweicht, ist gefährdet), Ratten verbreiten Krankheiten bezieht sich auf Denunziationen, die in jeder Diktatur aufblühen, wenn sich jemand dem Schussfeld entziehen möchte und im vorauseilenden Gehorsam den Nachbarn anzeigt. Kennen wir das nicht noch aus unseren hitlerdeutschen 1930er Jahren?!

Je mehr im Reich aller Russen in den letzten Jahren von oben geknebelt und geknüppelt wurde, desto mehr Denunziationen griffen um sich. Junge Menschen, die auf Facebook gegen den Krieg posteten, wurden verhaftet. Seit 2023 sitzen u.a. zwei junge russische Theaterfrauen aufgrund der üblen Denunziation eines Kollegen hinter Gittern. Die Inszenierung der Regisseurin Zhenja Berkowitsch und der Autorin Swetlana Petritschuk erhielt Ende 2022 den höchsten Theaterpreis von ganz Russland, die Goldene Maske. Das Stück Finist (Phönix), klarer Falke ist nach dem Motiv eines russischen Märchens geschrieben, fußt aber auf dokumentarischem Material: es verhandelt die Versuchung junger Frauen, auf Islamisten hereinzufallen und sie aus Frust und falsch verstandener Solidarität zu heiraten. Die Anklage hat den Spieß genau umgedreht: Autorin und Regisseurin wurden des Terrorismus beschuldigt! Das Rechtssystem im Land scheint heute noch vergleichbar mit jenem, das Alexander Puschkin vor über 200 Jahren in seiner Erzählung Dubrowski authentisch beschrieb: Wer die Macht hat, regelt das Recht. Man kann die Erzählung des russischen Robin Hood auch deutsch nachlesen (leider, leider hat Puschkin sie nicht beendet).

Andere, erbaulichere Elemente aus der Zeit Puschkins, bzw. von Nikolaus I., dienen allerdings als Gegengewicht zum Alltag: seit Ende 2007 finden in Moskau und St. Petersburg jeden Winter nach dem Vorbild der historischen Adelsbälle große gesellschaftliche Events statt: Puschkinball, Wiener Opernball, jetzt nur noch Opernball genannt. Der Nachwuchs aus begüterten Familien lernt alte Tanzschritte und feine Sitten. Fort mit dem sowjetischen Schmuddelimage! Prächtige Kostümbälle werden nun zum Abschluss jedes Schuljahres aufgeboten. In stilisierten Kostümen der Zeit Nikolajs I. bzw. Puschkins tanzen Schuldirektoren, Lehrer und junge Absolventen. Der Drang nach altem Glanz und Größe (oder eine notwendige Kompensation?) spiegelt sich im Volk. 

Werfen wir jedoch einen Blick auf einige Geschehnisse in der Ukraine ab 2014, die in unserer Presse immer noch verschwiegen werden:  Im Spätsommer 2022 begegnete ich auf Kreta einer Ukrainerin aus der Nordukraine, die wegen des fürchterlichen Nationalismus nach 2014 ihre Heimat verließ. Sie ist nicht die einzige! Ihre Kinder waren erwachsen und zogen nach Polen, sie aber reiste mit einer Freundin weiter Richtung Griechenland, lernte die Sprache, erwarb die Staatsbürgerschaft und ist nun auf Kreta verheiratet.

Natalia erzählte mir, was bei uns kaum zu lesen ist, was jedoch Reporter wie Patrick Baab oder Historiker wie Daniele Ganser schon lange berichtet haben: 2014, als die Bilder der Proteste auf dem Maidan um die Welt gingen, habe die damalige amerikanische Regierung unter Präsident Biden die Vorgänge in Kiew für einen Putsch genutzt: Janukowitsch, der korrupte, doch demokratisch gewählte Präsident der Ukraine wurde gestürzt, die Ereignisse mit Hilfe von Strohmännern und rechten Nationalisten gelenkt, die mit Geld versorgt wurden. Bis es zum Massaker auf dem Maidan kam, als bewaffnete, ihrer Herkunft nach zunächst nicht identifi-zierbare Schützen (es waren v.a. rechte Nationalisten, so der gebürtige Ukrainer und US Bürger Professor N. Petro und Prof. Ivan Katchanovskij) von den Dächern in die Menge schossen.

Im YouTube Kanal Neutrality Studies konnte man am 17.02.2024 hören: Anlässlich des traurigen 10. Jahrestages des Maidan-Massakers, bei dem am 20. Februar 2014 mehr als 100 Menschen durch Scharfschützenfeuer getötet wurden, spreche ich heute mit Ivan Katchanovski, einem ukrainischen (und kanadischen) Politikwissenschaftler an der Univer-sität von Ottawa, der das Massaker detailliert erforscht hat. Letztes Jahr veröffentlichte er das Papier „Die Maidan-Massaker-Prozess und Untersuchungserkenntnisse: Implikationen für den Krieg zwischen der Ukraine und Russland und die Beziehungen“. Kurz gesagt, das Massaker wurde NICHT von den Kräften Victor Janukowytschs begangen, wie in westlichen Medien berichtet, und es gibt schlüssige Beweise dafür, dass die Schützen Teil des ultra-rechten Flügels der Ukraine waren, die dann nach dem Putsch an die Macht kamen. (Link zum Paper).

Wer erinnert sich hierzulande noch daran, dass 2014 im deutschen öffentlichen  Fernsehen von Hunter Biden, Sohn des US-Präsidenten berichtet wurde, der durch dubiose Gas- und Ölgeschäfte in der Ukraine auffiel? Dass damals im deutschen Fernsehen auch Bilder von Ukrainern mit SS-Stahlhelmen auftauchten? In einer Arte-Reportage zu Hilfs-transporten im März 2022 aus Polen über die Westukraine konnte der aufmerksame Zu-schauer an fast allen Häusern die tiefroten Banner von Anhängern des verstorbenen, in München begrabenen, faschistischen Stepan Bandera erkennen. Ausgesprochen wurde es nicht.

Die neue Kreterin Natalia sprach auch über eine Amerikanerin ukrainischer Herkunft, die Röntgenärztin Uljana Suprun, die aus den USA als Gesundheitsministerin rekrutiert wurde und unter dem amerikafreundlichen Präsidenten Poroschenko von 2016-2019 diesen Posten innehatte. Was bitte sollte eine Röntgenärztin aus den USA auf dem Ministerposten der Ukraine?! Streit und Skandal umgaben sie fast täglich in der RADA, dem ukrainischen Parlament. Es wurde gemunkelt, sie diene als Feigenblatt bei der Herstellung biologischer Waffen. Material zu ihr ist bis heute auf YouTube zu finden. 

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Natalia bezeichnete die ukrainischen Emigrantenkreise in den USA und Kanada zurecht als ultranationalistisch, sie seien Kollaborateure der Nazis bei der Judenvernichtung gewesen und hätten sich nach dem Rückzug der Deutschen rechtzeitig nach Übersee abgesetzt. Das ist wohl bekannt. 

Heute ist das Recherchieren der wahren Geschehnisse von 2014 zwar immer noch mühsam, aber die Wahrheit sickert immer mehr durch, zumal auch Exilukrainer dazu geschrieben und öffentlich gesprochen haben. Die Kanäle SaneVox und Neutrality studies liefern unermüdlich weitere Fakten! Im März 2025 klärte der US-Professor Jeffrey Sachs das Europa-Parlament endlich in allen Details über die kriegerischen Machenschaften bestimmter Kreise innerhalb der englischsprechenden Westmächte auf! 

Kürzlich war im multipolar-magazin zu lesen, wie erschreckend tief unser eigenes Land bereits in**** den Ukraine-Krieg verwickelt ist: Da hieß es:

*„Kriegsplanung von deutschem Boden“ *

Zwei umfassende Beiträge der „New York Times“ und der Londoner „Times“ belegen, was lange bestritten wurde: die tiefe militärische und strategische Verwicklung von Nato-Mitgliedsstaaten in den Ukraine-Krieg. Demnach wird deren Kriegsbeteiligung seit Jahren vom europäischen Hauptquartier der US-Armee in Wiesbaden koordiniert. Für Deutschland stellen sich damit verfassungsrechtliche Fragen.

Und ein Karsten Montag schrieb ebenda am 25. April 2025:

Mehr als drei Jahre nach Beginn des russisch-ukrainischen Krieges berichten zwei große westliche Tageszeitungen über die tiefgreifende Beteiligung von Nato-Militärs an diesem Konflikt. Den Anfang machte die „New York Times“ (NYT). Unter dem Titel „Die Partnerschaft: Die geheime Geschichte des Krieges in der Ukraine“ erschien Ende März ein umfassender *Artikel, der laut Autor Adam Entous auf 300 Interviews mit Regierungs-, Militär- und Geheim-dienstvertretern in der Ukraine, den Vereinigten Staaten sowie weiteren Nato-Partnern basiert. Es handle sich um die „unerzählte Geschichte“ der „versteckten Rolle“ der USA bei den ukrainischen Militäroperationen. *

Wenige Wochen später veröffentlichte die britische Tageszeitung „The Times“ Anfang April einen ähnlichen Beitrag mit dem Titel „Die unerzählte Geschichte der entscheidenden Rolle der britischen Militärchefs in der Ukraine“. Dieser bestätigt die tiefe Verstrickung der Nato-Staaten in Militäroperationen wie der ukrainischen Offensive 2023. Abweichend vom NYT-Artikel bezeichnet er jedoch die britischen Militärchefs als die „Köpfe“ der „Anti-Putin“-Koalition. Einigkeit herrscht wiederum bei der Frage, wer für den Misserfolg der Operationen verantwortlich ist: Dies sei eindeutig der Ukraine zuzuschreiben. Auch im Times-Beitrag wird auf die besondere Rolle des europäischen US-Hauptquartiers im hessischen Wiesbaden bei der Koordination der Einsätze und den Waffenlieferungen hingewiesen.

Na also! Es gibt unter den aus der Ukraine Geflüchteten hier allerdings eine große Mehrheit, die von diesen Fakten weder etwas wissen, noch wissen wollen. Amerika und die Heimat der Anglitschanka ist für sie das Gelobte Land und wehe, du sprichst darüber, dann wirst du sofort der russischen Propaganda verdächtig. Wie Nicki mittlerweile daheim den Knüppel schwingt, interessiert sie auch nicht. 

Wieso wird hier nicht untersucht, wieso wird verschwiegen, dass Alexej Nawalny für einen englischen Dienst arbeitete – woher erhielt er das viele Geld für seine Kampagnen? Wo leben nun seine Witwe und die Kinder? Auf der Insel im nebligen Avalon/ Albion… 

Ein letztes Beispiel aus dem Bereich der Kultur zum Verständnis des leider so aktuellen Ausdrucks Die Engländerin macht Shit:  Anfang 2024 wurde im staatlichen Sender ONE (ARD) eine Serie der BBC zu frühen Erzählungen von Michail Bulgakow ausgestrahlt:** Aufzeichnungen eines jungen Arztes. Die BBC verhunzte den in Kiew geborenen Arzt und weltberühmten Autor derart, dass dem Zuschauer schlecht wurde: Mit dem Titel A Young Doctor‘s Notebook verfilmte sie Bulgakows frühe Erzählungen über die Nöte eines jungen Arztes in der bettelarmen sowjetrussischen Provinz in den 1920er Jahren hypernaturalistisch, blut-, dreck- und eitertriefend. Pseudokyrillische Titel und Balalaika Geklimper begleiteten das Leiden von schwer traumatisierten Menschen im russischen Bürgerkrieg oder Abscheulichkeiten, wie das Amputieren eines Mädchenbeines mit einer Baumsäge - ausgestrahlt vom 1. Deutschen Fernsehen! Michail Bulgakow hätte sich im Grabe umgedreht.

Als Autor beherrschte Bulgakow die Kunst der Groteske ebenso wie hochlyrische Schilderungen. Seine Prosa und seine Theaterstücke aber wurden Zeit seines Lebens von der Sowjetmacht verstümmelt - und post mortem auch von seinen ukrainischen Landsleuten: sein schönes Museum, das ehemalige Domizil der Familie Bulgakow in Kiew am Andrejew-Steig, das mit seinem ersten Roman Die weiße Garde (Kiew vor 100 Jahren im Strudel auch ultranationalistischer Strömungen) und der berühmten Dramatisierung Die Tage der Turbins in die große Literatur einzog, dieses Museum wurde abgewickelt und geschlossen, weil Bulgakow angeblich schlecht über die Ukraine geschrieben hätte! 

Ein Glück jedoch, dass die bedeutenden Werke Bulgakows seit nun drei Dekaden von russischsprachigen Philologen beharrlich in ihrer ursprünglichen Fassung wieder hergestellt wurden. Seine großen Romane Die weiße Garde und Meister und Margarita seien in der hervorragenden deutschen Übersetzung von Alexander Nitzberg jedem Interessierten ans Herz gelegt!

Die obigen Ausführungen sind keinesfalls eine Rechtfertigung des Krieges, es geht vielmehr um Hintergründe, Fakten und Machenschaften, die in der Regel bis heute bei uns verschwiegen werden! Obwohl es nun sonnenklar und öffentlich ist, dass bestimmte Inter-essengruppen der englischsprachigen Westmächte die hochgefährliche Konfrontationspolitik mit Russland zu verantworten haben: die Engländerin macht Shit…Und wir? Wir schweigen, glauben der immer noch laufenden Propaganda und wehren uns nicht gegen diese üble Russenphobie?! Ich erinnere mich noch lebhaft an die Nachkriegszeit im Ruhrgebiet, als der Ton ruppig war und Dreck und Trümmer unsere Sicht beherrschten. Auch uns kleinen Kindern gegenüber wurde von den bösen Russen gesprochen, als hätten diese unser Land überfallen.

Ja – es waren viele Geflüchtete aus dem Osten hier gestrandet, und diese hatten Unsägliches hinter sich. Lew Kopelew, der den Einmarsch der Roten Armee in Ostpreußen miterlebte und Gräuel vergebens zu verhindern suchte, wurde noch im April 1945 verhaftet und wegen Mitleid mit dem Feind zu 10 Jahren Lager verurteilt. Viele Jahre später erschienen seine Erinnerungen Aufbewahren für alle Zeit – auch auf Deutsch. Über die mindestens 27 Mio Opfer in der damaligen Sowjetunion und über die deutschen Aggressoren, die damals mit Mord und Raub die bösen Russen, sowjetische Zivilisten überfielen, wurde in den 1950er Jahren, im zerbombten und dreckigen Pott kein einziges Wort verloren. Der Spieß wurde einfach umgedreht. Von der Blockade Leningrads erfuhr ich erst als Erwachsene, anno 1974, als Austauschstudentin vor Ort.

Exakt vor 10 Jahren wurde es jedoch möglich – herzlichen Dank der damaligen stell-vertretenden tatarischen Kulturministerin Frau Irada Ayupova! – mein dokumentarisches Antikriegsstück mit Schicksalen von Kriegskindern – sowjetischen, jüdischen, deutschen – in Kasan, der Hauptstadt von Tatarstan, zweisprachig auf die Bühne des dortigen Jugendtheaters zu bringen. Wir spielten 15 Vorstellungen und einige tausend Jugendliche im Saal verstummten und verstanden, dass Krieg furchtbar ist. Hier und heute will leider kein Theater das Stück umsetzen…

Wir Menschen brauchen Frieden und keine Aufrüstung für neue Kriege! Der gute alte Aischylos schrieb einst in seinem Stück Die Perser: Wahrheit ist das erste Opfer eines Krieges. Leider ist dies immer noch genauso aktuell wie damals. Pfui Teufel!

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Jana Moava (Pseudonym) ist Journalistin, Dozentin und arbeitete für große Zeitungen als Korrespondentin.

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• Ab 1000 CHF werden Sie Genossenschafter der Friedenstaube mit Stimmrecht (und bekommen lebenslanges Abo, T-Shirt/Hoodie).

Für Einzahlungen in CHF (Betreff: Friedenstaube):

Für Einzahlungen in Euro:

Milosz Matuschek

IBAN DE 53710520500000814137

BYLADEM1TST

Sparkasse Traunstein-Trostberg

Betreff: Friedenstaube

Wenn Sie auf anderem Wege beitragen wollen, schreiben Sie die Friedenstaube an: friedenstaube@pareto.space

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Sie sind noch nicht auf Nostr and wollen die volle Erfahrung machen (liken, kommentieren etc.)? Zappen können Sie den Autor auch ohne Nostr-Profil! Erstellen Sie sich einen Account auf Start. Weitere Onboarding-Leitfäden gibt es im Pareto-Wiki.

@ 3fa9f42b:00d5e778

S689 đang ngày càng khẳng định vị thế của mình như một nền tảng kỹ thuật số uy tín và thân thiện với người dùng tại thị trường Việt Nam. Với giao diện hiện đại, tinh gọn và dễ sử dụng, S689 tạo cảm giác thoải mái ngay từ lần đầu truy cập. Tất cả các yếu tố từ thiết kế, bố cục, màu sắc đến cách bố trí các chức năng đều được tối ưu để phục vụ nhu cầu truy cập nhanh chóng và thuận tiện. Người dùng có thể sử dụng S689 trên nhiều thiết bị khác nhau như điện thoại thông minh, máy tính bảng hay laptop mà không gặp khó khăn về tương thích hay tốc độ tải trang. Hệ thống tìm kiếm nhanh, điều hướng mượt mà và khả năng cá nhân hóa nội dung theo sở thích giúp S689 trở thành một lựa chọn lý tưởng cho những ai tìm kiếm sự linh hoạt và hiệu quả trong trải nghiệm số hằng ngày. Không chỉ đơn thuần là một nền tảng trực tuyến, S689 còn là cầu nối mang đến sự tiện nghi, kết nối người dùng với các nội dung chất lượng và phù hợp với nhu cầu cá nhân.

Một trong những điểm mạnh nổi bật của S689 chính là khả năng vận hành ổn định và độ bảo mật cao. Nền tảng được xây dựng trên nền tảng công nghệ tiên tiến, luôn cập nhật các tiêu chuẩn kỹ thuật mới để đảm bảo hiệu suất hoạt động mượt mà và ổn định nhất. Người dùng không phải lo lắng về gián đoạn dịch vụ hay những lỗi kỹ thuật gây ảnh hưởng đến trải nghiệm. Sự an toàn thông tin cá nhân luôn được đặt lên hàng đầu, với các biện pháp bảo mật đa lớp, mã hóa dữ liệu và kiểm soát truy cập chặt chẽ. Chính sách bảo mật minh bạch và hệ thống giám sát tự động giúp người dùng yên tâm khi sử dụng S689 trong thời gian dài. Bên cạnh đó, đội ngũ chăm sóc khách hàng chuyên nghiệp của S689 hoạt động liên tục 24/7 để hỗ trợ người dùng giải quyết mọi vấn đề một cách nhanh chóng, từ các thắc mắc kỹ thuật cho đến hỗ trợ về thông tin tài khoản. Nhờ đó, S689 không chỉ đảm bảo chất lượng dịch vụ mà còn tạo được sự tin tưởng tuyệt đối từ cộng đồng người dùng.

Không dừng lại ở việc xây dựng một nền tảng kỹ thuật số chất lượng, S689 còn chú trọng phát triển một cộng đồng tương tác tích cực và sôi động. Các hoạt động sự kiện, ưu đãi định kỳ và chương trình tặng thưởng cho người dùng thân thiết giúp tạo ra sự gắn bó lâu dài giữa người dùng và nền tảng. Sự tương tác không chỉ đơn thuần mang tính cá nhân mà còn mở rộng ra thành các kết nối cộng đồng, nơi người dùng có thể chia sẻ kinh nghiệm, hỗ trợ nhau và cùng nhau trải nghiệm tiện ích trên nền tảng. Điều này giúp S689 không chỉ là một công cụ sử dụng đơn lẻ, mà còn là một phần của cuộc sống kỹ thuật số hiện đại, nơi mà mỗi người dùng đều cảm nhận được giá trị và sự quan tâm. Với định hướng phát triển bền vững, lấy người dùng làm trung tâm, S689 tiếp tục mở rộng quy mô, cải tiến chất lượng và ứng dụng công nghệ tiên tiến để phục vụ tốt hơn nhu cầu ngày càng đa dạng của người sử dụng. Đây chính là lý do S689 đang ngày càng được yêu thích và tin dùng rộng rãi trên thị trường hiện nay.

@ f6488c62:c929299d

ปี 2568 ตลาดคริปโตยังคงเต็มไปด้วยความร้อนแรงและโอกาส Bitcoin พุ่งแตะ 106,595.5 ดอลลาร์ (ณ วันที่ 21 พ.ค. 2568) ขณะที่เหรียญมีมอย่าง KPEPE ก็กลายเป็นที่จับตามองของเหล่านักลงทุนรายใหญ่ แต่ท่ามกลางกระแสความร้อนแรง คำถามสำคัญยังคงอยู่: ตลาดคริปโตอยู่ช่วงไหนของวัฏจักร? และโอกาสใหญ่กำลังมาหรือใกล้จบลงแล้ว?

หนึ่งในเสียงที่ดังที่สุดในชุมชนคริปโตตอนนี้คือชื่อที่หลายคนอาจยังไม่รู้จักแน่ชัด – James Wynn เขาโพสต์ข้อความเมื่อวันที่ 31 มีนาคม 2568 ว่า

“The best is yet to come.” หรือ “สิ่งที่ดีที่สุดยังมาไม่ถึง” – คำพูดที่จุดประกายความหวังในชุมชนนักเทรดทั่วโลก

แม้เขาจะถูกยกย่องว่าเป็น “วาฬคริปโต” จากการถือครองมูลค่ามหาศาล แต่ในความเป็นจริง เรายังไม่รู้ว่าเขาคือใคร – ชื่อ James Wynn อาจเป็นเพียงนามแฝง หรือ persona บนโลกออนไลน์ก็เป็นได้

ในบทความนี้ เราจะวิเคราะห์มุมมองของเขาอย่างมีวิจารณญาณ พร้อมแนะแนวทางที่นักเทรดควรเตรียมตัวเพื่อคว้าโอกาสในช่วงขาขึ้นนี้

ภาพรวมตลาดคริปโตในปี 2568 ปีนี้ถือเป็นช่วงขาขึ้นที่เกิดจากหลายปัจจัยสำคัญ:

การอนุมัติ Bitcoin Spot ETFs ในสหรัฐฯ

การเข้ารับตำแหน่งของ Donald Trump พร้อมนโยบายที่เป็นมิตรต่อคริปโต เช่น การผลักดันให้ Bitcoin เป็นสินทรัพย์สำรองของชาติ

ปัจจัยเหล่านี้ได้ดึงดูดทั้งนักลงทุนรายย่อยและสถาบันเข้าสู่ตลาด ส่งผลให้ราคาของ BTC และเหรียญมีมอย่าง KPEPE พุ่งสูงขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว สะท้อนถึงโมเมนตัมที่ยังคงแข็งแกร่ง

มุมมองจาก ‘James Wynn’: ปลายวัฏจักร? หรือแค่เริ่มต้น? แม้จะไม่มีใครรู้แน่ชัดว่า James Wynn คือใคร แต่เขากลายเป็นบุคคลที่มีอิทธิพลในชุมชนคริปโตจากการเปิดเผยมุมมองที่เฉียบคมและพอร์ตการลงทุนขนาดใหญ่

เขาโพสต์ไว้ว่า

“ถ้าใครคิดว่าเราอยู่ท้ายวัฏจักรแล้ว คุณคิดผิด”

โดยให้เหตุผลหลัก 3 ข้อ:

การพุ่งขึ้นของราคาส่วนใหญ่เกิดจาก ข่าวดีภายนอก เช่น ETF ยังไม่ใช่ "กระแสล้นตลาด"

นโยบายรัฐบาล Trump ส่งผลเชิงจิตวิทยาเชิงบวกต่อทั้งนักลงทุนและตลาด

ยังไม่เกิด Altcoin Season หรืออารมณ์ตลาดช่วง “Euphoria” ตามแผนภาพ Psychology of a Market Cycle

เขาประเมินว่าตลาดน่าจะอยู่ช่วง “Optimism → Thrill” ซึ่งเป็นช่วงกลางของวัฏจักรที่นักลงทุนเริ่มตื่นเต้น แต่ยังไม่ถึงจุดสูงสุด

เขาเป็นใคร? วาฬตัวจริงหรือบุคคลลึกลับ? แม้ James Wynn จะได้รับความสนใจอย่างมาก แต่ตัวตนของเขายังคลุมเครือ:

ไม่มีข้อมูลยืนยันตัวตนชัดเจน

ไม่รู้ว่าเขาเป็นบุคคล กลุ่ม หรือองค์กร

ใช้นามแฝงออนไลน์ และบัญชีเทรดที่ระบุไว้ไม่ผูกกับตัวตนจริง

ถึงอย่างนั้น พฤติกรรมการลงทุนของเขาก็ไม่ธรรมดา:

Long BTC-USD ด้วยเลเวอเรจ 40x กว่า 5,200 BTC (มูลค่ากว่า 546 ล้านดอลลาร์)

Long KPEPE-USD ด้วยเลเวอเรจ 10x มูลค่ากว่า 32.8 ล้านดอลลาร์

รวมกำไรจากการเทรดกว่า 20.2 ล้านดอลลาร์ (ราว 687 ล้านบาท)

ใช้แพลตฟอร์ม Hyperliquid และแสดงจุดยืนต่อต้าน CEX บางแห่งอย่าง Bybit ที่เขาเคยกล่าวหาว่ามีการ manipulate ตลาด

สิ่งที่น่าสนใจคือ Wynn มักจะลดตำแหน่งและล็อกกำไรอย่างเป็นระบบ เช่น วันที่ 20 พ.ค. 2568 เขาลดตำแหน่ง BTC ลง 1,142 BTC และถอน USDC กลับวอลเล็ตส่วนตัว – สะท้อนถึงการบริหารความเสี่ยงที่รอบคอบ

แนวทางสำหรับนักเทรด: ถ้า "สิ่งที่ดีที่สุด" ยังมาไม่ถึง... หากมุมมองของ Wynn ถูกต้อง และตลาดยังไม่ถึงจุดสูงสุด ต่อไปนี้คือตัวอย่างแนวทางที่นักเทรดควรพิจารณา:

🔹 วางแผนรับ pullback: หากอยู่ในช่วง "Thrill" ตลาดอาจมีการพักตัวชั่วคราว – เป็นโอกาสในการ “ซื้อซ้ำ” ก่อนเข้าสู่จุดพีค

🔹 จับตา altcoin season: การที่เหรียญมีมอย่าง KPEPE พุ่งขึ้น อาจเป็นสัญญาณล่วงหน้าของ Altcoin Season ที่กำลังจะเริ่ม – เตรียมลิสต์เหรียญที่มีศักยภาพ

🔹 เน้นการบริหารความเสี่ยง: ใช้ stop-loss และเลเวอเรจอย่างระมัดระวัง อย่าลืมว่าวัฏจักรคริปโตสามารถเปลี่ยนแปลงอย่างรวดเร็ว

🔹 ติดตามความเคลื่อนไหวของวาฬ (แม้จะไม่รู้ว่าเขาคือใคร): เช่น ที่อยู่กระเป๋า 0x5078C2FbeA2B2aD61bcB40BC0233E5Ce56EDb6 ซึ่งเชื่อว่าเป็นของ Wynn – การเคลื่อนไหวของกระเป๋านี้อาจบ่งชี้แนวโน้มตลาดล่วงหน้า

สรุป แม้เราจะยังไม่รู้แน่ชัดว่า James Wynn คือใคร หรือแม้กระทั่งเขามีอยู่จริงหรือไม่ แต่คำพูดของเขาก็สอดคล้องกับทิศทางตลาดในปัจจุบันที่ยังคงอยู่ในขาขึ้น

“The best is yet to come.” – ถ้าเขาพูดถูก โอกาสที่ดีที่สุดในตลาดคริปโตปี 2568 ก็ยังไม่มาถึง

นักเทรดควร:

ติดตามสัญญาณตลาดอย่างรอบคอบ

จัดพอร์ตให้พร้อมสำหรับการเปลี่ยนแปลง

และที่สำคัญ — อย่าหลงกระแส โดยไม่มีแผนรองรับ

วาฬที่แท้จริงอาจไม่มีชื่อเสียง… และนั่นแหละคือสิ่งที่ทำให้พวกเขาน่าจับตายิ่งกว่าใคร

@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Das Nichts ist kein Vakuum. Es ist ein Raum, gefüllt mit all dem, was hätte sein können.

2. Der Wert einer Währung ist das Vertrauen, das in ihr stirbt.

3. Wenn wir alles verloren haben, bleibt nur noch das Gewicht des Fehlens und die Leere, die es trägt.

4. Wir klammern uns an Erinnerungen, als könnten wir das Sterben damit überlisten. Dabei sind es die Erinnerungen, die uns zu Grabe tragen.

5. Der Tod sitzt nicht am Ende des Weges. Er geht neben uns, ein stummer Begleiter, der uns erst grüßt, wenn wir ihn erkennen.

6. Die Stille nach dem letzten Wort ist lauter als jedes Geschrei. Sie sagt alles, was wir nicht wagen auszusprechen.

7. Wir kaufen Zeit, während das Leben uns leise in die Tasche greift.

8. Am Ende sind es nicht die verlorenen Jahre, die uns quälen. Es sind die ungelebten Minuten.

9. Familienfotos, ein Stillleben aus versteinerten Momenten, in denen wir uns selbst nicht wiedererkennen.

10. Was bleibt von einem Kindheitstraum, wenn die Realität ihre Zähne in ihn schlägt?

@ 15f9e159:ca9a5ac4

A plataforma 755Bet é uma das principais opções para quem busca uma experiência única no universo dos jogos online. Com uma interface intuitiva, jogos de alta qualidade e uma experiência de usuário focada na diversão e no prazer do jogador, o 755Bet se destaca como um dos destinos preferidos para quem deseja aproveitar ao máximo o entretenimento digital. Vamos explorar o que torna o 755Bet uma plataforma tão especial e por que ele deve ser a sua próxima escolha para diversão online.

Plataforma 755Bet: Um Espaço Inovador e Completo O 755Bet oferece aos jogadores uma plataforma moderna e fácil de navegar, permitindo que se conectem ao mundo do entretenimento online com apenas alguns cliques. A plataforma é projetada para ser acessível tanto para novatos quanto para jogadores experientes, com recursos que atendem a diferentes gostos e preferências.

Com um design que prioriza a simplicidade, o 755Bet garante que seus usuários possam encontrar rapidamente o que procuram. Seja para jogar ou simplesmente explorar as opções oferecidas, a experiência do usuário é fluida e sem complicações. Além disso, o site é otimizado para dispositivos móveis, permitindo que você aproveite a diversão a qualquer hora e em qualquer lugar.

A plataforma oferece diversos métodos de pagamento seguros, garantindo que os jogadores possam realizar transações de maneira rápida e sem preocupações. O 755bet também investe constantemente em melhorar a segurança dos dados de seus usuários, com protocolos avançados de criptografia para proteger as informações pessoais e financeiras.

Jogos no 755Bet: Variedade para Todos os Gostos Uma das principais atrações do 755Bet é a ampla seleção de jogos oferecidos. Se você é fã de jogos de mesa, como blackjack e roleta, ou prefere jogos de habilidade e estratégia, o 755Bet tem algo para todos. A variedade de opções garante que cada jogador possa encontrar o jogo que mais lhe agrada, com gráficos de alta qualidade e jogabilidade envolvente.

O site conta com uma vasta gama de opções, que incluem títulos populares de diferentes categorias. Além disso, novos jogos estão sempre sendo adicionados ao portfólio, garantindo que os jogadores nunca fiquem sem novidades. A plataforma oferece jogos com diferentes níveis de dificuldade, o que significa que tanto iniciantes quanto veteranos podem aproveitar as opções disponíveis, sempre encontrando o jogo que se adapta ao seu estilo.

Experiência do Jogador: Diversão e Comodidade No 755Bet, a experiência do jogador é uma prioridade. A plataforma não apenas oferece jogos de alta qualidade, mas também foca em criar um ambiente acolhedor e acessível. O atendimento ao cliente é uma parte fundamental da experiência do usuário, com uma equipe dedicada pronta para responder a qualquer dúvida ou ajudar com problemas de forma rápida e eficaz.

Além disso, o 755Bet oferece promoções e bônus que tornam a experiência ainda mais interessante para seus jogadores. Isso inclui recompensas para novos membros, bem como ofertas especiais para usuários regulares. Esses incentivos ajudam a manter a motivação dos jogadores e garantem que a experiência seja sempre divertida e recompensadora.

O 755Bet também conta com recursos de personalização que permitem aos jogadores ajustar a plataforma conforme suas preferências. Isso pode incluir a escolha de temas, ajustes de notificação e preferências de jogo, tudo para garantir que o ambiente de jogo seja o mais agradável possível.

Conclusão O 755Bet se destaca como uma plataforma completa para quem busca uma experiência online rica e envolvente. Com uma interface intuitiva, uma ampla variedade de jogos e um foco constante na satisfação do jogador, ele é um destino obrigatório para aqueles que querem explorar o universo dos jogos online de forma segura, divertida e acessível. Seja você um novato ou um jogador experiente, o 755Bet tem tudo o que você precisa para uma experiência inesquecível.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

You’ve probably seen it before.

You open an agency’s website or a freelancer’s portfolio. At the very top of the homepage, it says:

We design for startups.

You wait 3 seconds. The last word fades out and a new one fades in:

We design for agencies.

Wait 3 more seconds:

We design for founders.

I call this design pattern The Wheel of Nothing: a rotating list of audience segments meant to impress through inclusion and draw attention through motion… for absolutely no reason.

Revered brand studio Pentagram recently launched a new website. To my surprise, the homepage features the Wheel of Nothing front and center, boldly claiming:

We design Everything for Everyone…before cycling through more specific combinations every few seconds.

Dan Mall, a husband, dad, teacher, creative director, designer, founder, and entrepreneur from Philly. I share as much as I can to create better opportunities for those who wouldn’t have them otherwise. Most recently, I ran design system consultancy SuperFriendly for over a decade.

Read more at Dans' website https://danmall.com/posts/the-wheel-of-nothing/

https://stacker.news/items/986392

@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Der Anfang und das Ende sind ein und dasselbe. Ein Wimpernschlag zwischen Dunkel und Licht.

2. Familie, ein Gewebe aus unsichtbaren Fäden, das erst reißt, wenn wir uns daran erhängen.

3. Wir pflanzen Hoffnungen in verbrannte Erde und wundern uns, wenn nichts mehr wächst.

4. Wir rennen vor dem Ende davon, bis uns die Füße bluten und merken zu spät, dass das Ziel nie die Flucht war, sondern der Fall.

5. Manche Abschiede sind kein Loslassen. Sie sind ein Ertrinken in dem, was bleibt.

6. Was bleibt von einem Leben, wenn der letzte Atemzug nur ein leises Ausradieren im Staub des Seins ist?

7. Das Leben zerbricht in Stille, nicht in Lärm. Ein Riss, den nur der erkennt, der selbst in Stücken ist.

8. Ein Kind fragt: Warum weinst du? Ein Erwachsener sagt: Ich habe Staub im Auge und meint: Ich habe Staub im Herzen.

9. Die Mutter wiegt das Kind. Ein Pendel zwischen dem ersten Atemzug und dem letzten.

10. Abschied ist kein Ende. Es ist ein Echo, das durch die Ewigkeit hallt, ein letzter Ruf in die unendliche Nacht.

@ 90152b7f:04e57401

Wikileaks - S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001733 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2017 TAGS: PREL, PTER, MOPS, KWBG, LE, SY, IS SUBJECT: MILITARY INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR YADLIN COMMENTS ON GAZA, SYRIA AND LEBANON Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones, Reason 1.4 (b) (d)

2007 June 13

1. (S) Summary. During a June 12 meeting with the Ambassador, IDI Director MG Amos Yadlin said that Gaza was "number four" on his list of threats, preceded by Iran, Syria, and Hizballah in that order. Yadlin said the IDI has been predicting armed confrontation in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah since Hamas won the January 2006 legislative council elections. Yadlin felt that the Hamas military wing had initiated the current escalation with the tacit consent of external Hamas leader Khalid Mishal, adding that he did not believe there had been a premeditated political-level decision by Hamas to wipe out Fatah in Gaza. Yadlin dismissed Fatah's capabilities in Gaza, saying Hamas could have taken over there any time it wanted for the past year, but he agreed that Fatah remained strong in the West Bank. Although not necessarily reflecting a GOI consensus view, Yadlin said Israel would be "happy" if Hamas took over Gaza because the IDF could then deal with Gaza as a hostile state. He dismissed the significance of an Iranian role in a Hamas-controlled Gaza "as long as they don't have a port." Regarding predictions of war with Syria this summer, Yadlin recalled the lead-up to the 1967 war, which he said was provoked by the Soviet Ambassador in Israel. Both Israel and Syria are in a state of high alert, so war could happen easily even though neither side is seeking it. Yadlin suggested that the Asad regime would probably not survive a war, but added that Israel was no longer concerned with maintaining that "evil" regime. On Lebanon, Yadlin felt that the fighting in the Nahr Al-Barid camp was a positive development for Israel since it had "embarrassed" Hizballah, adding that IDI had information that the Fatah Al-Islam terrorist group was planning to attack UNIFIL before it blundered into its confrontation with the LAF. End Summary.

Gaza Fighting Not Israel's Main Problem

---------------------------------------

2. (S) The Ambassador, accompanied by Pol Couns and DATT, called on IDI Director Major General Amos Yadlin June 12. Noting reports of fierce fighting between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza that day, the Ambassador asked for Yadlin's assessment. Yadlin described Gaza as "not Israel's main problem," noting that it ranked fourth in his hierarchy of threats, behind Iran, Syria, and Hizballah. Yadlin described Gaza as "hopeless for now," commenting that the Palestinians had to realize that Hamas offered no solution. IDI analysts, he said, had predicted a confrontation in Gaza since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006. Yadlin commented that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh had become personally close despite their ideological differences, but neither leader had control over those forces under them.

3. (S) Yadlin explained that both Fatah and Hamas contained many factions. The Hamas military wing had been frustrated since the signing of the Mecca Agreement in January, but there were also many armed groups in Gaza that were not under the control of either party. Yadlin cited the example of the Dughmush clan, which had shifted from Fatah to the Popular Resistance Committees to Hamas before becoming an armed entity opposed to all of them. After May 15, the Hamas military wing had sought to export the fighting to Sderot by launching waves of Qassam rockets. One week later, as a result of IDF retaliation, they realized the price was too high and reduced the Qassam attacks.

4. (S) In response to the Ambassador's question, Yadlin said he did not think that day's Hamas attacks on Fatah security forces were part of a premeditated effort to wipe out Fatah in Gaza. Instead, they probably represented an initiative of the military wing with the tacit consent of Khalid Mishal in Damascus. Mishal was still considering the costs and benefits of the fighting, but the situation had become so tense that any incident could lead to street fighting without any political decision.

Gaza and West Bank Separating

-----------------------------

5. (S) The Ambassador asked Yadlin for his assessment of reports that Fatah forces had been ordered not to fight back. Yadlin said Mohammed Dahlan had 500 men and the Presidential Guard had 1,500 more. They understand that the balance of power favors Hamas, which "can take over Gaza any time it wants to." Yadlin said he would be surprised if Fatah fights, and even more surprised if they win. As far as he was concerned, this had been the case for the past year. The situation was different in the West Bank, however, where Fatah remained relatively strong and had even started to

TEL AVIV 00001733 002 OF 002

kidnap Hamas activists. Yadlin agreed that Tawfiq Tirawi had a power base in the West Bank, but he added that Fatah was not cohesive.

6. (S) The Ambassador commented that if Fatah decided it has lost Gaza, there would be calls for Abbas to set up a separate regime in the West Bank. While not necessarily reflecting a consensus GOI view, Yadlin commented that such a development would please Israel since it would enable the IDF to treat Gaza as a hostile country rather than having to deal with Hamas as a non-state actor. He added that Israel could work with a Fatah regime in the West Bank. The Ambassador asked Yadlin if he worried about a Hamas-controlled Gaza giving Iran a new opening. Yadlin replied that Iran was already present in Gaza, but Israel could handle the situation "as long as Gaza does not have a port (sea or air)."

War with Syria "Could Happen Easily"

------------------------------------

7. (S) Noting Israeli press speculation, the Ambassador asked Yadlin if he expected war with Syria this summer. Recalling the 1967 war, Yadlin commented that it had started as a result of the Soviet Ambassador in Israel reporting on non-existing Israeli preparations to attack Syria. Something similar was happening again, he said, with the Russians telling the Syrians that Israel planned to attack them, possibly in concert with a U.S. attack on Iran. Yadlin stated that since last summer's war in Lebanon, Syria had engaged in a "frenzy of preparations" for a confrontation with Israel. The Syrian regime was also showing greater self-confidence. Some Syrian leaders appeared to believe that Syria could take on Israel military, but others were more cautious. The fact that both sides were on high alert meant that a war could happen easily, even though neither side is seeking one. In response to a question, Yadlin said he did not think the Asad regime would survive a war, but he added that preserving that "evil" regime should not be a matter of concern.

Fighting in Nahr al-Barid Positive for Israel

---------------------------------------------

8. (S) The Ambassador asked Yadlin for his views on the fighting in the Nahr al-Barid refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Although Yadlin was called to another meeting and did not have time to elaborate, he answered that the fighting was positive for Israel because it had embarrassed Hizballah, which had been unable to adopt a clear-cut position on the Lebanese Army's action, and because the Fatah al-Islam terrorist organization had been planning to attack UNIFIL and then Israel before it blundered into its current confrontation with the LAF. He also agreed that the confrontation was strengthening the LAF, in fact and in the eyes of the Lebanese people, which was also good.

9. (S) Comment: Yadlin's relatively relaxed attitude toward the deteriorating security situation in Gaza represents a shift in IDF thinking from last fall, when the Southern Command supported a major ground operation into Gaza to remove the growing threat from Hamas. While many media commentators continue to make that argument, Yadlin's view appears to be more in synch with that of Chief of General Staff Ashkenazi, who also believes that the more serious threat to Israel currently comes from the north.

********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv

You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** JONES

@ d9c98e71:37007462

„Man muss noch Chaos in sich haben, um einen tanzenden Stern gebären zu können.“

– Friedrich Nietzsche

Der Mensch wächst nicht aus der Welt – er wird in sie geworfen, ohne Ursprung, ohne Auftrag, ohne Trost. Die Familie erscheint zuerst als Halt, doch sie ist oft der erste Spiegel, in dem man sich selbst nicht erkennt. Man nennt es Liebe, nennt es Bindung – aber vielleicht ist es nur die stille Einweisung in ein Gefängnis, dessen Mauern wie Umarmungen aussehen.

Das Kind ist nicht die Fortsetzung des Selbst, sondern der Beweis, dass auch das Chaos Nachwuchs hat. Es lacht, weil es noch nicht weiß, was Lachen kostet. Es fragt nicht, weil es noch nicht weiß, dass Fragen selten Antworten finden. Und doch ist es das Kind, das die Ordnung zum Wanken bringt – nicht durch Widerstand, sondern durch seine unbestechliche Gegenwärtigkeit.

Freiheit beginnt dort, wo man aufhört, sich retten zu lassen. Sie ist kein Zustand, sondern eine Haltung: die Weigerung, sich einer Bedeutung zu unterwerfen, die von außen kommt. Die Welt verlangt Funktion – das freie Leben verweigert sich der Funktion, nicht durch Aufstand, sondern durch Abwesenheit. Wer Sicherheit sucht, hat die Welt bereits verloren.

Einsamkeit ist kein Unglück – sie ist der Boden, auf dem das Selbst sich überhaupt erst spüren kann. Sie ist nicht leer, sondern ungeteilt. Was fehlt, ist nicht ein anderer Mensch, sondern die Illusion, dass Nähe uns vollständig machen könnte. In der Tiefe des Alleinseins offenbart sich nicht Mangel, sondern Klarheit.

Ein Kind stellt keine Fragen über das Nichts – es lebt in ihm, ohne es zu wissen. Der Erwachsene aber erkennt es, spürt es wie eine zweite Haut, die nicht abgelegt werden kann. Doch dieses Wissen ist keine Strafe. Es ist die Bedingung jeder echten Handlung. Wer das Nichts kennt, liebt nicht, um sich zu retten – sondern weil er weiß, dass nichts gerettet werden muss.

Ein Leben im Angesicht der Leere ist möglich. Nicht durch Verdrängung, sondern durch Durchschreiten. Die Rolle, die man spielt, wird erträglich, wenn man sie nicht mit Identität verwechselt. Die Arbeit, die man verrichtet, dient nicht mehr dem Fortschritt, sondern der Form – und vielleicht liegt darin schon Würde genug.

Familie kann ein Nest sein – oder ein Netz. Es hält, oder es hält fest. Doch auch das Netz kann Heimat sein, wenn man nicht mehr erwartet, darin zu fliegen. Ein Kind zu begleiten heißt nicht, ihm Wahrheit zu geben, sondern ihm Raum zu lassen, seine eigene zu verwerfen.

Freiheit ist kein Ziel, sondern ein Aufhören. Wer nichts mehr will, dem kann nichts genommen werden. Wer das Nichts annimmt, dem begegnet keine Leere mehr – sondern Raum. In diesem Raum entsteht das, was nicht geplant ist, nicht beherrscht und nicht gezählt: der Moment, das Staunen, die Stille zwischen zwei Gedanken. Vielleicht ist genau das genug.

Man kann leben mit dem Nichts – wenn man nicht mehr verlangt, dass es Sinn macht. Man kann Vater sein, Mutter, Freund, Fremder – ohne sich zu verlieren. Man kann lachen, weinen, müde sein – ohne Trost zu brauchen. Denn wer dem Nichts ins Auge gesehen hat, weiß: Alles ist bedeutungslos. Und genau deshalb ist alles erlaubt. Und manchmal, ganz selten, auch: schön.

@ 15f9e159:ca9a5ac4

O mundo dos jogos online está sempre em evolução, e novas plataformas surgem constantemente para oferecer experiências únicas aos jogadores. O 0e0e é uma dessas plataformas, que vem conquistando o público com uma proposta inovadora, repleta de jogos envolventes e uma interface amigável. Se você está em busca de uma nova forma de diversão e desafios, o 0e0e oferece tudo isso e muito mais.

Introdução à Plataforma 0e0e O 0e0e é uma plataforma online que tem como principal objetivo proporcionar uma experiência de entretenimento de qualidade. Com um design moderno e acessível, a plataforma é fácil de navegar, permitindo que os jogadores se sintam à vontade ao explorar suas diversas funcionalidades. O 0e0e está disponível para todos os tipos de dispositivos, garantindo que os usuários possam jogar a qualquer hora e em qualquer lugar, seja no desktop ou no celular.

Ao acessar a plataforma, os jogadores têm acesso a uma ampla variedade de jogos, além de recursos que tornam a experiência ainda mais agradável, como bônus atrativos, promoções e um atendimento ao cliente de excelência. O 0e0efoca em criar um ambiente dinâmico, que agrada tanto aos iniciantes quanto aos jogadores mais experientes.

Jogos no 0e0e: Diversão Sem Limites Uma das maiores vantagens do 0e0e é sua vasta seleção de jogos, que atende aos mais diversos gostos e preferências. Seja você fã de jogos de habilidade, estratégia ou entretenimento de alta ação, a plataforma tem opções para todos. Entre os jogos mais populares, encontramos desde clássicos da cultura de jogos até títulos exclusivos que você não encontra facilmente em outras plataformas.

Os jogos disponíveis são desenvolvidos por fornecedores renomados da indústria, garantindo gráficos impressionantes, jogabilidade fluida e uma experiência imersiva. Cada jogo foi cuidadosamente selecionado para proporcionar momentos de diversão, com desafios que mantêm os jogadores engajados e motivados a explorar cada vez mais as opções da plataforma.

Uma das atrações mais procuradas pelos usuários do 0e0e são os jogos de mesa, que oferecem uma experiência tradicional de jogo com um toque moderno. Os jogadores podem escolher entre várias modalidades, cada uma com regras fáceis de aprender, mas desafiadoras o suficiente para manter o interesse.

Além disso, a plataforma oferece jogos com temas variados, desde aventuras épicas a opções mais leves e descontraídas. Seja você um jogador casual ou alguém em busca de competição, há sempre algo para experimentar no 0e0e.

Experiência do Jogador: Conforto e Inovação O 0e0e entende que a experiência do jogador vai além da simples escolha de jogos. A plataforma investe em diversos aspectos para garantir que a navegação seja intuitiva e sem complicações. O processo de registro e acesso aos jogos é simples, permitindo que qualquer pessoa, independentemente da sua familiaridade com plataformas digitais, possa começar a jogar rapidamente.

Além disso, o 0e0e conta com um suporte ao cliente eficiente, pronto para ajudar em qualquer questão que possa surgir durante a jornada do jogador. A equipe de suporte está disponível 24 horas por dia, 7 dias por semana, oferecendo um atendimento rápido e amigável.

Para tornar a experiência ainda mais imersiva, o 0e0e disponibiliza uma série de promoções e bônus especiais para seus usuários. Estes benefícios são pensados para aumentar a diversão e proporcionar mais oportunidades de ganhar, criando um ambiente onde os jogadores podem aproveitar ao máximo cada momento.

A plataforma também oferece métodos de pagamento rápidos e seguros, garantindo que os depósitos e retiradas sejam realizados de maneira tranquila, sem qualquer complicação. A segurança dos dados do usuário é uma prioridade para o 0e0e, que utiliza tecnologia de ponta para proteger todas as informações pessoais e financeiras.

Conclusão: O 0e0e Como a Escolha Certa para os Jogadores O 0e0e é muito mais do que uma plataforma de jogos; é um espaço onde diversão, emoção e segurança se encontram. Com uma interface amigável, uma vasta seleção de jogos e um suporte ao cliente dedicado, o 0e0e oferece tudo o que um jogador precisa para se divertir e viver novas experiências. Seja você um iniciante ou um veterano, o 0e0e tem tudo para tornar sua jornada ainda mais emocionante e recompensadora. Não perca a chance de explorar tudo o que essa plataforma incrível tem a oferecer!

@ 2b998b04:86727e47

I recently released my first open-source tool:\ 👉 nostr-signal-filter

It fetches and formats your latest top-level Nostr note or long-form article, cleans up any embedded links using TinyURL, and outputs a clean version ready for reposting to:

• LinkedIn

• Facebook

• X / Twitter

---

⚙️ Built for Simplicity

The stack is intentionally minimal:

• Python + WebSockets + Bech32

• TinyURL API for link shortening

• Dockerized CLI usage:

bash

CopyEdit

docker run --rm -e PUBKEY=npub1yourpubkeyhere nostr-fetcher > latest.md

From idea to working repo took under 3 hours — including debugging, Docker tweaks, README cleanup, and tagging a clean release.\ \ This most certainly would have taken much longer if I had done this all without ChatGPTs' help.\ \ 🖼️ Example Output (latest.md)

text

CopyEdit

🕒 2025-05-20 22:24:17 📄 Note (originally posted on Nostr/primal.net) --- 🚨 New long-form drop: AI Isn’t Magic. It’s Engineering. How I use ChatGPT like any other tool in the stack — with iteration, discernment, and real output. Read it here: https://tinyurl.com/ynv7jq6g ⚡ Zaps appreciated if it resonates. --- 🔗 View on Nostr: https://tinyurl.com/yobvaxkx

---

🧪 Where I Used It

• ✅ My LinkedIn post ->

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew-g-stanton_primal-activity-7330808691933282304-QjmF?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAABQv18BeAPYRkxkYSr1mQStB9TczIhoXvQ

• ✅ Facebook: clean rendering with preview ->

https://www.facebook.com/andrewgstanton/posts/pfbid027EHZ1brPRBkHQKNsqUijPdPZGvK9id9asErdTxwjSDEf336o9TsuDPeKugToVDx7l

• ✅ X/Twitter: teaser + link (had to truncate for character limit) ->

https://x.com/AndyGStanton/status/1925045477172773136

---

🙌 Try It Yourself

If you're publishing on Nostr but still sharing on legacy platforms:

👉 github.com/andrewgstanton/nostr-signal-filter

• Clean output

• Easy to run

• Portable via Docker

All it needs is your npub.

---

⚡ Zap Me If You Found This Useful

If this tool saved you time — or if it sparked ideas for your own Nostr publishing stack —\ send a zap my way. I’m always looking to connect with other creators who value signal > noise.

🔗 Zap on Primal -> https://primal.net/andrewgstanton

---

🔭 Next Features (I’d Love Help With)

• Archive all notes + articles (not just the latest 50) to archive.md

• Function to shorten links in any text block

• Output post.md for any given Nostr event ID (not just latest)

• Optional API integration to post directly to LinkedIn or X

---

Built with ChatGPT’s help.\ Iterated. Published. Cross-posted.\ That’s proof of work.

@ 58537364:705b4b85

คนเรามักจะเห็นคุณค่าของสิ่งใด ส่วนใหญ่ก็ใน ๒ สถานการณ์คือ หนึ่ง ตอนที่ยังไม่ได้มา หรือ สอง ตอนที่เสียไปแล้ว

อันนี้มันเป็นโศกนาฏกรรม ที่เกิดขึ้นกับผู้คนจำนวนมาก การที่คนเรามีสิ่งดีๆ แต่ว่าเราไม่เห็นคุณค่า เพราะว่าเรามองออกไปนอกตัว ไปเห็นแต่สิ่งที่ตัวเองไม่มี อยากจะได้มา

คล้ายๆ กับเรื่อง หมาคาบเนื้อในนิทานอีสป ตอนเด็กๆ เราคงจำได้ มีหมาตัวหนึ่งคาบเนื้อมา เนื้อชิ้นใหญ่เลย มันดีใจมากแล้วมันก็วิ่งไปยังที่ที่ มันจะได้กินเนื้ออย่างมีความสุข มีช่วงหนึ่งก็ต้องเดินข้ามสะพาน มันก็ชะโงกหน้าไปมองที่ลำธารหรือลำคลอง

ก็เห็นเงาตัวเอง เงานั่นมันก็ใหญ่ แล้วมันก็พบว่าในเงานั้น เนื้อในเงามันใหญ่กว่าเนื้อที่ตัวเองคาบ มันอยากได้เนื้อก้อนนั้นมากเลย เพราะว่ามันเป็นก้อนที่ใหญ่กว่า

มันก็เลยอ้าปาก เพื่อที่จะไปงับเนื้อในเงานั้น พอมันอ้าปาก ก็ปรากฏว่าเนื้อในปาก ก็หลุดตกลงแม่น้ำ แล้วเนื้อในเงานั้นก็หายไป เป็นอันว่าหมดเลย อดทั้ง 2 อย่าง .

ฉะนั้น คนเราถ้าหากเรา กลับมาเห็นคุณค่าของสิ่งที่เรามีอยู่ เราจะมีความสุขได้ง่าย อาจจะไม่ใช่สิ่งของ อาจจะไม่ใช่ผู้คน แต่อาจจะเป็นสุขภาพของเรา

อาจจะได้แก่ ลมหายใจของเรา ที่ยังหายใจได้ปกติ รวมถึงการที่ เรายังเดินเหินไปไหนมาไหนได้ การที่เรายังมองเห็น การที่เรายังได้ยิน

หลายคนมีสิ่งนี้อยู่ในตัว แต่กลับไม่เห็นค่า และไม่รู้สึกว่าตัวเองโชคดี กลับไปมองว่า ฉันยังไม่มีโน่นยังไม่มีนี่ ไม่มีบ้าน ไม่มีรถ ไม่มีเงิน

รู้สึกว่าทุกข์ระทมเหลือเกิน

ทำไมฉันจึงลำบากแบบนี้ ทั้งที่ตัวเองก็มีสิ่งดีๆ ในตัว สุขภาพ ความปกติสุข อิสรภาพที่เดินไปไหนมาไหนได้

แต่กลับไม่เห็นค่า เพราะว่ามัวแต่ไปสนใจสิ่งที่ตัวเองยังไม่มี

ซึ่งเป็นอนาคต

ถ้าเราหันกลับมาเห็นคุณค่าของสิ่งที่เรามีอยู่ แล้วก็ไม่ไปพะวงหรือให้ความสนใจกับสิ่งที่ยังไม่มี เราจะมีความสุขได้ง่าย อันนี้คือ ความหมายหนึ่งของการทำปัจจุบันให้ดีที่สุด

…

การทำปัจจุบันให้ดีที่สุด พระอาจารย์ไพศาล วิสาโล

@ 9c9d2765:16f8c2c2

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

“It’s over… isn’t it?” Sandra asked gently, her eyes scanning James’s expression as they stood on the balcony overlooking the city skyline. The cold breeze tousled her hair, but James remained still, his hands tucked into the pockets of his tailored suit.

“No,” James replied calmly, his gaze fixated on the horizon. “This is just the eye of the storm. The calm before the reckoning.”

Sandra stepped closer, concern etched into her features. “Mark and Helen are finished in the eyes of the public and everyone round us. The evidence is damning. The authorities have issued warrants. What more could you possibly be planning?”

James turned to face her, a half-smile playing at the edge of his lips one not born of triumph, but of determination.

“Reputation is one thing,” he said, his voice measured and resolute, “but accountability is another. I won’t stop until every lie they told, every trap they laid, and every person they corrupted is exposed. I won’t just silence them, I'll dismantle everything they built with deceit.”

Inside the boardroom, Charles, Rita, and several executives were reviewing the latest media analytics. The company’s reputation had not only recovered but skyrocketed. Investors who once hesitated were now eager, flooding JP Enterprises with new partnerships and proposals.

Rita looked up from the screen. “We’ve just surpassed our projected valuation for the quarter. The crisis gave us more publicity than a million-dollar campaign would.”

Charles chuckled under his breath. “They handed us a scandal, and we turned it into a spotlight.”

Meanwhile, in a dark corner of the city, Mark and Helen sat huddled in a private lawyer’s office. Their appearance had changed drastically; both looked worn, disheveled, stripped of the pride and arrogance they once were like a crown.

“I told you,” Mark muttered bitterly, “we shouldn’t have gone after him like that. We were greedy. And now look ruined.”

Helen clenched her fists. Her pride was still fighting, even though her kingdom had collapsed. “It’s not over. We still have connections. The law can be manipulated. If we go down, we don’t go alone.”

“And say what?” Mark snapped. “That we were outsmarted? That the man we called a street dog now owns eighty-five percent of our legacy? That he single handedly turned the world against us?”

Helen’s jaw tightened. “If there’s one thing I know about James, it’s that he never lets go of the past. And that might just be his weakness.”

But even as they plotted, they didn’t know James had already anticipated their final desperation. Back at JP Enterprises, in a high-security conference room, investigators were filing reports, financial audits, bribery trails, hacked communications all linked directly to the duo. James had ensured that every illegal move they made was documented, cross-referenced, and legally binding.

Later that evening, James stood alone in his office, the city bathed in golden twilight. He took a slow breath and whispered to himself:

“They mistook my silence for surrender. My fall for failure. But every exile sharpens a man’s edge. And now they’ll witness the blade.”

Just then, a knock came at the door.

“Come in,” he said.

It was Mrs. JP, her expression soft but proud.

“You handled yourself like a true heir,” she said, walking toward him.

James turned, emotion flickering in his eyes.

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

She reached out, holding his hand. “Your father and I… we made mistakes. We let our fear and our pride cloud your judgment. But seeing you today, the man you’ve become, I see now that everything we hoped for in a successor lives in you.”

He smiled faintly. “I didn’t do it for recognition. I did it for dignity. For every time I was humiliated, overlooked, and discarded. I wanted to prove that worth isn’t given, it's earned.”

As they stood in silence, the city lights below gleamed like stars scattered on the earth.

The evening had settled quietly over the city, and the soft hum of the wind outside was the only sound that broke the stillness of the room. James stood at the window of his office, watching the neon lights flicker to life across the skyline, each glow a reminder of his success. His gaze, however, wasn’t on the bright lights of victory, but on the darker shadows of those who had tried to ruin him.

He turned around as the door clicked open, revealing Rita, who walked in with a folder in her hands. There was something different in her posturean air of finality in the way she carried herself.

"I’ve been reviewing the report from the legal team," she began, laying the folder on his desk. "The evidence against Mark and Helen is irrefutable. Their assets are frozen, and their personal accounts are being audited. They’re on the brink of losing everything."

James nodded, his face unreadable, but inside, the weight of the moment settled over him. This was the culmination of years of effort, the battle for his honor, his family's name, and the very future of JP Enterprises. But the victory, as sweet as it was, felt hollow.

"Is that all?" he asked, his voice low.

Rita hesitated for a moment. "There’s something else. Something you need to see."

She opened the folder, revealing a series of photographs and documents of Mark and Helen in compromising positions, shaking hands with notorious figures, and receiving bribes from external business associates. The weight of their corruption was staggering. The photos captured the desperation in their eyes, the deceit in their every smile.

James glanced at the images, but there was no anger in his expression. Only an eerie calm.

"I don’t need to see this," he said quietly. "I already know everything."

Rita frowned, confused. "Then why keep going? Why dig into their past when you already have what you need?"

James leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "Because it's not about them anymore." He paused, allowing the gravity of his words to settle. "It’s about ensuring that no one else dares to make the same mistakes they did. No one else will ever underestimate me again."

Rita studied him carefully. There was a resolute determination in his eyes a fierce will that had carried him from the streets to the heights of power. She couldn’t help but admire his unwavering focus.

"You’ve become something entirely different," she murmured. "The man we see now... is nothing like the one who started this journey."

James met her gaze, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

„Die Tatsache, dass das Leben keinen Sinn hat, ist ein Grund zu leben – und zwar der einzige.“

– Emil Cioran

Der Mensch steht im Zentrum eines Raumes, der sich weigert, eine Mitte zu haben. Alles um ihn herum scheint geordnet, doch diese Ordnung ist ein leises Zittern vor dem Chaos, das jede Struktur unterwandert. Es gibt kein Versprechen, das nicht gebrochen wird, kein Licht, das nicht aus einer tieferen Dunkelheit geboren wird. So flackert die Existenz – ein schwankender Schein über einem Abgrund, der kein Echo zurückgibt.

Das Nichts ist nicht Abwesenheit. Es ist Gegenwart ohne Form. Es liegt nicht hinter den Dingen, sondern in ihnen – wie ein Geruch, der bleibt, wenn alle Türen geschlossen sind. Es ist der unsichtbare Kern der Welt, der Grund, warum jedes Wort in sich selbst zerfällt, jede Bewegung zu spät kommt, jeder Sinn sich verflüchtigt, sobald man ihn greifen will. Das Schweigen des Universums ist keine Antwort – es ist die endgültige Form der Gleichgültigkeit.

Wer dem Nichts begegnet, verliert nicht die Hoffnung – er erkennt, dass es nie Hoffnung gab, sondern nur das Bedürfnis danach. Die Leere ist kein Loch, das gefüllt werden will, sondern ein Zustand, der alles durchdringt. Man lebt nicht trotz des Nichts – man lebt im Nichts, als Ahnung, als Abdruck, als Fußspur im Staub eines Raums, den niemand betritt.

Melancholie ist kein Gefühl, sondern ein Aggregatzustand des Bewusstseins, das zu viel gesehen hat, um noch zu glauben. Sie trägt kein Schwarz, sie schreit nicht. Sie fließt durch uns wie ein langsamer Strom, der die Farben der Dinge auswäscht. In ihr liegt kein Wunsch nach Erlösung, sondern nur das Wissen, dass selbst Erlösung eine weitere Form von Fessel wäre. Man kehrt nicht heim, man löst sich auf – langsam, leise, endgültig.

Der Tod ist nicht der Feind des Lebens, sondern seine Form. Leben ist der Prozess des langsamen Verschwindens, und Sterben ist nur die letzte Geste einer Bewegung, die längst begonnen hat. Die Zeit nimmt nicht, sie löscht. Sie lässt zurück, was nicht mehr gefüllt werden kann: ein Umriss, eine Hülle, ein Bild ohne Substanz. Der Mensch verliert sich nicht am Ende, sondern in jedem Moment, den er durchschreitet.

Erinnerung ist kein Besitz, sondern eine Wunde. Was zurückblickt, blickt durch einen zerbrochenen Spiegel – jedes Fragment spiegelt etwas, aber nie das Ganze. Und wer sich darin sucht, findet nicht sich selbst, sondern die Lücken zwischen den Bildern. Vergangenheit ist nicht, was war, sondern das, was nie ganz war – und deshalb nie ganz vergeht.

Existenz ist ein Exil. Nicht von einem Ort, sondern von sich selbst. Man ist sich nicht nahe, man ist sich fremd – und in dieser Fremdheit liegt keine Tragik, sondern ein nüchterner Frieden. Einsamkeit ist kein Zustand, sondern die einzig mögliche Beziehung zur Welt. Alles andere ist Täuschung – ein letzter Versuch, das Unvereinbare zu versöhnen.

Sinn verflüchtigt sich mit jeder Geste, die ihn zu fassen sucht. Je näher man kommt, desto mehr löst er sich auf – wie Nebel vor der Hand. Was bleibt, ist das Bild der Suche selbst, eine Bewegung im Leeren. Man begreift nicht – man kreist. Und in diesem Kreis liegt der Kern der Erfahrung: nicht das Ziel, sondern die Auflösung aller Ziele.

Die einzige Freiheit liegt nicht im Handeln, sondern im Entgleiten. Der Verzicht auf Bedeutung, auf Richtung, auf Rettung – das ist der erste Akt der Selbstermächtigung. Nicht laut, nicht kämpferisch, sondern als stilles Hinwegtreten aus dem Spiel. Dort beginnt das, was nicht mehr genommen werden kann: die Unabhängigkeit vom Verlangen.

Nichts bleibt. Und gerade deshalb geschieht alles. Nicht um zu sein, sondern um zu vergehen. Und vielleicht liegt darin die letzte Schönheit – nicht im Bestehen, sondern im Verlöschen. In der Fähigkeit, in Ketten zu tanzen, wissend, dass jede Kette aus Licht besteht, das schon lange erloschen ist.

@ 90152b7f:04e57401

WikiLeaks The Global Intelligence Files

Released on 2013-03-11 00:00 GMT

| Email-ID | 364528 | | -------- | --------------------------- | | Date | 2007-09-20 03:02:09 | | From | os@stratfor.com | | To | intelligence@stratfor.com |

Rice, Israeli FM discuss Israeli decision of defining Gaza as "hostile\ entity"\ 2007-09-20 00:41:16\ http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-09/20/content_6756959.htm\ \ JERUSALEM, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Visiting U.S. Secretary of State\ Condoleezza Rice met with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on\ Wednesday, the two discussed Israel's decision that defined the Hamas-\ controlled Gaza Strip as a "hostile entity."\ \ At a joint press conference held after their meeting, Rice told the\ reporters that the Palestinian Hamas is a "hostile entity" to U.S. as well.\ \ Israel's Security Cabinet declared the Gaza Strip a "hostile entity" on\ Wednesday ahead of Rice's visit and said it would cutoff power and fuel\ supplies to the strip.\ \ Gaza's population, largely impoverished, is almost entirely\ dependent on Israel for the supply of electricity, water and fuel, and a\ cutoff would deepen their hardship.\ \ Since the Hamas takeover in June, Israel has closed crossings with\ Gaza almost entirely, allowing in only humanitarian aid. However, Rice\ reiterated that the United States will not abandon the innocent\ Palestinians in Gaza.\ \ For her part, Livni said that Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip\ two years ago, hoping that could lead to the establishment of a\ Palestinian state, but only get almost daily rocket attacks in return.\ \ "We expect the Palestinians to understand that Israeli security is\ in their own interests," Livni said, adding that Palestinians must\ understand "supporting Hamas won't help them."\ \ The Israeli Security Cabinet's declaration of Gaza as an "hostile\ entity" could lead to the most severe retaliatory measure taken by\ Israel against Palestinian rocket fire from the strip.\ \ The crude rocket attacks have killed 12 people in southern Israel in\ the past seven years, injured dozens more and badly disrupted daily life\ in the region.\ \ Last week, a Qassam rocket hit an Israeli military base near the\ Gaza Strip, wounding over 60 soldiers in the attack. The attack then\ sparked calls for the government to take harsh response against the Gaza\ Strip, which has been under the control of Hamas since it violently took\ over the enclave in mid June.\ \ The Jewish states has been holding Hamas responsible for the attack,\ although the movement has not been directly involved in the attacks.\ Israel still accused the Islamic movement of doing little to halt them.\ \ Apart from the Palestinian issue, Rice also discussed with Livni\ issues about Iran, Lebanon and the Middle East peace progress.\ \ She said Israel and the Palestinians are showing good faith in their\ negotiations towards a "two state solution."\ \ Regarding Iranian issues, Rice told reporters that diplomatic mean\ is a part of efforts to halt the Iranian nuclear program, but stressed\ it "has to have teeth."\ \ Rice, who had visited this region in August, is also expected to\ hold separate meetings on Wednesday with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud\ Barak and the Likud party head Binyamin Netanyahu.\ \ She will then hold a dinner meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud\ Olmert.\ \ Rice is scheduled to leave here Thursday afternoon and visit the\ West Bank city of Ramallah for meetings with the Palestinian leadership\ on Thursday.

@ 15f9e159:ca9a5ac4

A 55kd é uma plataforma inovadora no cenário de jogos online, criada para oferecer aos jogadores uma experiência única e envolvente. Se você está procurando por uma maneira divertida de passar o tempo, explorar novos jogos e viver grandes emoções, a 55kd pode ser o lugar ideal. Neste artigo, vamos explorar como a 55kd se destaca, desde sua introdução até a experiência dos jogadores e a vasta gama de jogos disponíveis.

Introdução à Plataforma 55kd A 55kd surgiu com a missão de revolucionar o mundo dos jogos online, oferecendo uma plataforma fácil de navegar, segura e repleta de opções de entretenimento. Com um design moderno e uma interface amigável, a plataforma foi desenvolvida para atender tanto jogadores iniciantes quanto veteranos, garantindo que todos se sintam confortáveis e imersos na experiência.

A 55kd prioriza a acessibilidade e a praticidade, permitindo que os jogadores acessem os jogos de forma rápida e sem complicações. Com um sistema eficiente de registro e uma plataforma intuitiva, novos usuários podem se cadastrar e começar a jogar rapidamente, sem a necessidade de processos complexos.

Variedade de Jogos na 55kd A plataforma 55kdse destaca pela grande variedade de jogos que oferece aos seus usuários. Desde opções de estratégia até os jogos mais emocionantes de sorte e habilidade, há algo para todos os gostos. A cada visita, os jogadores podem esperar novas e emocionantes opções para explorar.

Entre os jogos mais populares, destacam-se as opções de jogos de mesa, slots de vídeo e jogos de habilidade. Cada jogo foi cuidadosamente selecionado e desenvolvido para garantir uma experiência de alta qualidade, com gráficos impressionantes, jogabilidade fluida e recursos inovadores.

Os jogos de mesa, por exemplo, oferecem desafios para aqueles que preferem jogos de raciocínio e estratégia. Já os slots de vídeo são ideais para quem busca emoção e diversão instantânea, com uma ampla gama de temas e bônus que aumentam a adrenalina.

Além disso, a 55kd também oferece jogos de habilidade, permitindo que os jogadores mostrem sua destreza e competência. Esses jogos são perfeitos para aqueles que gostam de testar suas habilidades e estratégias, competindo com outros jogadores por grandes prêmios.

A Experiência do Jogador na 55kd Uma das maiores preocupações da 55kd é garantir que seus jogadores tenham uma experiência de jogo impecável. A plataforma investe constantemente em melhorias para proporcionar um ambiente seguro, rápido e transparente. A segurança é uma prioridade, e a plataforma utiliza tecnologias de ponta para proteger as informações dos usuários, além de garantir transações rápidas e seguras.

A 55kd também se destaca pelo seu suporte ao cliente. Se os jogadores tiverem dúvidas ou enfrentarem problemas durante o jogo, uma equipe de suporte altamente treinada está disponível para oferecer assistência imediata. O suporte é acessível por vários canais, como chat ao vivo e e-mail, garantindo que os jogadores se sintam sempre amparados.

Além disso, a plataforma oferece um sistema de bônus e promoções que torna a experiência ainda mais emocionante. Oferecendo prêmios, ofertas exclusivas e recompensas constantes, a 55kd mantém os jogadores motivados e engajados, proporcionando uma sensação contínua de novidade e prazer.

Conclusão A 55kd se destaca como uma plataforma completa e de alta qualidade, que oferece não apenas uma ampla gama de jogos, mas também uma experiência personalizada para cada jogador. Com uma interface intuitiva, jogos diversificados e um suporte excepcional, a 55kd é a escolha ideal para quem busca diversão e entretenimento de qualidade.

Se você ainda não experimentou a 55kd, está na hora de se juntar a essa comunidade vibrante e explorar tudo o que ela tem a oferecer. Prepare-se para uma jornada inesquecível de diversão, desafios e grandes vitórias.

@ 51bbb15e:b77a2290

Yeah, I’m sure everything in the file is legit. 👍 Let’s review the guard witness testimony…Oh wait, they weren’t at their posts despite 24/7 survellience instructions after another Epstein “suicide” attempt two weeks earlier. Well, at least the video of the suicide is in the file? Oh wait, a techical glitch. Damn those coincidences!

At this point, the Trump administration has zero credibility with me on anything related to the Epstein case and his clients. I still suspect the administration is using the Epstein files as leverage to keep a lot of RINOs in line, whereas they’d be sabotaging his agenda at every turn otherwise. However, I just don’t believe in ends-justify-the-means thinking. It’s led almost all of DC to toss out every bit of the values they might once have had.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

„Wahrheit ist kein Besitz, den man verteidigt, sondern ein Prozess, den man gemeinsam gestaltet.“

– frei nach dem Geist freier Netzwerke und resilienter Systeme

Bitcoin ist mehr als nur ein monetäres Protokoll. Es ist ein kulturelles Artefakt, ein philosophisches Statement und ein praktischer Ausdruck radikaler Souveränität, kollektiver Verantwortung und struktureller Ethik. Wer Bitcoin ausschließlich als technologisches Experiment oder ökonomisches Asset betrachtet, verfehlt seine tiefere Bedeutung: Bitcoin ist eine politische Philosophie – nicht in Büchern niedergeschrieben, sondern in Code gegossen. Eine Philosophie, die nicht behauptet, die Wahrheit zu kennen, sondern eine Methode zur gemeinsamen Verifikation. Eine Philosophie des Konsenses.

Im Zentrum dieser Philosophie steht die Einsicht, dass Legitimität nicht von oben gewährt, sondern von unten erzeugt wird. Keine zentrale Instanz entscheidet, was gilt. Keine Autorität garantiert Vertrauen. Stattdessen entsteht alles aus einem gemeinsamen, freiwilligen Prozess: offen, nachvollziehbar, überprüfbar. Bitcoin ersetzt Vertrauen in Personen durch Vertrauen in Regeln – nicht aus Zynismus, sondern aus epistemischer Bescheidenheit gegenüber menschlicher Fehlbarkeit.

Dieser Perspektivwechsel ist radikal. Er stellt nicht nur bestehende Geldsysteme infrage, sondern auch unsere politischen und institutionellen Grundlagen. Während klassische Systeme auf Hierarchien, Exklusivität und delegierter Macht beruhen, operiert Bitcoin auf Basis offener Teilhabe und individueller Verantwortung. Jeder Knoten ist autonom – aber keiner ist isoliert. Die Wahrheit, die sich im Netzwerk konstituiert, ist nicht das Produkt von Autorität, sondern das Ergebnis reproduzierbarer Verifikation. Nicht Glaube zählt, sondern Prüfung.

Konsens ist kein romantischer Idealzustand, sondern ein dynamischer Balanceakt. Er wird nicht durch Harmonie hergestellt, sondern durch Reibung, Konflikt und Iteration. Konsens in Bitcoin ist kein Konsens der Meinungen, sondern der Regeln. Und genau darin liegt seine Stabilität. Denn wo Meinungen divergieren, können Regeln konvergieren – vorausgesetzt, sie sind transparent, überprüfbar und konsequent angewandt.

Diese Logik verschiebt den Fokus von zentralisierter Macht zu verteilter Verantwortung. Bitcoin kennt keine exekutive Gewalt, keine privilegierten Klassen, keine Instanz, die im Namen aller spricht. Es kennt nur Regeln – und die freie Entscheidung, ihnen zu folgen oder nicht. Wer sich dem Konsens nicht anschließen will, kann abspalten. Forking ist keine Katastrophe, sondern ein systemimmanenter Ausdruck von Wahlfreiheit. In der Möglichkeit der Spaltung liegt die Stärke der Struktur.

Diese strukturelle Freiheit unterscheidet sich grundlegend vom klassischen, liberalen Freiheitsverständnis. Es geht nicht um die Willkür des Einzelnen, sondern um die Freiheit von willkürlicher Macht. Es ist kein Plädoyer für Individualismus, sondern für institutionelle Unabhängigkeit. Die Architektur selbst garantiert die Freiheit – nicht eine Instanz, die über sie wacht. In dieser Ethik ist Freiheit kein Ideal, sondern ein Designprinzip. Kein Zustand, sondern eine Infrastruktur.

Verantwortung entsteht nicht durch Appelle, sondern durch Transparenz. Jede Entscheidung, jede Transaktion, jeder Regelbruch ist öffentlich nachvollziehbar. Es gibt keine Geheimabsprachen, keine Privilegien, keine Ausnahmen. In dieser radikalen Offenheit liegt eine neue Form von Gerechtigkeit: nicht moralisch verordnet, sondern technisch ermöglicht. Gleichheit ist kein Ziel, sondern eine Eigenschaft des Systems selbst.

Bitcoin ist damit nicht nur ein technisches Protokoll, sondern ein Vorschlag für ein neues Modell gesellschaftlicher Ordnung. Eine Ordnung ohne Zentrum, aber nicht ohne Struktur. Eine Praxis der Wahrheit ohne Wahrheitsmonopol. Eine Gemeinschaft, die sich nicht über ideologische Übereinstimmung definiert, sondern über gemeinsame Regeln. Das politische Prinzip, das hier wirkt, ist die Zustimmung – nicht die Kontrolle.

In einer Zeit wachsender institutioneller Erosion, in der Vertrauen in klassische Strukturen schwindet, zeigt Bitcoin einen alternativen Weg: nicht zurück zur Vergangenheit, sondern nach vorn zu neuen Formen des Zusammenlebens. Es ist ein System, das sich nicht auf Versprechen verlässt, sondern auf Rechenbarkeit. Eine Ethik des Handelns, nicht des Glaubens. Eine Ordnung, die nicht durch Macht entsteht, sondern durch das Überflüssigmachen von Macht.

Bitcoin ist nicht perfekt. Aber es ist ehrlich in seiner Imperfektion. Es verspricht keine Utopie, sondern bietet ein robustes Werkzeug. Ein Werkzeug, das uns zwingt, über Macht, Wahrheit und Verantwortung neu nachzudenken. Es ist kein Ende, sondern ein Anfang – eine Einladung, eine neue politische Realität zu gestalten: nicht von oben diktiert, sondern von unten geschaffen.

@ cd17b2d6:8cc53332

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@ c1e6505c:02b3157e

This is day two of testing the Leica Summaron 35mm f2.8 on the Fujifilm X-Pro2.

The first part of this story you can find here on StackerNews**

TL;DR: I think I’m really enjoying this lens.

I went into it thinking I’d probably just sell it since it was gifted to me - assumed I wouldn’t like it. But after just a couple of days with it mounted on the X-Pro2, I’ve been surprisingly drawn to it.

Shooting wide open at f2.8 (which is how I’m testing it - to best reveal the lens’s character), the soft roll-off is really pleasing. It feels organic. The lens is over 50 years old, so I expected some quirks-but the quality feels natural, not overly “vintage". Takes the digital edge off.

The short focus throw is also really nice. Compared to the Summicron 35mm f2 v3 I usually shoot on my M262 (which has a longer throw), the Summaron feels tighter and more responsive when zone focusing.

One gripe: the infinity lock. It’s kind of annoying. I find myself accidentally locking it too often, but I’m getting used to holding the button down as I rotate the ring. I’ve read others complain about it, so I know I’m not alone there.

Most of these shots were from a bike ride to the river - about 6 miles out to swim and enjoy the sun. Perfect day for making a few photos.

This kind of work is honestly just fun. I enjoy the process, and even more so once I’m happy with the results and can share them.

Still building confidence in my work over time. I think I’m slowly refining my style - even if the subject matter is simple. Easier said than done, as any editor/curator knows (and I say this as one through NOICE Magazine).

Let me know what you think. I’ll try to upload higher resolution versions this time around (but not too high).

*Also, I use a program called Dehancer for creating the grain in these photographs. I highly recommend the program actually, I've been using it for a long time. If you would like to try it out, I have a promo code. Use "Pictureroom" for 10% off I believe.

You can further support me and my work by sending sats to colincz\@getalby.com. Thank you.

(note* this is being publised from the updated Primal reads client)

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Sky Map (it's free and open source)
2. Launch the app and tap Accept, then tap OK
3. When asked to access the device's location, tap While Using The App
4. Tap somewhere on the screen to activate the menu, then tap ⁝ and select Settings
5. Disable Send Usage Statistics
6. Return to the main screen and enjoy stargazing!

ℹ️ Use the 🔍 icon in the upper toolbar to search for a specific celestial body, or tap the 👁️ icon to activate night mode

@ bc6ccd13:f53098e4

The global population has been rising rapidly for the past two centuries when compared to historical trends. Fifty years ago, that trend seemed set to continue, and there was a lot of concern around the issue of overpopulation. But if you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ll know that while the population is still rising, that trend now seems set to reverse this century, and there’s every indication population could decline precipitously over the next two centuries.

Demographics is a field where predictions about the future are much more reliable than in most scientific fields. That’s because future population trends are “baked in” decades in advance. If you want to know how many fifty-year-olds there will be in forty years, all you have to do is count the ten-year-olds today and allow for mortality rates. That maximum was already determined by the number of births ten years ago, and absolutely nothing can change that now. The average person doesn’t think that through when they look at population trends. You hear a lot of “oh we just need to do more of x to help the declining birthrate” without an acknowledgement that future populations in a given cohort are already fixed by the number of births that already occurred.

As you can see, global birthrates have already declined close to the 2.3 replacement level, with some regions ahead of others, but all on the same trajectory with no region moving against the trend. I’m not going to speculate on the reasons for this, or even whether it’s a good or bad thing. Instead I’m going to make some observations about outcomes this trend could cause economically, and why. Like most macro issues, an individual can’t do anything to change the global landscape personally, but knowing what that landscape might look like is essential to avoiding fallout from trends outside your control.

The Resource Pie

Thomas Malthus popularized the concern about overpopulation with his 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population. The basic premise of the book was that population could grow and consume all the available resources, leading to mass poverty, starvation, disease, and population collapse. We can say in hindsight that this was incorrect, given that the global population has increased from less than a billion to over eight billion since then, and the apocalypse Malthus predicted hasn’t materialized. Exactly the opposite, in fact. The global standard of living has risen to levels Malthus couldn’t have imagined, much less predicted.

So where did Malthus go wrong? His hypothesis seems reasonable enough, and we do see a similar trend in certain animal populations. The base assumption Malthus got wrong was to assume resources are a finite, limiting factor to the human population. That at some point certain resources would be totally consumed, and that would be it. He treated it like a pie with a lot of slices, but still a finite number, and assumed that if the population kept rising, eventually every slice would be consumed and there would be no pie left for future generations. That turns out to be completely wrong.

Of course, the earth is finite at some abstract level. The number of atoms could theoretically be counted and quantified. But on a practical level, do humans exhaust the earth’s resources? I’d point to an article from Yale Scientific titled Has the Earth Run out of any Natural Resources? To quote,

> However, despite what doomsday predictions may suggest, the Earth has not run out of any resources nor is it likely that it will run out of any in the near future. > > In fact, resources are becoming more abundant. Though this may seem puzzling, it does not mean that the actual quantity of resources in the Earth’s crust is increasing but rather that the amount available for our use is constantly growing due to technological innovations. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the only resource we have exhausted is cryolite, a mineral used in pesticides and aluminum processing. However, that is not to say every bit of it has been mined away; rather, producing it synthetically is much more cost efficient than mining the existing reserves at its current value.

As it happens, we don’t run out of resources. Instead, we become better at finding, extracting, and efficiently utilizing resources, which means that in practical terms resources become more abundant, not less. In other words, the pie grows faster than we can eat it.

So is there any resource that actually limits human potential? I think there is, and history would suggest that resource is human ingenuity and effort. The more people are thinking about and working on a problem, the more solutions we find and build to solve it. That means not only does the pie grow faster than we can eat it, but the more people there are, the faster the pie grows. Of course that assumes everyone eating pie is also working to grow the pie, but that’s a separate issue for now.

Productivity and Division of Labor

Why does having more people lead to more productivity? A big part of it comes down to division of labor and specialization. The best way to get really good at something is to do more of it. In a small community, doing just one thing simply isn’t possible. Everyone has to be somewhat of a generalist in order to survive. But with a larger population, being a specialist becomes possible. In fact, that’s the purpose of money, as I explained here.

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The more specialized an economy becomes, the more efficient it can be. There are big economies of scale in almost every task or process. So for example, if a single person tried to build a car from scratch, it would be extremely difficult and take a very long time. However, if you have a thousand people building a car, each doing a specific job, they can become very good at doing that specific job and do it much faster. And then you can move that process to a factory, and build machines to do specific jobs, and add even more efficiency.

But that only works if you’re building more than one car. It doesn’t make sense to build a huge factory full of specialized equipment that takes lots of time and effort to design and manufacture, and then only build one car. You need to sell thousands of cars, maybe even millions of cars, to pay off that initial investment. So division of labor and specialization relies on large populations in two different ways. First, you need a large population to have enough people to specialize in each task. But second and just as importantly, you need a large population of buyers for the finished product. You need a big market in order to make mass production economical.

Think of a computer or smartphone. It takes thousands of specialized processes, thousands of complex parts, and millions of people doing specialized jobs to extract the raw materials, process them, and assemble them into a piece of electronic hardware. And electronics are relatively expensive anyway. Imagine how impossible it would be to manufacture electronics economically, if the market demand wasn’t literally in the billions of units.

Stairs Up, Elevator Down

We’ve seen exponential increases in productivity over the past few centuries, resulting in higher living standards even as population exploded. Now, facing the prospect of a drastic trend reversal, what will happen to productivity and living standards? The typical sentiment seems to be “well, there are a lot of people already competing for resources, so if population does decline, that will just reduce the competition and leave a bigger slice of pie for each person, so we’ll all be getting wealthier as a result of population decline.”

This seems reasonable at first glance. Surely dividing the economic pie into fewer slices means a bigger slice for everyone, right? But remember, more specialization and division of labor is what made the pie as big as it is to begin with. And specialization depends on large populations for both the supply of specialized labor, and the demand for finished goods. Can complex supply chains and mass production withstand population reduction intact? I don’t think the answer is clear.

The idea that it will all be okay, and we’ll get wealthier as population falls, is based on some faulty assumptions. It assumes that wealth is basically some fixed inventory of “things” that exist, and it’s all a matter of distribution. That’s typical Marxist thinking, similar to the reasoning behind “tax the rich” and other utopian wealth transfer schemes.

The reality is, wealth is a dynamic concept with strong network effects. For example, a grocery store in a large city can be a valuable asset with a large potential income stream. The same store in a small village with a declining population can be an unprofitable and effectively worthless liability.

Even something as permanent as a house is very susceptible to network effects. If you currently live in an area where housing is scarce and expensive, you might think a declining population would be the perfect solution to high housing costs. However, if you look at a place that’s already facing the beginnings of a population decline, you’ll see it’s not actually that simple. Japan, for example, is already facing an aging and declining population. And sure enough, you can get a house in Japan for free, or basically free. Sounds amazing, right? Not really.

If you check out the reason houses are given away in Japan, you’ll find a depressing reality. Most of the free houses are in rural areas or villages where the population is declining, often to the point that the village becomes uninhabited and abandoned. It’s so bad that in 2018, 13.6% of houses in Japan were vacant. Why do villages become uninhabited? Well, it turns out that a certain population level is necessary to support the services and businesses people need. When the population falls too low, specialized businesses can no longer operated profitably. It’s the exact issue we discussed with division of labor and the need for a high population to provide a market for the specialist to survive. As the local stores, entertainment venues, and businesses close, and skilled tradesmen move away to larger population centers with more customers, living in the village becomes difficult and depressing, if not impossible. So at a certain critical level, a village that’s too isolated will reach a tipping point where everyone leaves as fast as possible. And it turns out that an abandoned house in a remote village or rural area without any nearby services and businesses is worth… nothing. Nobody wants to live there, nobody wants to spend the money to maintain the house, nobody wants to pay the taxes needed to maintain the utilities the town relied on. So they try to give the houses away to anyone who agrees to live there, often without much success.

So on a local level, population might rise gradually over time, but when that process reverses and population declines to a certain level, it can collapse rather quickly from there.

I expect the same incentives to play out on a larger scale as well. Complex supply chains and extreme specialization lead to massive productivity. But there’s also a downside, which is the fragility of the system. Specialization might mean one shop can make all the widgets needed for a specific application, for the whole globe. That’s great while it lasts, but what happens when the owner of that shop retires with his lifetime of knowledge and experience? Will there be someone equally capable ready to fill his shoes? Hopefully… But spread that problem out across the global economy, and cracks start to appear. A specialized part is unavailable. So a machine that relies on that part breaks down and can’t be repaired. So a new machine needs to be built, which is a big expense that drives up costs and prices. And with a falling population, demand goes down. Now businesses are spending more to make fewer items, so they have to raise prices to stay profitable. Now fewer people can afford the item, so demand falls even further. Eventually the business is forced to close, and other industries that relied on the items they produced are crippled. Things become more expensive, or unavailable at any price. Living standards fall. What was a stairway up becomes an elevator down.

Hope, From the Parasite Class?

All that being said, I’m not completely pessimistic about the future. I think the potential for an acceptable outcome exists.

I see two broad groups of people in the economy; producers, and parasites. One thing the increasing productivity has done is made it easier than ever to survive. Food is plentiful globally, the only issues are with distribution. Medical advances save countless lives. Everything is more abundant than ever before. All that has led to a very “soft” economic reality. There’s a lot of non-essential production, which means a lot of wealth can be redistributed to people who contribute nothing, and if it’s done carefully, most people won’t even notice. And that is exactly what has happened, in spades.

There are welfare programs of every type and description, and handouts to people for every reason imaginable. It’s never been easier to survive without lifting a finger. So millions of able-bodied men choose to do just that.

Besides the voluntarily idle, the economy is full of “bullshit jobs.” Shoutout to David Graeber’s book with that title. (It’s an excellent book and one I would highly recommend, even though the author was a Marxist and his conclusions are completely wrong.) A 2015 British poll asked people, “Does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world?” Only 50% said yes, while 37% said no and 13% were uncertain.

This won’t be a surprise to anyone who’s operated a business, or even worked in the private sector in general. There are three types of jobs; jobs that accomplish something productive, jobs that accomplish nothing of value, and jobs that actually hinder people trying to accomplish something productive. The number of jobs in the last two categories has grown massively over the years. This would include a lot of unnecessary administrative jobs, burdensome regulatory jobs, useless DEI and HR jobs, a large percentage of public sector jobs, most of the military-industrial complex, and the list is endless. All these jobs accomplish nothing worthwhile at best, and actively discourage those who are trying to accomplish something at worst.

Even among jobs that do accomplish some useful purpose, the amount of time spent actually doing the job continues to decline. According to a 2016 poll, American office workers spent only 39% of their workday actually doing their primary task. The other 61% was largely wasted on unproductive administrative tasks and meetings, answering emails, and just simply wasting time.

I could go on, but the point is, there’s a lot of slack in the economy. We’ve become so productive that the number of people actually doing the work to keep everyone fed, clothed, and cared for is only a small percentage of the population. In one sense, that’s a cause for optimism. The population could decline a lot, and we’d still have enough bodies to man the economic engine, as it were.

Aging

The thing with population decline, though, is nobody gets to choose who goes first. Not unless you’re a psychopathic dictator. So populations get old, then they get small. This means that the number of dependents in the economy rises naturally. Once people retire, they still need someone to grow the food, keep the lights on, and provide the medical care. And it doesn’t matter how much money the retirees have saved, either. Money is just a claim on wealth. The goods and services actually have to be provided by someone, and if that someone was never born, all the money in the world won’t change anything.

And the aging occurs on top of all the people already taking from the economy without contributing anything of value. So that seems like a big problem.

Currently, wealth redistribution happens through a combination of direct taxes, indirect taxation through deficit spending, and the whole gamut of games that happen when banks create credit/debt money by making loans. In a lot of cases, it’s very indirect and difficult to pin down. For example, someone has a “job” in a government office, enforcing pointless regulations that actually hinder someone in the private sector from producing something useful. Their paycheck comes from the government, so a combination of taxes on productive people, and deficit spending, which is also a tax on productive people. But they “have a job,” so who’s going to question their contribution to society? On the other hand, it could be a banker or hedge fund manager. They might be pulling in a massive salary, but at the core all they’re really doing is finding creative financial ways to transfer wealth from productive people to themselves, without contributing anything of value.

You’ll notice a common theme if you think about this problem deeply. Most of the wealth transfer that supports the unproductive, whether that’s welfare recipients, retirees, bureaucrats, corporate middle managers, or weapons manufacturers, is only possible through expanding the money supply. There’s a limit to how much direct taxation the productive will bear while the option to collect welfare exists. At a certain point, people conclude that working hard every day isn’t worth it, when taxes take so much of their wages that they could make almost as much without working at all. So the balance of what it takes to support the dependent class has to come indirectly, through new money creation.

As long as the declining population happens under the existing monetary system, the future looks bleak. There’s no limit to how much money creation and inflation the parasite class will use in an attempt to avoid work. They’ll continue to suck the productive class dry until the workers give up in disgust, and the currency collapses into hyperinflation. And you can’t run a complex economy without functional money, so productivity inevitably collapses with the currency.

The optimistic view is that we don’t have to continue supporting the failed credit/debt monetary system. It’s hurting productivity, messing up incentives, and contributing to increasing wealth inequality and lower living standards for the middle class. If we walk away from that system and adopt a hard money standard, the possibility of inflationary wealth redistribution vanishes. The welfare and warfare programs have to be slashed. The parasite class is forced to get busy, or starve. In that scenario, the declining population of workers can be offset by a massive shift away from “bullshit jobs” and into actual productive work.

While that might not be a permanent solution to declining population, it would at least give us time to find a real solution, without having our complex economy collapse and send our living standards back to the 17th century.

It’s a complex issue with many possible outcomes, but I think a close look at the effects of the monetary system on productivity shows one obvious problem that will make the situation worse than necessary. Moving to a better monetary system and creating incentives for productivity would do a lot to reduce the economic impacts of a declining population.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

This piece is the first in a series that will focus on things I think are a priority if your focus is similar to mine: building a strong family and safeguarding their future.

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Choosing the ideal place to raise a family is one of the most significant decisions you will ever make. For simplicity sake I will break down my thought process into key factors: strong property rights, the ability to grow your own food, access to fresh water, the freedom to own and train with guns, and a dependable community.

A Jurisdiction with Strong Property Rights

Strong property rights are essential and allow you to build on a solid foundation that is less likely to break underneath you. Regions with a history of limited government and clear legal protections for landowners are ideal. Personally I think the US is the single best option globally, but within the US there is a wide difference between which state you choose. Choose carefully and thoughtfully, think long term. Obviously if you are not American this is not a realistic option for you, there are other solid options available especially if your family has mobility. I understand many do not have this capability to easily move, consider that your first priority, making movement and jurisdiction choice possible in the first place.

Abundant Access to Fresh Water

Water is life. I cannot overstate the importance of living somewhere with reliable, clean, and abundant freshwater. Some regions face water scarcity or heavy regulations on usage, so prioritizing a place where water is plentiful and your rights to it are protected is critical. Ideally you should have well access so you are not tied to municipal water supplies. In times of crisis or chaos well water cannot be easily shutoff or disrupted. If you live in an area that is drought prone, you are one drought away from societal chaos. Not enough people appreciate this simple fact.

Grow Your Own Food

A location with fertile soil, a favorable climate, and enough space for a small homestead or at the very least a garden is key. In stable times, a small homestead provides good food and important education for your family. In times of chaos your family being able to grow and raise healthy food provides a level of self sufficiency that many others will lack. Look for areas with minimal restrictions, good weather, and a culture that supports local farming.

Guns

The ability to defend your family is fundamental. A location where you can legally and easily own guns is a must. Look for places with a strong gun culture and a political history of protecting those rights. Owning one or two guns is not enough and without proper training they will be a liability rather than a benefit. Get comfortable and proficient. Never stop improving your skills. If the time comes that you must use a gun to defend your family, the skills must be instinct. Practice. Practice. Practice.

A Strong Community You Can Depend On

No one thrives alone. A ride or die community that rallies together in tough times is invaluable. Seek out a place where people know their neighbors, share similar values, and are quick to lend a hand. Lead by example and become a good neighbor, people will naturally respond in kind. Small towns are ideal, if possible, but living outside of a major city can be a solid balance in terms of work opportunities and family security.

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Let me know if you found this helpful. My plan is to break down how I think about these five key subjects in future posts.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

„Die Zukunft kommt nicht von selbst. Sie wird still gebaut – Zeile für Zeile, Entscheidung für Entscheidung.“

– Ursprung vergessen, Wahrheit geblieben

Was, wenn all das – der Rückzug, das neue Geld, die Verantwortung, das Misstrauen – nicht Flucht ist, sondern Heimkehr? Nicht Ablehnung der Welt, sondern ihre bewusste Rekonstruktion? Was, wenn der wahre Bruch nicht darin liegt, ein anderes System zu benutzen, sondern darin, anders zu sein?

Die Technologie war nie das Ziel. Sie ist nur der Raum, in dem sich etwas Menschlicheres entfalten kann: Klarheit. Konsequenz. Verantwortung ohne Zwang. Vertrauen ohne Blindheit. Eigentum ohne Bedingungen. Was mit Code beginnt, endet mit einer Haltung.

Manche nennen es Exit. Andere Rebellion. Vielleicht ist es beides. Vielleicht ist es aber auch einfach der leise Moment, in dem jemand erkennt: Ich kann mich entscheiden. Und diese Entscheidung verändert nicht die Welt – aber sie verändert mich in ihr.

Die Freiheit, die hier entsteht, ist nicht laut. Nicht kollektiv. Nicht romantisch. Sie ist nüchtern, präzise, anspruchsvoll. Sie fordert Selbstprüfung statt Meinung, Handlung statt Haltung. Und sie zieht keine Grenzen zwischen Mensch und Werkzeug – sie zeigt nur, was möglich wird, wenn man bereit ist, weniger zu verlangen und mehr zu tragen.

Das neue Geld, das neue Netzwerk, die neue Kultur – sie leben nicht irgendwo da draußen. Sie entstehen dort, wo jemand beschließt, nicht mehr mitzuspielen – und auch nicht mehr zu kämpfen. Sondern einfach zu bauen. Still. Beharrlich. Unaufhaltsam.

@ 554ab6fe:c6cbc27e

Introduction

It is becoming increasingly evident that sunlight is an essential nutrient for the body. To be more precise, the various wavelengths coming from the sun provide different benefits to the body, and each play a vital role in human health. Even more so, they work in concert with one another, as one wavelength may help reduce the potentially harmful effects of another. Benefits are maximized and harm reduced when we are exposed to the full breadth of this rainbow. This article will attempt to shed light on these various benefits and synergies.

To put this discussion into context, it is important to consider the overall health benefits of sunlight exposure. In a Swedish study that followed 29,000 women over 20 years, it was found that the mortality rate was doubled in those who avoided sun exposure when compared to those that didn’t (Lindqvist et al. 2016). Women who avoided the sun were twice as likely to die, primarily from cardiovascular disease, and there was no difference between death from malignant melanoma between the two groups (Lindqvist et al. 2016).

To understand why sunlight is so beneficial to health, it is important to make clear the diverse range of wavelengths that come from the sun. We typically think of the sun as a provider of both visible light and warmth. However, the spectrum of light visible to the human eye is a narrow band of the wavelengths actually emitted by the sun.

As wavelengths become shorter, visible light becomes more blue. Beyond the visible spectrum on the blue end, we arrive at ultraviolet (UV) light. On the other end of the spectrum are the longer red wavelengths. Outside of the visible window on the red side is infrared (IR) light, which provides heat. For helpful context, consider how shorter wavelengths have a harder time penetrating our atmosphere. So, the skies of dawn and dusk are predominately filled with red and near-infrared (NIR) light, while the middle of the day contains more blue and UV light. The bulk of wavelengths from the sun throughout the day are on the NIR end. The entire spectrum of visible and non-visible light between UV and IR plays critical roles in human health, especially towards mitochondrial health and metabolism. To summarize these benefits and provide a general overview for the following article, the benefits are as follows:

• UV – aids in the production of vitamin D and melanin, but also causes DNA damage
  • Vitamin D improves immune system function and can repair DNA damage
  • Melanin stores electrons for use within mitochondria
• Blue – involved in our circadian rhythm as the absence of blue light triggers the production of melatonin, an important antioxidant.
• Near-infrared (NIR) – improves mitochondria function and energy production while also protecting us from the harms of blue and UV light.

Ultraviolet Light

Let’s begin with a discussion around the widely misunderstood light of UV. UV is often viewed as a dangerous form of light, given that it can cause DNA damage and lead to cancer. While true, this myopic point of view ignores the crucial benefits of UV light. UV light produces vitamin D, which counteracts the DNA damage caused by UV while providing many other benefits. Additionally, UV light triggers the production of melanin, which aids in mitochondrial function. Like all physiological processes in the body that are vital to survival, there is a release of POMC-derived endorphins when skin comes into contact with UV light (Fell et al. 2014). Any person likely reading this article can agree that sitting under the sun simply feels amazing. We are drawn to it in a deeply meaningful sense.

Vitamin D is one of the most important chemicals regarding health, and it is poorly named. The term ‘vitamin’ refers to a compound that is important for health but cannot be adequately made within the body and must be retrieved externally. Peoples of the Northern and Southern hemisphere who are exposed to less UV light during winter would, for example, historically retrieve their vitamin D from foods such as oily fish, seal blubber, whale blubber, and polar bear liver (Wacker and Holick 2013). In a similar way, vitamin D was given its name 100 years ago when it was found that cod-liver oil was capable of curing rickets, when it was found that the so-called vitamin could promote calcium deposition in bones (McCollum et al. 1922). It was only until much later, in 1981, when scientists discovered that human skin could also synthesize vitamin D (M. F. Holick 1981). A majority of human vitamin D is produced by the skin when exposed to UVB (280 – 315 nm), while a minor amount is gained through food (Prietl et al. 2013; Wacker and Holick 2013). Most cells and organs in the human body have vitamin D receptors and many organs also have the ability to produce it, this speaks to the incredibly important nature of this compound towards our health (Prietl et al. 2013; Wacker and Holick 2013). Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with various types of cancer, autoimmune disorders, type 1 diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis (MS), cardiovascular disease, and even schizophrenia (Michael F. Holick 2007; Wacker and Holick 2013). Multiple studies have also found that vitamin D deficiency increases all-cause mortality (Garland et al. 2014; Yang et al. 2011; Chowdhury et al. 2014).

Though the historical benefits to vitamin D were attributed mainly to bone health, it is far more important. Vitamin D plays a critical role in protecting against invasive pathogens, reducing autoimmunity, and maintaining overall health (Wimalawansa 2023). Regarding immunity, one way it does this is by causing a shift away from proinflammatory responses to one more centered around T cell activation (Prietl et al. 2013). Vitamin D has therefore been shown to benefit other disorders that are related to immunity, such as a study that found vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy reduced asthmatic symptoms in children (Litonjua et al. 2016). That being said, it is important to highlight how there is no substitution for natural sunlight as a means of getting vitamin D. Naturally produced vitamin D from the skin lasts 2-3 times longer in the body (Wacker and Holick 2013). This is one of many likely reasons why the natural avenue should always be preferred over the supplemental. A similar line of reasoning follows in methods of getting UV light, as natural sun exposure leads to a decrease of all-cause mortality while the use of artificial tanning beds has been shown to increase all-cause and cancer mortality (Yang et al. 2011). More on why this likely occurs later.

Beyond vitamin D’s benefits to the immune system, it is important to focus on the compound’s role in mitochondrial health. In a previous article I wrote titled “Sunlight and Health”, I delve deeper into the importance of mitochondria and the science of how they work. In simplicity, imagine how all life on earth centers around energy. The sun provides energy to the earth, and the plethora of life on earth harness and facilitate the flow of that energy. Plants and animals share a symbiotic relationship within this system. Plants, through photosynthesis, take in sunlight, CO2, and water and create a glucose precursor and oxygen. This occurs within the chloroplast of plant cells. Within human cells, we have mitochondria. Our mitochondria, in turn, take in oxygen and glucose and produce CO2, water, and energy for our bodies in the form of ATP. What the plant breathes out, we breathe in, and vice versa. Mitochondria are central to all animal life on earth, and the ATP produced is central to all physiologic function. If your mitochondria are unhealthy, you are unhealthy and will experience disease.

Vitamin D plays a role in mitochondrial health at a DNA level. Our cells have DNA, which we inherited from our mother and father. On top of that, the mitochondria within our cells have their own set of DNA (mtDNA). Our mitochondria come from our mother’s egg, and therefore our mtDNA always is inherited from our mother. UV light can cause damage to both our DNA and mtDNA (Birch-Machin, Russell, and Latimer 2013). This is what gives UV light the ability to cause cancer. Additionally, damage to the mtDNA within our mitochondria can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction. The more poorly our mitochondria function, the less energy we produce for our cells, and the less healthy our cells become. There is research being developed that suggests the role of vitamin D is to counterbalance this danger by regulating gene transcription and reducing mtDNA damage. A mouse study conducted in 2011, for example, found that different shapes of vitamin D reduce the development of tumors in mice following UV exposure (Dixon et al. 2011). It is not unlike nature to create a system of checks and balances, to ensure that the damaging effects of UV light are counterbalanced by a compound produced by the body when exposure to that same light.

While vitamin D may be important for mitochondrial health by protecting against mtDNA damage, melanin potentially plays a much larger role. Melanin is the pigment in our skin that make us darker. Not only is the diversity in skin tones across humans due to variations in melanin content, but a tan is also the creation of more melanin. To be more specific, the skin’s exposure to UVA (315-400nm) leads to the creation of melanin (Wicks et al. 2011). The most obvious benefit to the production of melanin, which most people could appreciate, is that the darker or tanner our skin is, the less damage we will receive from UV light. In this way, melanin shares a similar responsibility to vitamin D, where both are protecting the body against the very thing that forms them. Even more crucially however, melanin acts as a battery for the mitochondria.

During cellular respiration, where mitochondria turn oxygen and glucose into energy, electrons are stripped from the glucose for use. In other words, what our mitochondria really need are oxygen and electrons, and the glucose is simply a means to an end. If the mitochondria are the engine, then the electrons are the fuel (assuming you are still breathing). Due to its chemical structure, melanin is a natural reversible oxidation-reduction system (Figge 1939). In other words, it can both store and release electrons. Melanin is therefore a kind of battery, retrieving electrons from various sources, and storing them for future use in our mitochondria as a substitute for food. When stated this way, and considering how food is important because both fats and carbohydrates fuel the body by providing electrons to our mitochondria, one can imagine how vitally important melanin is. Melanin is central towards the availability of electrons for use in our body to produce the energy to live. Without adequate melanin, your mitochondria will starve for fuel and not provide your body with the energy it needs to thrive.

Blue Light

To contextualize the role blue light plays in human health, it is important to revisit an important byproduct of cellular respiration within mitochondria. When mitochondria turn electrons and oxygen into energy, there is a byproduct formed known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS play important roles in the body, but in excess they can cause DNA damage and disrupt various cellular processes. For example, UV light causes cancer due to the ROS generated, and studies have found that blue light does the same in both the skin and eyes (Nakashima, Ohta, and Wolf 2017; Abdouh et al. 2024). This research suggests that excess blue light or blue light in isolation can damage the eyes and cause harm like UV light.

Blue and UV light are predominant during the middle of the day. Though both may cause oxidative stress on the body, the body simultaneously counteracts this damage through melatonin. Think of melatonin as the junk remover for mitochondria. Throughout the day mitochondria produce energy, and ROS is formed. During our nighttime sleep, melatonin plays an important role as an antioxidant and removes the excess ROS (Leon et al. 2004).

The relationship between blue light and melatonin is important. During the day, when blue light is present, our body suppresses the production of melatonin (West et al. 2011). When the sun sets and there is no longer a heavy presence of blue light, our body begins to produce melatonin for sleep. This is a central function for how our body gets tired at night and gets ready for sleep. This is also why artificial light at night, from our modern technology, is harmful to human health because it tricks the body into the continual suppression of melatonin production. Without proper melatonin production, our cells buildup too much ROS and this can cause mitochondrial dysfunction and other sleep related issues.

Beyond the importance of getting good sleep and producing melatonin to remove excess ROS from our cells, the existence of artificial light and excess blue light is problematic during the day as well. As stated previously, blue light causes ROS buildup in both the skin and eyes (Nakashima, Ohta, and Wolf 2017; Abdouh et al. 2024). As with most harms from sunlight, our body has adapted with a backup plan. During the day, when blue and UV light is present, there is simultaneous exposure to NIR light (650-1200nm). Recent research suggests that NIR also counterbalances the harm of blue light by increasing melatonin synthesis in the mitochondria (Tan et al. 2023). This highlights the importance of receiving the full spectrum of light from the sun, as one wavelength counterbalances the damages of the other.

Near-Infrared Light

While indoor living has been commonplace for humans across generations, and modern technology has over saturated our bodies with blue light, some recent changes to our technology have made things worse. Incandescent light bulbs emit NIR light, this is why they got warm. However, LED lights do not emit NIR light. Therefore, where people of past generations were potentially exposed to a lot of artificial light at night, this was counterbalanced by the NIR emitted by those same lightbulbs. Now, modern humans use LEDs and spend 93% of our time indoors with zero exposure to NIR, which is 90% of the light emitted by the sun (Tan et al. 2023).

Not only does NIR light protect our bodies from the damaging consequences of blue light, but it similarly protects us against UV light. As stated previously, NIR may result in the production of melatonin within mitochondria during the day, helping protect against the ROS buildup and mtDNA damage. Additionally, research has also found that NIR light protects from UV light in other ways. For example, a study in 2008 found that pretreating skin with NIR light (660nm) prevented sunburns (Barolet and Boucher 2008). Another study found that red and NIR light (620-690nm) altered gene expression and upregulated DNA repair (Kim et al. 2019). Again, this highlights the theme that the body has produced the means to protect itself from the harms of the sun via other rays emitted. However, the protection from harmful rays is best achieved when exposed to the full spectrum of light wavelengths as they change throughout the day. The light of dawn and dusk is predominately red and NIR. Therefore, this research suggests that being exposed to morning light will protect the body from the potentially cancer-causing effects of the UV light later in the day. A human being who lived outside would naturally be exposed to this spectrum of light every day. However, modern humans may be inside in the morning, go to the beach during the middle of the day, and get sunburned because they do not properly receive the full spectrum of light as nature intended every day.

Lastly, it is important to explore the ways NIR improves mitochondrial function. If electrons are the fuel source for this engine, and melatonin is the junk removal, then NIR is the lubricant. NIR improves the energy output of mitochondria, and there are various hypotheses for how this occurs. One hypothesis is that NIR boosts the functionality of cytochrome c oxidase, one of the chromophores used in the electron transport chain (ETC) of cellular respiration within mitochondria (De Freitas and Hamblin 2016). Another involves NIR light’s ability to modify the viscosity of water which increases the efficiency of the final step in the ETC, the ATP synthase (Sommer, Haddad, and Fecht 2015). ATP synthase can be thought of as a kind of pump that produces ATP, in this way NIR can be thought of almost literally as a lubricant for this pump.

Summary

In summary, the research involving how sunlight affects mitochondrial health highlights the importance of the full spectrum of wavelengths, each of which plays a vital role in human health throughout the day. Having exposure to one, without the other, can lead to imbalances and mitochondrial disease. The red and NIR light in the morning helps our mitochondria produce more energy throughout the day, while also preparing our bodies for the beneficial yet dangerous wavelengths to come. In the middle of the day, we receive much more UV and blue light, which help us produce vitamin D and melanin, both central to health and wellness. Once the sun sets, and blue light is absent, we produce melatonin for sleep. During our sleep, the melatonin removes the dangerous byproducts of our energy-producing day, protecting us from disease and preparing us for the following day. Mitochondria are central to human health and life on earth, and the rays from the sun are central to mitochondrial health.

Respecting nature and its cycles is vital for us humans who are increasingly immersing ourselves in a world dominated by technology. Our ancestors did not have to reconcile with these ideas, because life forced these exposures upon them. If we wish to maintain health in our modern world, we must be able to find balance. Even though some might think they can escape into the virtual world, our bodies will always and forever be connected and reliant upon the natural one.

References

Abdouh, Mohamed, Yunxi Chen, Alicia Goyeneche, and Miguel N. Burnier. 2024. “Blue Light-Induced Mitochondrial Oxidative Damage Underlay Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cell Apoptosis.” International Journal of Molecular Sciences 25 (23): 12619.

Barolet, Daniel, and Annie Boucher. 2008. “LED Photoprevention: Reduced MED Response Following Multiple LED Exposures.” Lasers in Surgery and Medicine 40 (2): 106–12.

Birch-Machin, M. A., E. V. Russell, and J. A. Latimer. 2013. “Mitochondrial DNA Damage as a Biomarker for Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure and Oxidative Stress.” The British Journal of Dermatology 169 (s2): 9–14.

Chowdhury, Rajiv, Setor Kunutsor, Anna Vitezova, Clare Oliver-Williams, Susmita Chowdhury, Jessica C. Kiefte-de-Jong, Hassan Khan, et al. 2014. “Vitamin D and Risk of Cause Specific Death: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Cohort and Randomised Intervention Studies.” BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.) 348 (apr01 2): g1903.

De Freitas, Lucas Freitas, and Michael R. Hamblin. 2016. “Proposed Mechanisms of Photobiomodulation or Low-Level Light Therapy.” IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics: A Publication of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society 22 (3): 348–64.

Dixon, Katie M., Anthony W. Norman, Vanessa B. Sequeira, Ritu Mohan, Mark S. Rybchyn, Vivienne E. Reeve, Gary M. Halliday, and Rebecca S. Mason. 2011. “1α,25(OH)₂-Vitamin D and a Nongenomic Vitamin D Analogue Inhibit Ultraviolet Radiation-Induced Skin Carcinogenesis.” Cancer Prevention Research (Philadelphia, Pa.) 4 (9): 1485–94.

Fell, Gillian L., Kathleen C. Robinson, Jianren Mao, Clifford J. Woolf, and David E. Fisher. 2014. “Skin β-Endorphin Mediates Addiction to UV Light.” Cell 157 (7): 1527–34.

Figge, Frank H. J. 1939. “Melanin: A Natural Reversible Oxidation-Reduction System and Indicator.” Experimental Biology and Medicine (Maywood, N.J.) 41 (1): 127.

Garland, Cedric F., June Jiwon Kim, Sharif Burgette Mohr, Edward Doerr Gorham, William B. Grant, Edward L. Giovannucci, Leo Baggerly, et al. 2014. “Meta-Analysis of All-Cause Mortality According to Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D.” American Journal of Public Health 104 (8): e43-50.

Holick, M. F. 1981. “The Cutaneous Photosynthesis of Previtamin D3: A Unique Photoendocrine System.” The Journal of Investigative Dermatology 77 (1): 51–58.

Holick, Michael F. 2007. “Vitamin D Deficiency.” The New England Journal of Medicine 357 (3): 266–81.

Kim, Hyun Soo, Yeo Jin Kim, Su Ji Kim, Doo Seok Kang, Tae Ryong Lee, Dong Wook Shin, Hyoung-June Kim, and Young Rok Seo. 2019. “Transcriptomic Analysis of Human Dermal Fibroblast Cells Reveals Potential Mechanisms Underlying the Protective Effects of Visible Red Light against Damage from Ultraviolet B Light.” Journal of Dermatological Science 94 (2): 276–83.

Leon, Josefa, Dario Acuña-Castroviejo, Rosa M. Sainz, Juan C. Mayo, Dun Xian Tan, and Russel J. Reiter. 2004. “Melatonin and Mitochondrial Function.” Life Sciences. Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2004.03.003.

Lindqvist, P. G., E. Epstein, K. Nielsen, M. Landin-Olsson, C. Ingvar, and H. Olsson. 2016. “Avoidance of Sun Exposure as a Risk Factor for Major Causes of Death: A Competing Risk Analysis of the Melanoma in Southern Sweden Cohort.” Journal of Internal Medicine 280 (4): 375–87.

Litonjua, Augusto A., Vincent J. Carey, Nancy Laranjo, Benjamin J. Harshfield, Thomas F. McElrath, George T. O’Connor, Megan Sandel, et al. 2016. “Effect of Prenatal Supplementation with Vitamin D on Asthma or Recurrent Wheezing in Offspring by Age 3 Years: The VDAART Randomized Clinical Trial.” JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 315 (4): 362–70.

McCollum, E. V., Nina Simmonds, J. Ernestine Becker, and P. G. Shipley. 1922. “Studies on Experimental Rickets.” The Journal of Biological Chemistry 53 (2): 293–312.

Nakashima, Yuya, Shigeo Ohta, and Alexander M. Wolf. 2017. “Blue Light-Induced Oxidative Stress in Live Skin.” Free Radical Biology & Medicine 108 (July): 300–310.

Prietl, Barbara, Gerlies Treiber, Thomas R. Pieber, and Karin Amrein. 2013. “Vitamin D and Immune Function.” Nutrients 5 (7): 2502–21.

Sommer, Andrei P., Mike Kh Haddad, and Hans Jörg Fecht. 2015. “Light Effect on Water Viscosity: Implication for ATP Biosynthesis.” Scientific Reports 5 (July). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep12029.

Tan, Dun-Xian, Russel J. Reiter, Scott Zimmerman, and Ruediger Hardeland. 2023. “Melatonin: Both a Messenger of Darkness and a Participant in the Cellular Actions of Non-Visible Solar Radiation of near Infrared Light.” Biology 12 (1): 89.

Wacker, Matthias, and Michael F. Holick. 2013. “Sunlight and Vitamin D: A Global Perspective for Health: A Global Perspective for Health.” Dermato-Endocrinology 5 (1): 51–108.

West, Kathleen E., Michael R. Jablonski, Benjamin Warfield, Kate S. Cecil, Mary James, Melissa A. Ayers, James Maida, et al. 2011. “Blue Light from Light-Emitting Diodes Elicits a Dose-Dependent Suppression of Melatonin in Humans.” Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md.: 1985) 110 (3): 619–26.

Wicks, Nadine L., Jason W. Chan, Julia A. Najera, Jonathan M. Ciriello, and Elena Oancea. 2011. “UVA Phototransduction Drives Early Melanin Synthesis in Human Melanocytes.” Current Biology: CB 21 (22): 1906.

Wimalawansa, Sunil J. 2023. “Infections and Autoimmunity-the Immune System and Vitamin D: A Systematic Review.” Nutrients 15 (17): 3842.

Yang, Ling, Marie Lof, Marit Bragelien Veierød, Sven Sandin, Hans-Olov Adami, and Elisabete Weiderpass. 2011. “Ultraviolet Exposure and Mortality among Women in Sweden.” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention: A Publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, Cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology 20 (4): 683–90.

@ bc6ccd13:f53098e4

The Bitcoin price action since the US presidential election, and particularly today, November 11, has given me an excuse to revisit an idea I’ve written about before. I explained here that money doesn’t “flow into” assets, and that the terminology makes it difficult for people to understand how prices actually work.

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The Bitcoin market this year has been a perfect illustration of the points I tried to make, which offers another angle to explain the concept.

Back in January, the first spot Bitcoin ETFs were launched for trading in the US market. This was heralded as a great thing for the Bitcoin price, and tracking “inflows” into these ETFs became a top priority for Bitcoin market analysts. The expectation of course was that more Bitcoin purchased by these ETFs would result in higher prices for the asset.

And sure enough, over the first two months of trading, from mid-January to mid-March, the combined “inflows” to the ETFs totaled around $11 billion. Over the same time frame, the Bitcoin price rose almost 60%, from around $43,000 to $68,000. As should be expected, right?

But then, over the next seven and a half months, from mid-March to early November, the ETFs saw another $11 billion in “inflows”. The Bitcoin price in mid-March? $68,000. In early November? All the way up to… $68,000. Seven and a half months of treading water.

So how can that be? How can $11 billion dollars flowing into an asset cause a 60% price rise once, and no price change at all the next time?

If you read my previous article linked above, you’ll see that the whole idea of money “flowing into” an asset is incorrect and misleading, and this is a perfect illustration why. If you step back a bit, you’ll see the folly of that mentality. So when the ETFs buy $11 billion dollars worth of Bitcoin, where does it come from? They obviously have to buy it from someone. As always, every transaction has a buyer and a seller. In this case, the sellers are current Bitcoin holders selling through OTC desks on the spot market.

So why focus on the ETF buying rather than the Bitcoin holder selling? Instead of saying there were $11 billion in inflows to the Bitcoin ETFs, why not say there were $11 billion in outflows from spot Bitcoin holders? It’s just as valid either way.

To take it a step further, many analysts were consistently confused all summer as Bitcoin ETFs continued to see “inflows” on days that the Bitcoin price stayed flat or even fell. So let’s imagine two consecutive days of $300 million daily “inflows” into the ETFs. The first day, the Bitcoin price rises 3%. The second day, the Bitcoin price falls 3%. The first day, headlines can read Bitcoin Price Rises 3% as ETFs See $300m in Inflows. The second day, headlines can read Bitcoin Price Falls 3% as Spot Bitcoin Holders See $300m in Outflows.

See the silliness of this whole idea? Money flows aren’t the cause of price movement. They’re a fake metric used as a post hoc justification for price moves by people who want you to believe they understand markets better than you.

Moving on to today, as I write this on the evening of November 11, Bitcoin is up 30% from $68,000 to $88,000 in the week since the November 5 election. It rose from $69,000 to $75,000 on election night alone, after US markets had closed and while there were no ETF “inflows” at all. In fact, the ETFs saw over a hundred million dollars in outflows on November 5, followed by an 8% single day price increase.

So if money flows don’t move price, what does?

Investor sentiment, that’s what.

Talking about money flows at all, as illustrated by the Bitcoin ETFs, requires arbitrarily dividing a single market into different segments to disguise the fact that every transaction has both a buyer and a seller, so every transaction has an equal dollar amount of “flows” in both directions. In actuality, price is set by a convergence between the highest price any potential buyer is willing to pay, and the lowest price any potential seller is willing to accept. And that number can change without a single transaction occurring, and without a single dollar “flowing” anywhere.

If every Bitcoin holder simultaneously decided tonight that the lowest price they’re willing to accept is $200,000 per Bitcoin, and a single potential buyer decided to buy a single dollar worth of Bitcoin at that price, that would be the new Bitcoin price tomorrow morning. No ETF “inflows” or institutional buying pressure or short squeezes or liquidations required, or any of the other excuses market analysts use to confuse normal people and make it seem like they have some deep esoteric insight into the workings of markets and future price action.

Don’t overcomplicate something as simple as price. If holders of an asset demand higher prices and potential buyers are willing to pay it, prices rise. If potential buyers of an asset offer lower prices and holders are willing to sell, prices fall. The constant interplay between all those individual investors sentiments is what forms a market and a price. The transferring of money between buyers and sellers is an effect of price, not a cause.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Im Nichts gibt es keine Befreiung. Nur die Ernüchterung der Illusion.

2. Das System braucht dich mehr, als du es brauchst. Deshalb lügt es – liebevoll.

3. Die Stille singt ein Lied ohne Ton. Ein Chor der Leere, der dich umarmt, bis du dich selbst verlierst.

4. Familie ist das erste Gefängnis, das man liebt, bevor man weiß, was Freiheit bedeutet.

5. Die Familie gibt Halt und hält fest. Beides ist nicht immer dasselbe.

6. Die Zukunft ist ein Abgrund, der sich öffnet, um uns zu verschlingen. Und wir nennen es Fortschritt.

7. Die Schwermut ist der Ruf des Todes im Lebenden, ein dumpfer Widerhall des Willens.

8. Der Tod wartet nicht. Er erinnert an das, was wir nie gelebt haben.

9. Zwischen Eltern und Kindern liegt ein Ozean aus unausgesprochenen Wahrheiten.

10. Ein Kuss kann ein Versprechen sein – oder eine Lüge mit geschlossenem Mund.

@ bc6ccd13:f53098e4

Bullshit Jobs, for those unfamiliar, is the title of a 2018 book by anthropologist David Graeber. It’s well worth a read just for the fascinating research and the engaging writing style. The premise of the book is that many people work in jobs that contribute nothing to society, and would not be missed if they suddenly vanished overnight.

The data backs this up. In a 2015 British poll that asked “does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world?”, 37 percent of people said no, and another 13 percent weren’t sure. That’s fully half the population who can’t confidently say their job is even worth doing. And other polls have found similar or worse results.

The book was inspired by the overwhelming response to a 2013 article Graeber wrote titled On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant. The point I’d like to address is found here.

Over the course of the last century, the number of workers employed as domestic servants, in industry, and in the farm sector has collapsed dramatically. At the same time, ‘professional, managerial, clerical, sales, and service workers’ tripled, growing ‘from one-quarter to three-quarters of total employment.’ In other words, productive jobs have, just as predicted, been largely automated away (even if you count industrial workers globally, including the toiling masses in India and China, such workers are still not nearly so large a percentage of the world population as they used to be.)

But rather than allowing a massive reduction of working hours to free the world’s population to pursue their own projects, pleasures, visions, and ideas, we have seen the ballooning of not even so much of the ‘service’ sector as of the administrative sector, up to and including the creation of whole new industries like financial services or telemarketing, or the unprecedented expansion of sectors like corporate law, academic and health administration, human resources, and public relations.

These are what I propose to call ‘bullshit jobs’.

It’s as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working. And here, precisely, lies the mystery. In capitalism, this is precisely what is not supposed to happen. Sure, in the old inefficient socialist states like the Soviet Union, where employment was considered both a right and a sacred duty, the system made up as many jobs as they had to (this is why in Soviet department stores it took three clerks to sell a piece of meat). But, of course, this is the sort of very problem market competition is supposed to fix. According to economic theory, at least, the last thing a profit-seeking firm is going to do is shell out money to workers they don’t really need to employ. Still, somehow, it happens.

While corporations may engage in ruthless downsizing, the layoffs and speed-ups invariably fall on that class of people who are actually making, moving, fixing and maintaining things; through some strange alchemy no one can quite explain, the number of salaried paper-pushers ultimately seems to expand, and more and more employees find themselves, not unlike Soviet workers actually, working 40 or even 50 hour weeks on paper, but effectively working 15 hours just as Keynes predicted, since the rest of their time is spent organizing or attending motivational seminars, updating their facebook profiles or downloading TV box-sets.

The answer clearly isn’t economic: it’s moral and political.

In the book, Graeber expands on this idea with a very entertaining description of the many flavors of bullshit jobs, based on anecdotes from readers of his article. He follows that up with theories speculating on the cause of this situation. And wraps it all up with the conclusion that basically capitalists are all big meanies and invent bullshit jobs just to torture people and prevent the arrival of the Marxist utopia where no one has to do much real work and we all sit around and sing kumbaya and discuss philosophy. That’s too harsh a criticism of a very well researched and written book, but I have to confess I was sorely disappointed the first time I read it by the author’s failure to even entertain what seems like the obvious alternative explanation.

Graeber acknowledges in the book that it’s not surprising bullshit jobs exist inside government, although he doesn’t focus strongly enough on why that is. Like he does in the article, he tries to brush it off with the excuse that the same problem exists in the private sector. As he acknowledges, this isn’t supposed to happen in capitalism. He realizes that it makes no logical economic sense for a profit-seeking firm to hire workers to do nothing productive.

But then he follows that acknowledgement with the claim that “The answer clearly isn’t economic: it’s moral and political.” I’m sorry, what? How is that clear? How do you go from stating an obvious economic fact, to denying that the problem is economic, and call it “clear”.

“Still, somehow, it happens,” is not anywhere close to a sufficient explanation to rule out an economic factor.

The economic explanation

First, some definitions.

Capitalism is defined as “an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development occurs through the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.”

A free market is “an economic system in which prices are based on competition among private businesses and are not controlled or regulated by a government: a market operating by free competition.”

Now that we made sure we’re talking about the same thing, we can analyze this issue logically.

Capitalism and free markets work through competition for customers. It’s an economic law that a customer won’t pay more for the same good or service when they could pay less. Someone can try to make obscure and esoteric objections and force me to emphasize the word “same” and analyze what the good or service being purchased actually is, but everyone else understands this intuitively. So if two companies are offering the same product for sale, all things being equal, the company offering lower prices will attract the customers. Pretty simple stuff.

Of course, the goal for the company is to generate profits. It’s literally in the definition of the word “capitalism”. So any system in which companies have a goal other than generating profits is, by definition, not capitalism.

A company can increase its profits two ways: raising prices, or lowering costs. We don’t have to get too philosophical to realize that if a company is paying someone to do nothing, the company could increase profits by firing that person and lowering their costs of production.

So the question is, why don’t they? Why do they hire people who increase their costs and lower their profits, thereby making them less competitive? And more importantly, if they do make that mistake, why don’t their competitors undercut their prices and take all the customers and bankrupt them?

I don’t think we can dismiss the economic factor as off-handedly as Graeber does. After all, making a profit is the fundamental, definitional purpose of a business or company in a capitalist economy. To say “companies in this capitalist economy are doing something completely antithetical to the very principles and definition of capitalism, so obviously they’re not doing it for economic reasons” is something of a non sequitur.

The conclusion, to me, seems obvious. We don’t have a capitalist economy. As far as I can tell, that’s true by definition. If companies aren’t even trying to achieve the goal companies must achieve to survive in a capitalist economy, and somehow they’re still surviving, that’s proof of the non-capitalist nature of the economy.

Which part of the capitalist system are we missing?

Well, let’s start with the obvious: there’s a lot of government in our economy. The government isn’t privately owned, which makes it not capitalist by definition. So any part of the economy that’s government is not capitalist.

Why is government not capitalist? Because government is not motivated to provide goods and services at a profit. Why not? Because government does not sell goods and services into a free market. Government gives away goods and services to its “customers” for free, because they’re paid for by people other than the consumers of the service. That payment comes in one of two ways: taxes, and debt. It’s not a voluntary transaction.

Which part of the capitalist system might private companies be missing?

They could be lacking competition. That is, operating a monopoly or cartel. If there’s no competing business to provide goods at lower prices, the company could hire people for useless jobs and compensate by raising prices. This places them outside the definition of capitalism, since “free competition” is part of the definition of a free market. Monopolies and cartels often develop and survive through protection by the government, which emphasizes their un-capitalistic nature.

They could be in a temporary situation where the people making the management decisions are sufficiently insulated from the market forces at play that their poor decisions can persist for a while. Many companies begin to lose their competitive edge at some point, after getting big enough to have economic inertia and for the management to be less accountable for business performance. If a company has grown big enough, they can start making poor financial decisions and absorb the lost profits, sometimes for years, before losing their market share to a smaller, more competitive rival. This isn’t really an absence of capitalism, just the natural creative destruction necessary for capitalism to function. The problem comes when a company that’s obviously uncompetitive is prevented from failing through un-capitalistic means. Maybe they’re big enough and wealthy enough to pressure the government into granting them monopoly status. This doesn’t have to be open, it’s often through creating such an impenetrable legal morass around the industry that no competitor can emerge. Or it can be in the form of a “too big to fail” direct government bailout.

The company could also be lacking that essential link between customer satisfaction and business income. In other words, maybe they aren’t selling to their customers. That can happen for various reasons.

Some companies are “private companies” but sell to the government. The government is not a customer in the capitalist sense, because the government spends money taken coercively from its subjects, not money earned voluntarily in the free market. So any company like Raytheon or Boeing that survives off government contracts can’t be accurately called a capitalist organization.

In an industry like healthcare, where the insurance companies are the middlemen in basically all transactions between patients and doctors, there are also lots of ways for bullshit jobs to proliferate. Patients don’t care how much a procedure costs, just that it helps them. Doctors don’t care how much a procedure costs, just that the insurance company will pay for it. And insurance companies don’t care whether a procedure helps the patient, they just want to collect as many premiums as possible while paying out as little for care as possible. The fact that the patient isn’t paying the doctor for their care breaks the necessary link between customer and producer that’s essential for a free market to function. That combines with the regulatory moat and cartel-like structure of the healthcare industry to prevent the competitive function of capitalism from occurring.

Companies could also be surviving off of money from someone other than their customers: bankers and investors. There’s obviously a role in a capitalist system for investors to support a new venture until it’s able to attract customers and establish a stable and profitable business model. But many companies today exist for much longer than economically reasonable without turning a profit. In the US, almost 2,000 of the 5,000 publicly traded companies with data available were classified as “zombie companies”, meaning they don’t even make enough profit to pay the interest on their debt. So they’re going deeper in the hole every year. How can this continue?

Well, the alternative to paying off your debt, is to borrow even more money to make payments on the debt you already owe. If this sounds similar to how the US government survives, then you’re beginning to get the picture.

How can banks keep loaning money to unprofitable businesses? And why would they do it? It doesn’t make sense… until you understand how banking works.

That’s really the core focus of most of my writing, and I’ve written multiple articles on money and banking explaining how the system works as I understand it. This would be a good one focused on banking specifically.

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To very briefly recap, banks don’t make loans by taking in money from depositors and loaning that money to borrowers. Instead, banks create new money that never existed before out of thin air and loan that new money to borrowers. Banks make a profit by charging borrowers interest on this newly created money, which costs them nothing to create. A pretty cushy gig, if you can get it.

So from the perspective of the banks, the more loans and debt outstanding, the better. Every dollar of debt is a dollar they can collect interest on. It cost them nothing to create, so the more, the merrier. In fact, the banks would prefer that the loan principle never be repaid, because once it’s repaid, they can no longer collect interest on that loan until they make another loan to replace it. As long as the borrower keeps paying interest, the banks are happy. And if they need to lend the borrower some more money so he can afford to pay the interest, that’s fine too. Anything but letting the loan default.

Given those incentives, how do you expect a chart of the outstanding loans and credit of US commercial banks to look?

If you guessed up only, you’d be correct.

So what does this banking system have to do with bullshit jobs? Well, I’d argue that the fractionally reserved fiat banking system, in and of itself, is an anti-capitalist system. Money is the communication layer of capitalism, as I’ve previously written.

nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzp0rve5f6xtu56djkfkkg7ktr5rtfckpun95rgxaa7futy86npx8yqq247t2dvet9q4tsg4qng36lxe6kc4nftayyy89kua2

When one group of people can create money out of thin air, they have the ability to reallocate wealth in the economy. As long as the money is still functional, of course. Too much money creation and wealth reallocation, and people stop trusting the money. That’s when inflation becomes hyperinflation, the money no longer functions, and the whole system implodes.

Wealth reallocation by a small select group is the essence of a centrally planned socialist/Marxist economy. And we all know how efficient those economies are. In fact, Graeber himself mentioned the inefficiency of socialist states like the Soviet Union in his original article, and was not at all surprised by the existence of bullshit jobs in such an economic system. When wealth can be reallocated by central planners without regard to people’s preferences in a free market, inefficiency is never punished, so zombie companies full of bullshit jobs never go bankrupt.

The same thing happens under our “capitalist” system. Zombie companies full of bullshit jobs can get almost unlimited funding from too-big-to-fail banks, who don’t care whether they repay the loans, as long as they stay in business and keep making the interest payments. Sometimes the funding is in the form of loans directly, sometimes it’s in the form of massive stock market bubbles inflated by the endless money creation, sometimes through junk bond issuance funded by the same bubble economics, and sometimes it’s venture capital funds flush with liquidity for the same reason. Regardless, the cause, and the outcome, are the same.

The corrupt bankers own the corrupt politicians, so when the inevitable so-called black swan event occurs and the rotten edifice starts to quiver, another bailout is promptly rolled out. The government borrows trillions from their owners over at the Federal Reserve, who create the money out of thin air. The government sends it on over to the bankers who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar once again, and they paper over the massive holes in their balance sheet caused by blowing asset bubbles and funding inefficient zombie companies. Or sometimes, the government skips the middlemen entirely and bails out Boeing or whoever it happens to be directly.

And once again, bullshit jobs that couldn’t survive free market competition are rewarded at the expense of savers and taxpayers. As always, this flood of new liquidity flows out through the economy, causing inflation and boosting income for other inefficient companies that also deserved to fail. Creative destruction, a fundamental feature of a capitalist system, is avoided once again.

In my opinion, the banking system is at the root of the problem causing the proliferation of bullshit jobs. The system itself is, by design, fundamentally anti-capitalist in nature and function. It’s really a giant privately owned economic central planning system, in which a small fraction of people determine how resources are allocated, with privatized profits and socialized losses. The Soviet technocrats would be jealous.

Unfortunately, the bankers have successfully connected their industry so tightly to the term “capitalist” that showing people they’re anything but is almost impossible. To paraphrase the well-known quote, the greatest trick the bankers ever pulled was convincing the world that they’re the real capitalists.

Until the banking and monetary system fundamentally changes, inefficiency will persist and bullshit jobs will continue to proliferate. In my opinion, the problem is very much an economic problem. And it’s not a “late-stage capitalism” problem, it’s a “capitalism left the building a century ago” problem. We don’t need to get rid of capitalism, we’ve already done that. We need to bring sound money, and with it the possibility of a capitalist economy, back again.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

„Vertrauen ist gut, Kontrolle ist besser – sagte die Macht.

Misstrauen ist gesund, Selbstverantwortung ist besser – sagte die Freiheit.“

– gehört im Rauschen, zwischen den Blöcken

Vertrauen ist die stille Grundlage jeder Gesellschaft. Doch es ist fragil. Es wird oft dort gefordert, wo es nicht verdient ist – in Systemen, die sich immun gemacht haben gegen Kontrolle, Konsequenz und Kritik. In solchen Strukturen ist Vertrauen keine Tugend mehr, sondern ein Werkzeug der Macht. Es wird benutzt, um Verantwortung abzugeben, um sich fügen zu müssen, um Teil eines Spiels zu sein, dessen Regeln man nicht mitbestimmen kann.

Misstrauen gilt oft als Schwäche. Doch es kann auch ein Zeichen von Reife sein. Es ist nicht Ablehnung, sondern Prüfung. Nicht Paranoia, sondern Wachsamkeit. Wer misstraut, schützt sich nicht nur vor Täuschung, sondern verteidigt das eigene Urteilsvermögen.

Ein System, das auf echtem Vertrauen beruhen will, muss bereit sein, Misstrauen auszuhalten. Es muss transparent, überprüfbar und austauschbar sein. Es darf Vertrauen nicht einfordern – es muss es verdienen. Vertrauen, das auf Kontrolle verzichtet, ist Glaube. Vertrauen, das auf überprüfbaren Regeln beruht, ist Klarheit.

In diesem Spannungsfeld steht das neue Geld. Es sagt: Vertraue nicht mir. Vertraue dem, was du selbst verifizieren kannst. Es ersetzt nicht Vertrauen durch Misstrauen, sondern durch Offenheit. Es fordert nichts – es bietet nur das, was es ist: ein System ohne Hintertüren, ohne Verwalter, ohne Privilegien.

Darin liegt seine Stärke. Es ist nicht darauf angewiesen, dass jemand daran glaubt. Es funktioniert, weil niemand es verändern kann. Es belohnt diejenigen, die prüfen. Und es enttäuscht jene, die hoffen, dass andere für sie denken.

Vertrauen ist eine Entscheidung. Misstrauen auch. Zwischen beiden steht Verantwortung – und wer bereit ist, sie zu tragen, wird keines von beiden mehr brauchen.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Nähe ist gefährlich. Sie zeigt, wie weit entfernt wir wirklich voneinander sind.

2. Chaos braucht keine Form. Es genügt ihm, wenn du versuchst, ihm eine zu geben.

3. Die kindliche Fantasie ist Anarchie in Reinform. Rein, weil sie nicht gelernt hat, sich zu beugen.

4. Existenz ist ein Exil ohne Rückkehr. Wer liebt, liebt nur die Illusion eines Auswegs.

5. Zwischen den Zeilen flackert das Echo der Stille. Wer es hört, vergisst den Klang.

6. Wir leben in der Hoffnung, dass das Nichts uns nicht sieht. Doch es hat längst in uns Wohnung genommen.

7. Wir sterben nicht an der Zeit, sondern daran, dass wir glauben, sie gehöre uns.

8. Ein Kind lacht – und für einen Moment zittert die Ordnung.

9. Das Protokoll ist nicht moralisch. Es ist gerecht, weil es niemanden kennt.

10. Die Revolution beginnt nicht auf der Straße, sondern in dem Moment, in dem du aufhörst, dich selbst zu verraten.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Key Takeaways

Lyn Alden unpacks the complex interplay of global trade imbalances, the dollar’s entrenched reserve currency status, and America’s eroded industrial base, arguing that aggressive tariffs under Trump have backfired by hurting U.S. businesses without reversing decades of offshoring. She illustrates how China has rapidly ascended the value chain, dominating key industries and making it nearly impossible for the U.S. to build a trade coalition against them. Despite the U.S.’s massive debt and persistent global demand for dollars, cracks are forming in the system as nations explore alternative payment systems and neutral reserve assets like gold and Bitcoin. Lyn emphasizes that Bitcoin’s most effective path to integration is through grassroots and corporate adoption, not government-led initiatives, and warns that unless the U.S. urgently scales its energy and industrial capacity, it risks falling further behind China’s unmatched pace of growth and infrastructure dominance.

Best Quotes

• "The trade deficit is often described as us sending out pieces of paper and getting goods and services, which sounds like a really good deal."
• "It's better to correct these imbalances from a position of strength, not weakness."
• "All that debt creates inflexible demand for dollars. There’s literally way more demand than dollars in the system."
• "China became the largest auto exporter in the world in just four years."
• "Bitcoin isn’t changing to fit into the global financial system. The global financial system is changing to fit Bitcoin."
• "Individuals, small businesses, corporations—these are the real drivers of Bitcoin adoption. Not governments."

Conclusion

This episode offers a sobering look at America’s trade and currency dilemmas, with Lyn Alden explaining why quick policy fixes like tariffs can’t reverse decades of deindustrialization tied to the dollar’s reserve status. She highlights the rise of neutral reserve assets like gold and Bitcoin as important hedges, stressing that grassroots and corporate adoption will be more effective than government-led efforts. Lyn also warns that without a major push to expand energy production, the U.S. risks falling behind in an AI-driven, hardware-centric world, urging strategic humility and innovation to navigate the shifting global order.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
0:31 - Triffin's dilemma
8:10 - Debt leverage
11:04 - Fold & Bitkey
12:41 - Trump's goals and tariff policy
19:54 - Unchained
20:24 - China is not weak
30:07 - Energy
37:15 - AI/robots
41:11 - SBR
48:47 - Bitcoin credit products
52:40 - Eventful week for bitcoin

Transcript

(00:00) They ramped up tariffs super high, super quickly. In many cases, were so high that they hurt us as much as some of our trade adversaries. China has ramped up to like unfathomable degrees. Nuclear, solar, pretty much everything that they can throw money at they're building. The trade is often described as us sending out pieces of paper and getting goods and services, which sounds like a really good deal.
(00:19) They take those slips of paper and then they buy our stocks. They buy our corporate bonds and government bonds. And so they end up owning a larger and larger share of corporate America. got the headphone hair. I'm all out of whack, Lynn. It's been a long week here in Austin. Yeah, I can imagine. It's been a long time since we've talked on the show. It's been two years.
(00:41) I was checking, which is a astonishing to me. But no better time than now. Uh I think quite literally based off of all the conversations we've had uh over the years. I mean, your famous saying, nothing stops this train. I think we're coming to a juncture where that's becoming abundantly clear. and you wrote uh a newsletter earlier this week, I believe you sent it out Sunday, that basically highlighted the crux of the problem, which is the dollar reserve status and the almost impossible task that Trump would like to accomplish, but
(01:21) likely isn't the case, which is sort of solving Triffin's dilemma of reshoring manufacturing while keeping US dollar dominance. So I think diving into this from first principles would be great. Sure. Yeah. And that's that's the um I can imagine the administration's challenge of trying to communicate this because uh the intricacies of how trade deficits and the reserve currency kind of pair together is very wonkish.
(01:46) It it kind of has this like academic quality to it that doesn't go over well uh in kind of political oriented speeches. Um like I would I would be terrible at a political rally for example when I try to explain any of this. Um and so we kind of have this situation where um and this was outlined back during the Breton Wood system by Triffin as you mentioned uh which is that having the reserve currency does come with a bunch of benefits um you know historically called a extraordin uh exorbitant privilege um but then it has certain costs to
(02:15) maintain it and those costs can vary a bit depending on how the system structure. So for example back in the Bretton Woods era the cost was that we kept draining our gold reserves. uh we basically had to kind of keep paying out our go gold gold reserves to maintain that part of the system and in the current formation uh instead we kind of pay for it with our industrial base.
(02:36) We keep kind of sending out little parts of our industrial base over time to maintain the the global reserve currency status. And there's a few reasons for that. One is that um because unlike every other fiat currency, the dollar has all these extra demands for it by countries all around the world. um all these different purposes.
(02:55) um there's this extra demand for dollars which sounds good on the surface and as for Americans for example we have tons of import power when we go on vacations to the rest of the world it's you know we have pretty strong purchasing power compared to when they come to the US um these things seem good on the surface but it also means that it's pretty expensive to manufacture lower margin things here at home uh and so we have this kind of situation where our imports are very strong our exports uh especially lower margin stuff is less uh
(03:22) competitive whereas we can still be competitive competitive on really high margin stuff, you know, technology, finance, healthcare, that kind of thing. Um, and then the other aspect is that even if you could somehow solve that, there's the more fundamental problem, which is that the whole world needs dollars uh for the you know, global reserve currency status to use it for international contract pricing, crossber financing, one side of every trade pair that they do, all these different purposes as a reserve asset. Um uh and
(03:51) when you step back and say, "Well, how do they get all those dollars if they're all using dollars? How did all those dollars get out there?" And the answer is trade deficits. Um basically that overvalued aspect forces open the US trade deficit. And every year we send out hundreds of billions or sometimes a trillion dollars in net outflows.
(04:10) And over years and decades, these have accumulated out there. And so, uh, kind of the way it works is that if you want to fix the trade deficit, which I've been I've been writing about since 2019, I think that's a I think that's a valid mandate to do. Um, unfortunately does come with trade-offs.
(04:26) Uh, some of the some of the benefits that that you know that we enjoy at the cost of the trade deficit. Um, if you do want to kind of fix that imbalance, it comes up, you know, with with basically giving away at least some of those benefits and prioritizing that that industrial base a bit more. And one of the dynamics that you highlighted in your newsletter, which makes sense, but wasn't very clear to me before, is that via these deficits, we flood international markets with dollars because we're sending parts of our industrial base over there. But then
(05:00) it's like cyclical. They take those dollars and then reinvest them in US financial assets. So it has this sort of flow where it goes out but then it comes back in into the financialized economy via equities and real estate and other such assets and that is good for asset owners here in the United States.
(05:19) But again I think that's is part of the bag of mandate is that sort of cycle has led to this large wealth gap in the United States that they're trying to fix. Yeah. Exactly. Um and so basically the opposite side of a current account deficit which is basically so the trade deficit plus things like interest and dividends.
(05:39) Um so we run a structural current account deficit and the opposite side of that is a capital account surplus. Um which is that funds flow in the rest of the world and buy our financial assets. Uh and so it's the the trade deficit is often described as us sending out pieces of paper and getting goods and services which sounds like a really good deal.
(05:57) Um but then the extra step of that that you mentioned is that they take those slips of paper or really those electronic digits that they have and then they buy our stocks, they buy our real estate, they buy our private equity, they they buy our corporate bonds and government bonds and so they end up owning a larger and larger share of corporate America as part of their kind of accumulated uh trade surpluses uh and reserve assets and uh international private assets.
(06:22) Um, and the kind of the consequence of this, if you kind of like view the foreign sector as an intermediary, we're basically constantly kind of taking economic vibrancy out of, you know, Michigan and Ohio and, uh, you know, rural Pennsylvania where the steel m

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

For years American bitcoin miners have argued for more efficient and free energy markets. It benefits everyone if our energy infrastructure is as efficient and robust as possible. Unfortunately, broken incentives have led to increased regulation throughout the sector, incentivizing less efficient energy sources such as solar and wind at the detriment of more efficient alternatives.

The result has been less reliable energy infrastructure for all Americans and increased energy costs across the board. This naturally has a direct impact on bitcoin miners: increased energy costs make them less competitive globally.

Bitcoin mining represents a global energy market that does not require permission to participate. Anyone can plug a mining computer into power and internet to get paid the current dynamic market price for their work in bitcoin. Using cellphone or satellite internet, these mines can be located anywhere in the world, sourcing the cheapest power available.

Absent of regulation, bitcoin mining naturally incentivizes the build out of highly efficient and robust energy infrastructure. Unfortunately that world does not exist and burdensome regulations remain the biggest threat for US based mining businesses. Jurisdictional arbitrage gives miners the option of moving to a friendlier country but that naturally comes with its own costs.

Enter AI. With the rapid development and release of AI tools comes the requirement of running massive datacenters for their models. Major tech companies are scrambling to secure machines, rack space, and cheap energy to run full suites of AI enabled tools and services. The most valuable and powerful tech companies in America have stumbled into an accidental alliance with bitcoin miners: THE NEED FOR CHEAP AND RELIABLE ENERGY.

Our government is corrupt. Money talks. These companies will push for energy freedom and it will greatly benefit us all.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Vertrauen stirbt nicht an Lügen, sondern am Schweigen dazwischen.

2. Freiheit ist ein Käfig aus offenen Türen. Du trittst hinaus und erstarrst in der Weite deiner eigenen Grenzen.

3. Nur wer sich selbst durchschaut, erkennt, ob die Liebe ihn überhaupt meint.

4. Ein Haus kann voller Menschen sein und doch leerer als ein verlassener Gedanke.

5. Die Krone der Zukunft liegt oft auf den Schultern derer, die nie gefragt wurden, ob sie das wollen.

6. Wahrer Reichtum ist nicht, was man besitzt, sondern was man niemandem schuldet.

7. Die Zeit ist ein Dieb, der Schatten stiehlt. Zurück bleibt ein Umriss, den niemand mehr füllt.

8. Die Trauer ist der Wundschrei des Seins über seinen eigenen Bruch.

9. Jede geordnete Welt ist ein Spiegelsaal. Und jeder Spiegel zerspringt am Schrei der Unangepassten.

10. Wir existieren wie Fußspuren im Staub eines verlassenen Raums – sichtbar nur für einen Moment.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

„Sag mir, welches Geld du benutzt – und ich sage dir, an welche Welt du glaubst.“

– anonym, zirkulierend im digitalen Untergrund

Geld ist nie neutral. Es trägt eine Vorstellung davon in sich, was in einer Gesellschaft wertvoll ist – und wer entscheidet, was dieser Wert bedeutet. In den Währungen unserer Zeit steckt nicht nur Kaufkraft, sondern auch Gewalt. Unsichtbar, aber wirksam. Jede Inflation ist eine Umverteilung ohne Abstimmung. Jede Rettung durch Gelddrucken ein Eingriff in das Eigentum derer, die sparen. Jede staatliche Kontrolle über den Geldfluss ist auch Kontrolle über Leben.

Es ist leicht, Geld als bloßes Werkzeug zu sehen. Doch jedes Werkzeug formt auch seinen Nutzer. Wer Geld benutzt, das auf Schulden basiert, übernimmt unbewusst die Logik dieses Systems: Wachstum um jeden Preis, Gegenwart vor Zukunft, Kontrolle statt Vertrauen. Es ist kein Zufall, dass moralische Belohnung in dieser Welt selten mit finanzieller vergütet wird – weil das Geld selbst die Moral nicht kennt.

Die Frage ist nicht, ob Geld gut oder böse ist. Die Frage ist, ob es Verantwortung kennt. Ob es dem dient, der es hält, oder dem, der es kontrolliert. Ob es verlässlich ist – nicht nur in seiner Funktion, sondern auch in seiner Wirkung. Ein Geld, das jederzeit vermehrt werden kann, erlaubt jederzeit die Verschiebung von Lasten. Weg von den Verantwortlichen, hin zu den Stillen. Es belohnt die Nähe zur Quelle, nicht die Leistung. Es nährt den Zynismus.

Ein anderes Geld beginnt nicht bei der Technik, sondern bei der Ethik. Es fragt nicht: Was ist möglich? Sondern: Was ist richtig? Es basiert auf Knappheit – nicht um zu begrenzen, sondern um Ehrlichkeit zu erzwingen. Es kennt kein „Too Big to Fail“, kein Vertrauen auf Dekrete, keine moralische Grauzone. Wer es nutzt, steht in direkter Beziehung zu seinem Handeln – und kann sich nicht herausreden.

Vielleicht ist die wichtigste Wirkung dieses Geldes nicht wirtschaftlich, sondern moralisch: Es gibt dem Einzelnen die Möglichkeit, sauber zu wirtschaften, ohne Teil eines schmutzigen Spiels zu sein. Es ist kein Geld für jeden – sondern für jene, die bereit sind, wieder Verantwortung zu tragen. Nicht, weil sie müssen, sondern weil sie wollen.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

Here’s a revised timeline of macro-level events from The Mandibles: A Family, 2029–2047 by Lionel Shriver, reimagined in a world where Bitcoin is adopted as a widely accepted form of money, altering the original narrative’s assumptions about currency collapse and economic control. In Shriver’s original story, the failure of Bitcoin is assumed amid the dominance of the bancor and the dollar’s collapse. Here, Bitcoin’s success reshapes the economic and societal trajectory, decentralizing power and challenging state-driven outcomes.

Part One: 2029–2032

• 2029 (Early Year)\ The United States faces economic strain as the dollar weakens against global shifts. However, Bitcoin, having gained traction emerges as a viable alternative. Unlike the original timeline, the bancor—a supranational currency backed by a coalition of nations—struggles to gain footing as Bitcoin’s decentralized adoption grows among individuals and businesses worldwide, undermining both the dollar and the bancor.

• 2029 (Mid-Year: The Great Renunciation)\ Treasury bonds lose value, and the government bans Bitcoin, labeling it a threat to sovereignty (mirroring the original bancor ban). However, a Bitcoin ban proves unenforceable—its decentralized nature thwarts confiscation efforts, unlike gold in the original story. Hyperinflation hits the dollar as the U.S. prints money, but Bitcoin’s fixed supply shields adopters from currency devaluation, creating a dual-economy split: dollar users suffer, while Bitcoin users thrive.

• 2029 (Late Year)\ Dollar-based inflation soars, emptying stores of goods priced in fiat currency. Meanwhile, Bitcoin transactions flourish in underground and online markets, stabilizing trade for those plugged into the bitcoin ecosystem. Traditional supply chains falter, but peer-to-peer Bitcoin networks enable local and international exchange, reducing scarcity for early adopters. The government’s gold confiscation fails to bolster the dollar, as Bitcoin’s rise renders gold less relevant.

• 2030–2031\ Crime spikes in dollar-dependent urban areas, but Bitcoin-friendly regions see less chaos, as digital wallets and smart contracts facilitate secure trade. The U.S. government doubles down on surveillance to crack down on bitcoin use. A cultural divide deepens: centralized authority weakens in Bitcoin-adopting communities, while dollar zones descend into lawlessness.

• 2032\ By this point, Bitcoin is de facto legal tender in parts of the U.S. and globally, especially in tech-savvy or libertarian-leaning regions. The federal government’s grip slips as tax collection in dollars plummets—Bitcoin’s traceability is low, and citizens evade fiat-based levies. Rural and urban Bitcoin hubs emerge, while the dollar economy remains fractured.

Time Jump: 2032–2047

• Over 15 years, Bitcoin solidifies as a global reserve currency, eroding centralized control. The U.S. government adapts, grudgingly integrating bitcoin into policy, though regional autonomy grows as Bitcoin empowers local economies.

Part Two: 2047

• 2047 (Early Year)\ The U.S. is a hybrid state: Bitcoin is legal tender alongside a diminished dollar. Taxes are lower, collected in BTC, reducing federal overreach. Bitcoin’s adoption has decentralized power nationwide. The bancor has faded, unable to compete with Bitcoin’s grassroots momentum.

• 2047 (Mid-Year)\ Travel and trade flow freely in Bitcoin zones, with no restrictive checkpoints. The dollar economy lingers in poorer areas, marked by decay, but Bitcoin’s dominance lifts overall prosperity, as its deflationary nature incentivizes saving and investment over consumption. Global supply chains rebound, powered by bitcoin enabled efficiency.

• 2047 (Late Year)\ The U.S. is a patchwork of semi-autonomous zones, united by Bitcoin’s universal acceptance rather than federal control. Resource scarcity persists due to past disruptions, but economic stability is higher than in Shriver’s original dystopia—Bitcoin’s success prevents the authoritarian slide, fostering a freer, if imperfect, society.

Key Differences

• Currency Dynamics: Bitcoin’s triumph prevents the bancor’s dominance and mitigates hyperinflation’s worst effects, offering a lifeline outside state control.
• Government Power: Centralized authority weakens as Bitcoin evades bans and taxation, shifting power to individuals and communities.
• Societal Outcome: Instead of a surveillance state, 2047 sees a decentralized, bitcoin driven world—less oppressive, though still stratified between Bitcoin haves and have-nots.

This reimagining assumes Bitcoin overcomes Shriver’s implied skepticism to become a robust, adopted currency by 2029, fundamentally altering the novel’s bleak trajectory.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Marty's Bent

via Kevin McKernan

There's been a lot of discussion this week about Casey Means being nominated for Surgeon General of the United States and a broader overarching conversation about the effectiveness of MAHA since the inauguration and how effective it may or may not be moving forward. Many would say that President Trump won re-election due to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan deciding to reach across the aisle and join the Trump ticket, bringing with them the MAHA Moms, who are very focused on reorienting the healthcare system in the United States with a strong focus on the childhood vaccine schedule.

I'm not going to lie, this is something I'm passionate about as well, particularly after having many conversations over the years with doctors like Kevin McKernan, Dr. Jack Kruse, Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, Dr. Brooke Miller, Dr. Peter McCullough and others about the dangers of the COVID mRNA vaccines. As it stands today, I think this is the biggest elephant in the room in the world of healthcare. If you look at the data, particularly disability claims, life insurance claims, life expectancy, miscarriage rates, fertility issues and rates of turbo cancer around the world since the COVID vaccine was introduced in 2021, it seems pretty clear that there is harm being done to many of the people who have taken them.

The risk-reward ratio of the vaccines seems to be incredibly skewed towards risk over reward and children - who have proven to be least susceptible to COVID - are expected to get three COVID shots in the first year of their life if their parents follow the vaccine schedule. For some reason or another it seems that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has shied away from this topic after becoming the head of Health and Human Services within the Trump administration. This is after a multi-year campaign during which getting the vaccines removed from the market war a core part of his platform messaging.

I'm still holding out hope that sanity will prevail. The COVID mRNA vaccines will be taken off the market in a serious conversation about the crimes against humanity that unfolded during the COVID years will take place. However, we cannot depend on that outcome. We must build with the assumption in mind that that outcome may never materialize. This leads to identifying where the incentives within the system are misconstrued. One area where I think it's pretty safe to say that the incentives are misaligned is the fact that 95% of doctors work for and answer to a corporation driven by their bottom line. Instead of listening to their patients and truly caring about the outcome of each individual, doctors forced to think about the monetary outcome of the corporation they work for first.

The most pernicious way in which these misaligned incentives emerge is the way in which the hospital systems and physicians are monetarily incentivized by big pharma companies to push the COVID vaccine and other vaccines on their patients. It is important to acknowledge that we cannot be dependent on a system designed in this way to change from within. Instead, we must build a new incentive system and market structure. And obviously, if you're reading this newsletter, you know that I believe that bitcoin will play a pivotal role in realigning incentives across every industry. Healthcare just being one of them.

Bitcoiners have identified the need to become sovereign in our monetary matters, it probably makes sense to become sovereign when it comes to our healthcare as well. This means finding doctors who operate outside the corporate controlled system and are able to offer services that align incentives with the end patient. My family utilizes a combination of CrowdHealth and a private care physician to align incentives. We've even utilized a private care physician who allowed us to pay in Bitcoin for her services for a number of years. I think this is the model. Doctors accepting hard censorship resistant money for the healthcare and advice they provide. Instead of working for a corporation looking to push pharmaceutical products on their patients so they can bolster their bottom line, work directly with patients who will pay in bitcoin, which will appreciate in value over time.

I had a lengthy discussion with Dr. Jack Kruse on the podcast earlier today discussing these topic and more. It will be released on Thursday and I highly recommend you freaks check it out once it is published. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss it.

How the "Exorbitant Privilege" of the Dollar is Undermining Our Manufacturing Base

In my conversation with Lyn Alden, we explored America's fundamental economic contradiction. As Lyn expertly explained, maintaining the dollar's reserve currency status while attempting to reshore manufacturing presents a near-impossible challenge - what economists call Triffin's Dilemma. The world's appetite for dollars gives Americans tremendous purchasing power but simultaneously hollows out our industrial base. The overvalued dollar makes our exports less competitive, especially for lower-margin manufacturing, while our imports remain artificially strong.

"Having the reserve currency does come with a bunch of benefits, historically called an exorbitant privilege, but then it has certain costs to maintain it." - Lyn Alden

This dilemma forces America to run persistent trade deficits, as this is how dollars flow to the world. For over four decades, these deficits have accumulated, creating massive economic imbalances that can't be quickly reversed. The Trump administration's attempts to address this through tariffs showcase how difficult rebalancing has become. As Lyn warned, even if we successfully pivot toward reshoring manufacturing, we'll face difficult trade-offs: potentially giving up some reserve currency benefits to rebuild our industrial foundation. This isn't just economic theory - it's the restructuring challenge that will define America's economic future.

Check out the full podcast here for more on China's manufacturing dominance, the role of Bitcoin in monetary transitions, and energy production as the foundation for future industrial power.

Headlines of the Day

Coinbase to replace Discover in S&P 500 on May 19 - via X

Mallers promises no rehypothecation in Strike Bitcoin loans - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

Missouri passes HB 594, eliminates Bitcoin capital gains tax - via X

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The 2025 Bitcoin Policy Summit is set for June 25th—and it couldn’t come at a more important time. The Bitcoin industry is at a pivotal moment in Washington, with initiatives like the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve gaining rapid traction. Whether you’re a builder, advocate, academic, or policymaker—we want you at the table. Join us in DC to help define the future of freedom, money & innovation in the 21st century.

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Ten31, the largest bitcoin-focused investor, has deployed $150M across 30+ companies through three funds. I am a Managing Partner at Ten31 and am very proud of the work we are doing. Learn more at ten31.vc/invest.

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Final thought...

The 100+ degree days have returned to Austin, TX. Not mad about it... yet.

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@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Ein Vater, der schweigt, erzieht das Echo. Eine Mutter, die sich aufgibt, schenkt dem Nichts ein Gesicht.

2. Wer dem Nichts ins Auge sieht, braucht keine Autorität mehr.

3. Ein Augenblick – und schon ist er verloren. Wir wandern. Aber wohin?

4. Liebe beginnt nicht im Herzen, sondern im Zweifel. Sie wächst dort, wo man bleibt, obwohl man fliehen will.

5. Die Einsamkeit offenbart die Qual des Seienden – ein verlassenes Fragment des zersplitterten Willens.

6. Die Seele sammelt Splitter vergangener Welten. Doch keine Hand fügt sie je wieder zusammen.

7. Kinder fragen nicht nach Sinn. Sie leben ihn, bis man es ihnen austreibt.

8. Vertrauen ist eine Brücke aus Papier. Sie hält, solange keiner fragt, ob sie trägt.

9. Unsere Angst vor dem Nichts ist nur der Schrei des Ichs, das weiß, dass es niemals war.

10. Der Sinn entgleitet, je fester wir ihn fassen wollen – wie Nebel, der sich vor der Berührung auflöst.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Befreiung beginnt nicht mit einem Aufschrei. Sie beginnt mit einem leisen Nein.

2. Herkunft ist kein Zuhause. Es ist der Ort, an dem man lernt, warum man ging.

3. Manche Familien sind wie tote Götter. Man glaubt an sie, obwohl sie längst vergangen sind.

4. Wer das Nichts anschaut, sieht sich selbst – ein Schatten, der sich für Licht hält.

5. Das Schweigen des Universums ist keine Antwort. Es ist die endgültige Form der Gleichgültigkeit.

6. In der Dämmerung unserer Tage suchen wir die Sonne – eine Sonne, die nur noch in der Erinnerung brennt.

7. Freiheit beginnt, wenn man aufhört, sich retten zu lassen.

8. Wer nie verloren ging, hat sich selbst nie gesucht.

9. Gedanken zerfallen wie Tropfen, die nie den Boden erreichen.

10. Wahrheit ist selten laut. Sie flüstert – meist dann, wenn niemand mehr zuhört.

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

I’ve written about MSTR twice already, https://www.chrisliss.com/p/mstr and https://www.chrisliss.com/p/mstr-part-2, but I want to focus on legendary short seller James Chanos’ current trade wherein he buys bitcoin (via ETF) and shorts MSTR, in essence to “be like Mike” Saylor who sells MSTR shares at the market and uses them to add bitcoin to the company’s balance sheet. After all, if it’s good enough for Saylor, why shouldn’t everyone be doing it — shorting a company whose stock price is more than 2x its bitcoin holdings and using the proceeds to buy the bitcoin itself?

Saylor himself has said selling shares at 2x NAV (net asset value) to buy bitcoin is like selling dollars for two dollars each, and Chanos has apparently decided to get in while the getting (market cap more than 2x net asset value) is good. If the price of bitcoin moons, sending MSTR’s shares up, you are more than hedged in that event, too. At least that’s the theory.

The problem with this bet against MSTR’s mNAV, i.e., you are betting MSTR’s market cap will converge 1:1 toward its NAV in the short and medium term is this trade does not exist in a vacuum. Saylor has described how his ATM’s (at the market) sales of shares are accretive in BTC per share because of this very premium they carry. Yes, we’ll dilute your shares of the company, but because we’re getting you 2x the bitcoin per share, you are getting an ever smaller slice of an ever bigger overall pie, and the pie is growing 2x faster than your slice is reducing. (I https://www.chrisliss.com/p/mstr how this works in my first post.)

But for this accretion to continue, there must be a constant supply of “greater fools” to pony up for the infinitely printable shares which contain only half their value in underlying bitcoin. Yes, those shares will continue to accrete more BTC per share, but only if there are more fools willing to make this trade in the future. So will there be a constant supply of such “fools” to keep fueling MSTR’s mNAV multiple indefinitely?

Yes, there will be in my opinion because you have to look at the trade from the prospective fools’ perspective. Those “fools” are not trading bitcoin for MSTR, they are trading their dollars, selling other equities to raise them maybe, but in the end it’s a dollars for shares trade. They are not selling bitcoin for them.

You might object that those same dollars could buy bitcoin instead, so they are surely trading the opportunity cost of buying bitcoin for them, but if only 5-10 percent of the market (or less) is buying bitcoin itself, the bucket in which which those “fools” reside is the entire non-bitcoin-buying equity market. (And this is not considering the even larger debt market which Saylor has yet to tap in earnest.)

So for those 90-95 percent who do not and are not presently planning to own bitcoin itself, is buying MSTR a fool’s errand, so to speak? Not remotely. If MSTR shares are infinitely printable ATM, they are still less so than the dollar and other fiat currencies. And MSTR shares are backed 2:1 by bitcoin itself, while the fiat currencies are backed by absolutely nothing. So if you hold dollars or euros, trading them for MSTR shares is an errand more sage than foolish.

That’s why this trade (buying BTC and shorting MSTR) is so dangerous. Not only are there many people who won’t buy BTC buying MSTR, there are many funds and other investment entities who are only able to buy MSTR.

Do you want to get BTC at 1:1 with the 5-10 percent or MSTR backed 2:1 with the 90-95 percent. This is a bit like medical tests that have a 95 percent accuracy rate for an asymptomatic disease that only one percent of the population has. If someone tests positive, it’s more likely to be a false one than an indication he has the disease*. The accuracy rate, even at 19:1, is subservient to the size of the respective populations.

At some point this will no longer be the case, but so long as the understanding of bitcoin is not widespread, so long as the dollar is still the unit of account, the “greater fools” buying MSTR are still miles ahead of the greatest fools buying neither, and the stock price and mNAV should only increase.

. . .

One other thought: it’s more work to play defense than offense because the person on offense knows where he’s going, and the defender can only react to him once he moves. Similarly, Saylor by virtue of being the issuer of the shares knows when more will come online while Chanos and other short sellers are borrowing them to sell in reaction to Saylor’s strategy. At any given moment, Saylor can pause anytime, choosing to issue convertible debt or preferred shares with which to buy more bitcoin, and the shorts will not be given advance notice.

If the price runs, and there is no ATM that week because Saylor has stopped on a dime, so to speak, the shorts will be left having to scramble to change directions and buy the shares back to cover. Their momentum might be in the wrong direction, though, and like Allen Iverson breaking ankles with a crossover, Saylor might trigger a massive short squeeze, rocketing the share price ever higher. That’s why he actually welcomes Chanos et al trying this copycat strategy — it becomes the fuel for outsized gains.

For that reason, news that Chanos is shorting MSTR has not shaken my conviction, though there are other more pertinent https://www.chrisliss.com/p/mstr-part-2 with MSTR, of which one should be aware. And as always, do your own due diligence before investing in anything.

* To understand this, consider a population of 100,000, with one percent having a disease. That means 1,000 have it, 99,000 do not. If the test is 95 percent accurate, and everyone is tested, 950 of the 1,000 will test positive (true positives), 50 who have it will test negative (false negatives.) Of the positives, 95 percent of 99,000 (94,050) will test negative (true negatives) and five percent (4,950) will test positive (false positives). That means 4,950 out of 5,900 positives (84%) will be false.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Key Takeaways

Dr. Jack Kruse returns in this fiery episode to expose what he alleges is a coordinated campaign by Big Pharma, technocrats, and global elites to control public health narratives and financial systems through manipulated health policies and propaganda. He accuses figures like Calli and Casey Means of fronting a compromised "Maha Movement," backed by A16Z, Big Tech, and the World Economic Forum, with ambitions to embed themselves into U.S. health policy and bioweapons programs. Kruse details his covert efforts to expose these connections, claiming they led to the withdrawal of Casey Means' Surgeon General nomination, and warns of a looming biotechnocratic surveillance state where mRNA vaccines act as bioweapons to enforce compliance. Urging Bitcoiners to expand their fight for sovereignty beyond finance into healthcare and biology, Kruse argues that the true war is over time sovereignty—not just monetary freedom—and that protecting children from vaccine harms is now the most urgent front in this escalating battle.

Best Quotes

"Bitcoin is worthless if you have no time."

"We’re not playing games here. This is to the death."

"Big Pharma is just the drug dealer. The real boss is the Department of Defense and DARPA."

"The real battle in D.C. isn’t left vs. right, it’s Rothschilds and Rockefellers vs. the technocrats."

"First principle Bitcoiners need to become first principle decentralizers of life itself."

Conclusion

This episode delivers a provocative call to action from Dr. Jack Kruse, who warns that the fight for sovereignty must go beyond finance to confront what he sees as the immediate threat of centralized bio-surveillance through mRNA vaccines. Blending insider claims with health activism, Kruse urges Bitcoiners and the public to recognize that true freedom requires decentralizing not only money but also healthcare and information systems, arguing that without protecting biological sovereignty, Bitcoin’s promise of liberty will be meaningless if people are left physically, mentally, or politically compromised.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
0:47 - Outlining MAHA infiltration
22:59 - Fold & Bitkey
24:35- Danger to children
28:27 - Political shell game
35:40 - Unchained
36:09 - Time theft
41:07 - Vax data
46:32 - Bioweapon and control system
58:29 - Game plan - Decentralized yourself
1:15:16 - Priorities
1:24:30 - Support Mary Talley Bowden

Transcript

(00:00) me, Larry Leard, those kind of Bitcoiners, the people that are out there that have money, like they're looking to take us out. You need to know a little bit about the back history that I don't think I've talked about anywhere on any other podcast. Rick Callie is linked to the current administration is through Susie Watts.
(00:17) They both were working at Mercury PR basically is the frontman for propaganda for Big Farm. Basically, who pays you? You become their [ __ ] We're not playing games here. This is to the death. This is the biggest issue facing Maha now. It's not Froot Loops. It's not red dye. But the messenger RA job can drop you like Demar Handler.
(00:40) Can end your career like JJ Watt. Dr. Jack Cruz, welcome back to the show. Thank you, sir, for having me. Well, thank you for being here. I mean, you're making a lot of noise around a topic that I wasn't well aware of. I'm not going to lie. I think I got duped by or we'll find out if I actually got duped by the meanses. Cali means was coming in last year talking big about Maja getting the food correct.
(01:15) Um, basically telling the story of him being a lobbyist and understanding how corrupt the food system is. And we talked about it last time we were on two months ago. this sort of maha movement has shifted towards focusing on preventative care particularly in diets and you were on the Danny Danny Jones show late last year with Cali means uh sort of pressuring him to admit that the vaccine should be pulled off the market and he did not did not bite and would not budge on that and now his sister Casey has been appointed to surgeon general and
(01:50) this is something Let me let me tell you a little bit about that because you need to know a little bit about the back history that I don't think I've talked about anywhere on any other podcast. She was going to be named surgeon general uh back then. Just so you know that I knew it and I knew quite a bit of other things.
(02:16) So what was my goal? I knew um that Cali and Casey were tied to big tech. They were tied specifically, which you'll be interested in, A16Z, the shitcoiners extraordinaire, and they were also tied to the World Economic Forum through the book deal. Um, so my goal at that time as part of the person that was big in the mob like, and Marty, I don't know if you know this back part of the story.
(02:46) Maha begins not with Casey and Cali and Bobby Kennedy. It began with me, Bobby, and Rick Rubin on Rick's podcast the day that I told RFK Jr. that SV40 was in the Fiser Jabs. Mhm. And that's when Bobby found out that I wrote the law for Blly for a constitutional amendment for medical freedom. And he asked me to use four pages of the law.
(03:13) And Blly cleared me to do that. And then Aaron Siri, who was Bobby's attorney and working with a lot of the stuff that Bobby does with vaccines and I can Aaron contacted me. So just so you're clear, this is two and a half years ago. This is before this is a year previous to Casey and Cali coming on the scene. And I was always behind the scenes.
(03:37) I was not really interested in getting involved um in the [ __ ] show. But when I saw these two show up, the way they showed up and when I heard Cali actually say on a podcast that, you know, he was the modus operande of the Maha movement and he's the one that brought Bobby and Trump together.
(04:02) I said, "That's where I draw a [ __ ] line." I'm like, "Uh-uh. These guys, I know exactly what they're going to do. I see the game plan. they're going to use a shell game and I needed to have proof before you can come out and be a savage. You got to have proof. So, I hired three former Secret Service agents to actually do a very deep dive.
(04:24) We're talking about the kind of dive that you would get uh if you were going for a Supreme Court nomination. Okay? It cost me a lot of money. And why did I think it was important? Because as you know, you know, as a Bitcoiner, you just saw the big scam that happened with Maya Paribu down in Cerninam that happened after.
(04:49) Well, when I hired these guys, when all of my research that I had done was confirmed by them, I said, "Okay, now we need to go on a podcast very publicly and we need to put Cali's feet to the fire." Why? because I knew and he did not know that I knew this prior to the podcast. Uh that his sister was going to be nominated for surgeon general then.
(05:14) And because he didn't know and you you'll be able to confirm this or the savages in your audience can confirm this with Danny Jones. Do you know that Cali cancelled the podcast to do it into uh February? Yeah. Well, I think it was April of 25 because he didn't want to give anybody the time and day.
(05:37) So, what did I start doing? I started posting some of the information back in November that I found and the links to the Wjikis and the links to Bin, the links to A16Z. I didn't didn't give a ton of the information, but let's just put it this way. enough to make Callie and Cassie scream a little bit that people in DC started to read all my tweets.
(06:04) And then he called Danny up and said, "Danny, I want to do this podcast immediately." And I knew the reason why. Cuz I was baiting him to come so I could hit him with the big stuff. Why? Because you have to understand these two kids, you know, tied to the Rockefellers. They're tied to the banking elite.
(06:26) They're tied to the World Economics Form. Rick Callie is linked to the current administration is through Susie Watts. They both were working at Mercury PR and uh Mercury PR uh basically is the frontman for propaganda for Big Farm and everybody knows that, but not everybody knew that Cali worked for them.
(06:50) And you know the story that he sold all you guys, how he fooled you. And I consider you a smart guy, a savage, it's not shocking how he fooled you because he said as a um a lobbyist basically who pays you, you become their [ __ ] to to be quite honest and you'll say things that will make sense. Everybody in creation who's going to watch your podcast knows that all the things that Casey and Cali have said have been said literally for 30, 40, 50 years going all the way back to probably Anel Peas about diet and exercise.
(07:25) Everybody [ __ ] knows that. It's not new. They just decided to repackage it up and then they actually got in Bobby's ear about it. And when I released all this stuff, did Bobby know what I had? Yeah, he knew. And did the people in DC all what all their antennas up about this issue? Who was most pissed off with Uncle Jack back then? Susie [ __ ] Walls.
(07:56) Why? because those two are her babies that were going to be the amber that Susie Cassidy Cassidy Big Farmer were going to place around um Bobby Kennedy once he got confirmed. And that's why for the savages that are listening to this podcast, you go back and look at Nicole's tweet from, you know, I guess it was about four or five days ago that this didn't make sense.
(08:20) Why? because I gave the data directly to the people in DC behind the scenes of what was really going on and because it was so explosive. That's the reason Susie had to not give the job to Casey Means. She had to wait till the heat died down. So they elevated Janette and Janette bas

@ d9c98e71:37007462

„Der Mensch ist frei geboren und überall liegt er in Ketten.“

– Jean-Jacques Rousseau

In einer Welt, die sich zunehmend durch technologische Umbrüche definiert, zeigt sich eine bemerkenswerte kognitive Dissonanz im Umgang mit neuen Paradigmen: Die Abwehr gegenüber Bitcoin ist selten eine Frage der Rationalität.

Häufig entsteht Ablehnung aus einer tief sitzenden Überforderung gegenüber dem Ungewohnten. Der Mensch meidet, was nicht in vertraute Erklärungsmuster passt – nicht aus Mangel an Intelligenz, sondern aus Gewohnheit.

So wirkt Bitcoin auf viele wie ein hermetisches System, dessen Mechanismen sich dem Alltagsverständnis entziehen. Dabei ist es, philosophisch betrachtet, der Fiat-Welt unter einem entscheidenden Aspekt überlegen: ihrer radikalen Transparenz.

Die Strukturen, welche das fiatbasierte Geldsystem tragen, sind in ihrer institutionellen Dichte kaum zu durchdringen. Zentralbanken, Aufsichtsbehörden, gesetzgeberische Rahmenwerke, geldpolitische Instrumente, Interbankenmärkte, internationale Regulierungsorgane – sie bilden einen verwaltungstechnischen Überbau, der in seiner Vielschichtigkeit eher einer mittelalterlichen Theologie als einem frei zugänglichen, rationalen System gleicht.

Das Vertrauen in diese Ordnung ist kein Produkt einer verstandesmäßigen Durchdringung, sondern das Ergebnis jahrzehntelanger Gewöhnung und autoritärer Setzung. Man glaubt an das Fiat-Geld, weil es da ist – nicht, weil man es versteht.

Bitcoin hingegen konfrontiert den Einzelnen mit der Notwendigkeit der Selbstverantwortung und fordert eine direkte Auseinandersetzung mit ihrer Funktionsweise: kryptografische Prinzipien, Dezentralität, Konsensmechanismen, digitale Knappheit. Dies wirkt zunächst sperrig, ja fast elitär. Doch diese Komplexität ist nicht strukturell intransparent, sondern technisch erklärbar, überprüfbar und – für jeden offen.

Während das Fiat-System in verschlossenen Räumen entscheidet, operiert Bitcoin auf einem offenen Protokoll. Die Ablehnung des Neuen beruht daher weniger auf seiner inhärenten Schwierigkeit als vielmehr auf einer anthropologischen Trägheit: Die Bequemlichkeit, sich von äußeren Instanzen verwalten zu lassen, wiegt schwerer als der Wunsch nach Souveränität.

Doch was ist wahrhaft komplex? Ist es nicht die blinde Akzeptanz eines Systems, dessen Grundlagen man niemals selbst prüfen kann? Ist es nicht der Glaube an eine Geldordnung, deren Stabilität von politischen Machtzentren abhängt?

Der Bitcoin hingegen stellt die radikale Frage: Was, wenn Vertrauen nicht mehr delegiert, sondern durch Code ersetzt werden kann? Was, wenn Verständlichkeit nicht aus Tradition, sondern aus Prinzipien entsteht?

In dieser Perspektive ist Bitcoin keine bloße technische Innovation, sondern ein philosophisches Statement: ein Plädoyer für epistemische Mündigkeit. Die vermeintliche Einfachheit des Alten ist in Wahrheit nur ein Schleier – und die gefühlte Schwierigkeit des Neuen ist der erste Schritt in die Freiheit.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

„In Zeiten universeller Täuschung ist das Aussprechen der Wahrheit ein revolutionärer Akt.“

– George Orwell

Bitcoin ist nicht nur ein Werkzeug der ökonomischen Selbstermächtigung – er ist auch ein kulturelles Störsignal. Sein bloßes Funktionieren stellt die Legitimität des Bestehenden infrage. Eine Währung, die niemand ausgibt, niemand kontrolliert, niemand genehmigen muss, ist in ihrer bloßen Existenz eine stille Anklage gegen das, was als alternativlos gilt.

Es geht nicht nur um Technologie. Es geht um Haltung. Um das leise Beharren auf einem anderen Takt. In einer Welt, in der der Wert von oben definiert wird – durch Zentralbanken, Ratings, Verordnungen – bietet Bitcoin eine völlig andere Grundlage: Konsens, Knappheit, Mathematik. Kein politischer Willensakt, sondern ein physikalisches Versprechen.

Wer Bitcoin nutzt, trifft eine Entscheidung, die weit über Geld hinausgeht. Es ist die bewusste Verweigerung, Teil eines Systems zu sein, das auf Schulden basiert, auf Kontrolle, auf ständigem Zugriff. Es ist die Entscheidung, eine andere Art von Zukunft möglich zu machen – nicht durch Protest, sondern durch Praxis.

Diese Form der Dissidenz ist schwer zu greifen, weil sie sich nicht laut artikuliert. Sie baut keine Barrikaden, schreibt keine Manifeste, ruft nicht nach Aufmerksamkeit. Sie wählt den Rückzug als Methode. Die Abkopplung. Die schrittweise Reduktion von Abhängigkeiten.

Vielleicht ist das Revolutionäre an Bitcoin nicht der Konflikt, sondern die Abwesenheit davon. Kein Widerstand im klassischen Sinn, sondern eine Umleitung. Keine Konfrontation, sondern Konsequenz. Die leise Entscheidung, nicht mehr mitzuspielen – sondern etwas Besseres zu bauen.

Wer Bitcoin lebt, braucht keine Genehmigung. Keine Erklärung. Kein Spektakel. Nur einen Node. Eine Wallet. Ein wenig Disziplin. Und die Bereitschaft, Verantwortung zu tragen, wo andere noch Ansprüche stellen.

Es ist kein einfacher Weg. Aber es ist einer, den man gehen kann, ohne um Erlaubnis zu fragen.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Marty's Bent

It's been a pretty historic week for the United States as it pertains to geopolitical relations in the Middle East. President Trump and many members of his administration, including AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, traveled across the Middle East making deals with countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, and others. Many are speculating that Iran may be included in some behind the scenes deal as well. This trip to the Middle East makes sense considering the fact that China is also vying for favorable relationships with those countries. The Middle East is a power player in the world, and it seems pretty clear that Donald Trump is dead set on ensuring that they choose the United States over China as the world moves towards a more multi-polar reality.

Many are calling the events of this week the Riyadh Accords. There were many deals that were struck in relation to artificial intelligence, defense, energy and direct investments in the United States. A truly prolific power play and demonstration of deal-making ability of Donald Trump, if you ask me. Though I will admit some of the numbers that were thrown out by some of the countries were a bit egregious. We shall see how everything plays out in the coming years. It will be interesting to see how China reacts to this power move by the United States.

While all this was going on, there was something happening back in the United States that many people outside of fringe corners of FinTwit are not talking about, which is the fact that the 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury bond yields are back on the rise. Yesterday, they surpassed the levels of mid-April that caused a market panic and are hovering back around levels that have not been seen since right before Donald Trump's inauguration.

I imagine that there isn't as much of an uproar right now because I'm pretty confident the media freakouts we were experiencing in mid-April were driven by the fact that many large hedge funds found themselves off sides of large levered basis trades. I wouldn't be surprised if those funds have decreased their leverage in those trades and bond yields being back to mid-April levels is not affecting those funds as much as they were last month. But the point stands, the 10-year and 30-year yields are significantly elevated with the 30-year approaching 5%. Regardless of the deals that are currently being made in the Middle East, the Treasury has a big problem on its hands. It still has to roll over many trillions worth of debt over over the next few years and doing so at these rates is going to be massively detrimental to fiscal deficits over the next decade. The interest expense on the debt is set to explode in the coming years.

On that note, data from the first quarter of 2025 has been released by the government and despite all the posturing by the Trump administration around DOGE and how tariffs are going to be beneficial for the U.S. economy, deficits are continuing to explode while the interest expense on the debt has definitively surpassed our annual defense budget.

via Charlie Bilello

via Mohamed Al-Erian

To make matters worse, as things are deteriorating on the fiscal side of things, the U.S. consumer is getting crushed by credit. The 90-plus day delinquency rates for credit card and auto loans are screaming higher right now.

via TXMC

One has to wonder how long all this can continue without some sort of liquidity crunch. Even though equities markets have recovered from their post-Liberation Day month long bear market, I would not be surprised if what we're witnessing is a dead cat bounce that can only be continued if the money printers are turned back on. Something's got to give, both on the fiscal side and in the private markets where the Common Man is getting crushed because he's been forced to take on insane amounts of debt to stay afloat after years of elevated levels of inflation. Add on the fact that AI has reached a state of maturity that will enable companies to replace their current meat suit workers with an army of cheap, efficient and fast digital workers and it isn't hard to see that some sort of employment crisis could be on the horizon as well.

Now is not the time to get complacent. While I do believe that the deals that are currently being made in the Middle East are probably in the best interest of the United States as the world, again, moves toward a more multi-polar reality, we are facing problems that one cannot simply wish away. They will need to be confronted. And as we've seen throughout the 21st century, the problems are usually met head-on with a money printer.

I take no pleasure in saying this because it is a bit uncouth to be gleeful to benefit from the strife of others, but it is pretty clear to me that all signs are pointing to bitcoin benefiting massively from everything that is going on. The shift towards a more multi-polar world, the runaway debt situation here in the United States, the increasing deficits, the AI job replacements and the consumer credit crisis that is currently unfolding, All will need to be "solved" by turning on the money printers to levels they've never been pushed to before.

Weird times we're living in.

China's Manufacturing Dominance: Why It Matters for the U.S.

In my recent conversation with Lyn Alden, she highlighted how China has rapidly ascended the manufacturing value chain. As Lyn pointed out, China transformed from making "sneakers and plastic trinkets" to becoming the world's largest auto exporter in just four years. This dramatic shift represents more than economic success—it's a strategic power play. China now dominates solar panel production with greater market control than OPEC has over oil and maintains near-monopoly control of rare earth elements crucial for modern technology.

"China makes like 10 times more steel than the United States does... which is relevant in ship making. It's relevant in all sorts of stuff." - Lyn Alden

Perhaps most concerning, as Lyn emphasized, is China's financial leverage. They hold substantial U.S. assets that could be strategically sold to disrupt U.S. treasury market functioning. This combination of manufacturing dominance, resource control, and financial leverage gives China significant negotiating power in any trade disputes, making our attempts to reshoring manufacturing all the more challenging.

Check out the full podcast here for more on Triffin's dilemma, Bitcoin's role in monetary transition, and the energy requirements for rebuilding America's industrial base.

Headlines of the Day

Financial Times Under Fire Over MicroStrategy Bitcoin Coverage - via X

Trump in Qatar: Historic Boeing Deal Signed - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

Johnson Backs Stock Trading Ban; Passage Chances Slim - via X

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Final thought...

Building things of value is satisfying.

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@ d9c98e71:37007462

„Was du besitzt, besitzt auch dich.“

– Henry David Thoreau

Bitcoin verändert nicht nur, wie wir Geld sehen, sondern auch, wie wir uns selbst sehen. Es stellt eine einfache Frage, die schwer wiegt: Wem traust du? Und tiefer noch: Bist du bereit, dir selbst zu trauen?

Selbstverwahrung ist kein technischer Akt – es ist eine innere Haltung. Wer seinen eigenen Schlüssel hält, muss sich nicht nur mit Tools, sondern mit sich selbst auseinandersetzen – mit Angst, Verantwortung und Freiheit. Die Gewissheit, dass niemand Zugriff hat, ist auch die Last, dass niemand rettet. Diese Form der Verantwortung ist für viele ungewohnt, fast schon beängstigend – in einer Welt, die absichert, verwaltet, entmündigt.

Bitcoin ist radikale Eigenverantwortung. Und genau das macht es zu einer psychologischen Schwelle. Es zwingt zur Selbsterkenntnis: Bin ich bereit, die Kontrolle wirklich zu übernehmen? Oder suche ich weiterhin nach Institutionen, nach Autoritäten, nach jemandem, der mir die Entscheidung abnimmt?

Spirituell betrachtet ist Bitcoin ein Spiegel. Es zeigt, woran wir glauben, was wir fürchten, worauf wir hoffen. In einer Welt voller Illusionen – über Wert, über Sicherheit, über Freiheit – ist Bitcoin brutal ehrlich. Es gibt nichts vor. Es bewertet nicht. Es funktioniert oder es funktioniert nicht. Und der Umgang damit offenbart viel über uns selbst.

Der Prozess, Bitcoin wirklich zu verstehen – nicht technisch, sondern existenziell – ist transformativ. Er entkoppelt unser Selbstwertgefühl von Zahlen auf Bankkonten. Er konfrontiert uns mit unserer Abhängigkeit von Bequemlichkeit. Er eröffnet die Möglichkeit, dass Freiheit nicht in äußeren Umständen liegt, sondern in einer inneren Haltung.

Für manche ist Bitcoin eine spirituelle Praxis – eine tägliche Übung in Geduld, Disziplin und Vertrauen. Nicht Vertrauen in andere, sondern in Prinzipien. In Mathematik. In Ursache und Wirkung. Bitcoin verzeiht keine Illusionen. Es bestraft Selbsttäuschung. Und gerade deshalb kann es ein Werkzeug sein – nicht nur der wirtschaftlichen, sondern auch der inneren Befreiung.

Wer sich darauf einlässt, begibt sich nicht nur auf einen neuen finanziellen Weg, sondern auf eine Reise zu sich selbst. Eine Reise, die nicht laut ist, nicht bequem, nicht sofort belohnend – aber ehrlich. Und vielleicht – heilsam.

@ d9c98e71:37007462

„Anstatt das System zu bekämpfen, baue ein System, das es überflüssig macht.“

– zugeschrieben Buckminster Fuller

Die Gegenwart ist geprägt von Zentralisierung, digitaler Kontrolle und einem Finanzsystem, das Vertrauen verlangt, aber wenig zurückgibt. Für Bitcoiner stellt sich nicht mehr die Frage nach dem Ob, sondern nach dem Wie des Rückzugs aus diesem System.

Der klassische Goldstandard war Ausdruck eines strukturellen Misstrauens gegenüber staatlicher Willkür. Die Bindung des Geldes an ein rares Gut wie Gold disziplinierte die Geldpolitik – allerdings auf Kosten von Flexibilität, Zugänglichkeit und Dezentralität. Gold war zentral verwahrt, schwer zu transportieren und politisch angreifbar.

Bitcoin übernimmt die Idee der Begrenzung, ohne diese Schwächen: keine zentrale Verwahrung, leicht teilbar, digital übertragbar, resistent gegen Konfiszierung. Was beim Gold noch eine politische Vereinbarung war, ist bei Bitcoin eine technische Tatsache.

Anarchie wird oft missverstanden. Sie ist keine Ablehnung von Ordnung, sondern von Herrschaft. Sie setzt auf freiwillige Strukturen statt auf Zwang, auf Verantwortung statt auf Kontrolle. Bitcoin ist in diesem Sinne anarchisch. Es gibt keine zentrale Autorität, keine Intervention, kein Gatekeeping. Teilhabe ist offen, Regeln sind transparent, Entscheidungen beruhen auf Konsens. Es ist ein System, das sich jeder aneignen kann, ohne jemanden um Erlaubnis zu fragen.

Der Rückzug aus dem bestehenden System ist kein plötzlicher Bruch, sondern eine Praxis. Er beginnt mit Selbstverwahrung, der Vermeidung von KYC, der Nutzung von Peer-to-Peer-Technologien und dem bewussten Aufbau eigener Infrastruktur. Es geht nicht darum, das alte System zu stürzen, sondern es überflüssig zu machen – indem man es nicht mehr braucht.

Bitcoin ist keine Spekulation, kein Unternehmen, kein Produkt. Es ist eine Entscheidung. Eine Entscheidung für Autonomie. Für Verantwortung. Für Souveränität. Wer sich für diesen Weg entscheidet, wählt nicht die einfachste Lösung – sondern die ehrlichste. Der Preis ist Selbstverantwortung. Die Belohnung ist Freiheit.

Kein Spektakel. Keine Revolution. Nur ein Protokoll. Und ein Mensch, der es nutzt.

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

I https://www.chrisliss.com/p/mstr a few months ago with the subtitle “The Only Stock,” and I’m starting to regret it. Now, it was trading at 396 on January 20 when I posted it and 404 now (even if it dipped 40 percent to 230 or so in between), but that’s not why I regret it. I pointed out it was not investable unless you’re willing to stomach large drawdowns, and anyone who bought then could exit with a small profit now had they not panic-sold along the way.

The reason I regret it is I don’t want to make public stock predictions because it adds stress to my life. I have not sold any of my shares yet, but something I’ve noticed recently has got me thinking about it, and stock tips are like a game of telephone wherein whoever is last in the chain might find out the wrong information and too late. And while every adult has agency and is responsible for his own financial decisions, I don’t want my readers losing money on account of anything I write.

My base case is still that MSTR becomes a trillion-dollar company, destroys the performance of the S&P, the Mag-7 and virtually any other equity portfolio most people would assemble. Michael Saylor is trading an infinitely-printable asset (his shares) for humanity’s best-ever, finite-supply digital gold, and that trade should be profitable for him and his shareholders in perpetuity.

I don’t know exactly what he plans to do when that trade is no longer available to him — either because no one takes fiat currency for bitcoin anymore or because his mNAV (market-cap-to-bitcoin-holding ratio) goes below one — but that’s not my main concern, either. At that point he’ll have so much bitcoin, he’ll probably become the world’s first and largest bitcoin bank and profit by making his pristine collateral available to individuals and institutions. Even at five percent interest, half a trillion in bitcoin would yield $25B in profits every year. Even at a modest 10x valuation, the stock would more than double from here.

I am also not overly concerned with Saylor’s present amount of convertible debt which is at low or zero rates and is only https://www.strategy.com/. He’s been conservative on that front and only issuing on favorable terms. I don’t doubt Saylor’s prescience, intelligence or business sense one bit.

What got me thinking were some Twitter posts by a former Salomon Brothers trader/prophet Josh Mandell https://x.com/JoshMandell6/status/1921597739458339193 recently. In November when bitcoin was mooning after the election, he predicted that on March 14th it would close at $84,000, and if it did it would then go on an epic run up to $444,000 this cycle.

A lot of people make predictions, a few of them come true, but rarely do they come true on the dot (it closed at exactly $84K according to some exchanges) and on such a specific timeframe. Now, maybe he just got lucky, or maybe he is a skilled trader who made one good prediction, but the reason he gave for his prediction, insofar as he gave one, was not some technical chart or quantitative analysis, but a memory he had from 30 years ago that got into his mind that he couldn’t shake. He didn’t get much more specific than that, other than that he was tuned into something that if he explained fully would make too many people think he had gone insane. And then the prediction came true on the dot months later.

Now I believe in the paranormal more than the average person. I do not think things are random, and insofar as they appear that way it’s only because we have incomplete information — even a coin toss is predictable if you knew the exact force and spin that was put on the coin. I think for whatever reason, this guy is plugged into something, and while I would never invest a substantial amount of money on that belief — not only are earnestly-made prophecies often delusions or even if correct wrongly interpreted — that he sold makes me think.

He gave more substantive reasons for selling than prophecy, by the way — he seems to think Saylor’s perpetual issuance of shares ATM (at the market) to buy more bitcoin is putting too much downward pressure on the stock. Obviously, selling shares — even if to buy the world’s most pristine collateral at a 2x-plus mNAV — reduces the short-term appreciation of those shares.

His thesis seems to be that Saylor is doing this even if he would be better off letting the price appreciate more, attracting more investors, squeezing more shorts, etc because he needs to improve his credit rating to tap into the convertible debt market to the extent he has promised ($42 billion more over the next few years) at favorable terms. But in doing this, he is souring common stock investors because they are not seeing the near-term appreciation they should on their holdings.

Now this is a trivial concern if over the long haul MSTR does what it has the last couple years which is to outperform by a wide margin not only every large cap stock and the S&P but bitcoin itself. And the bigger his stack of bitcoin, the more his stock should appreciate as bitcoin goes up. But markets do not operate linearly and rationally. Should he sour prospective buyers to a great enough extent, should he attract shorts (and supply them with available shares to borrow) to a great enough extent, perhaps there might be an mNAV-crushing cascade that drives people into other bitcoin treasury companies, ETFs or bitcoin itself.

Now Saylor as first mover and by far the largest publicly-traded treasury company has a significant advantage. Institutions are far less likely to invest in size in smaller treasury companies with shorter track records, and many of them are not allowed to invest in ETFs or bitcoin at all. And even if a lot of money did go into any of those vehicles, it would only drive the value of his assets up and hence his stock price, no matter the mNAV. But Josh Mandell sold his shares prior to a weekend where bitcoin went from 102K to 104K, the US announced a deal with China, the mag-7 had a big spike (AAPL was up 6.3 percent) and then MSTR’s stock went down from 416 to 404. As I said, he is on to something.

So what’s the real long-term risk? I don’t know. Maybe there’s something about the nature of bitcoin that long-term is not really amenable to third-party custody and administration. It’s a bearer asset (“not your keys, not your coins”), and introducing counterparty risk is antithetical to its core purpose, the separation of money and state, or in this case money and bank.

With the bitcoin network you can literally “be your own bank.” To transact in digital dollars you need a bank account — or at least a stable coin one mediated by a centralized entity like Tether. You can’t hold digital dollars in your mind via some memorized seed words like you can bitcoin, accessible anywhere in the world, the ledger of which is maintained by tens of thousands of individually-run nodes. This property which democratizes value storage in the way gold did, except now you can wield your purchasing power globally, might be so antithetical to communal storage via corporation or bank that doing so is doomed to catastrophe.

We’ve already seen this happen with exchanges via FTX and Mt. Gox. Counterparty risk is one of the problems bitcoin was created to solve, so moving that risk from a fractionally reserved international banking system to corporate balance sheets still very much a part of that system is probably not the seismic advancement integral to the technology’s promise.

But this is more of a philosophical concern rather than a concrete one. To get more specific, it’s easy to imagine Coinbase, if indeed that’s where MSTR custodies its coins, gets hacked or https://www.chrisliss.com/p/soft-landing, i.e., seized by an increasingly desperate and insolvent government. Or maybe Coinbase simply doesn’t have the coins it purports like FTX, or a rogue band of employees, working on behalf of some powerful faction for “https://www.chrisliss.com/national-security-and-public-healt” executes the rug pull. Even if you deem these scenarios unlikely, they are not unfathomable.

Beyond outright counterparty malfeasance, there are other risks — what if owning common stock in an enterprise that simply holds bitcoin falls out of favor? Imagine if some new individual custody solution emerges wherein you have direct access to the coins themselves in an “even a boomer can do this” kind of way wherein there’s no compelling reason to own common stock with its junior claims to the capital stack in the event of insolvency? Why stand in line behind debt holders and preferred shares when you can invest in something that’s directly withdrawable and accessible if world events spike volatility to a systemic breaking point?

Things need not even get that rocky for this to be a concern — just the perception that they might could spook people into realizing common stock of a corporate balance sheet might be less than ideal as your custody solution.

Moreover, Saylor himself presents some risk. He could be compromised or blackmailed, he could lose his cool or get into an accident. These are low-probability scenarios, but also not unfathomable as any single point of failure is a target, especially for those factions who stand to lose unimaginable wealth and power should his speculative attack on the system succeed at scale.

Finally, even if Saylor remains free to operate as he sees fit, there is what I’d call the Icarus risk — he might be too ambitious, too hell-bent on acquiring bitcoin at all costs, too much of a maniac in service of his vision. Remember, he initially bought bitcoin during the covid crash and concomitant massive money print upon his prescient realization that businesses providing goods and services couldn’t possibly keep pace with inflation over the long haul. He was merely playing defense to preserve his capital, and now, despite his sizable lead and secured position is still throwing forward passes in the fourth quarter rather than running out the clock and securing the W.

Saylor is now arguably less a bitcoin maximalist and advocate, articulately making the case for superior money and individual sovereignty, but a corporate titan hell-bent on world domination via apex-predator-status balance sheet. When is enough enough? Many of the greatest conquerors in history pushed their empires too far until they fractured. In fact, 25 years ago MSTR was a big winner before the dot-com crash during which its stock price and most of Saylor’s fortune were wiped out when he was sued by the SEC for accounting fraud (he subsequently settled).

Now it’s possible, he learned from that experience, got up off the mat and figured out how to avoid his youthful mistakes. But it’s also possible his character is such that he will repeat it again, only this time at scale.

But as I said, my base case is MSTR is a trillion-dollar market cap, and the stock runs in parallel with bitcoin’s ascendance over the next decade. Saylor has been https://www.strategy.com/, prescient, bold and responsible so far over this iteration. I view Mandell’s concerns as valid, but similar to Wall St’s ones about AMZN’s Jeff Bezos who relentlessly ignored their insistence on profitability for a decade as he plowed every dollar into building out productive capacity and turned the company into the $2T world-dominating retail giant it is now.

Again, I haven’t (yet) sold any of my shares or even call options. But because I posted about this in January I felt I should at least follow-up with a more detailed rundown of what I take to be the risks. As always, do your own due diligence with any prospective investment.

@ bf47c19e:c3d2573b

Originalni tekst na bitcoin-balkan.com.

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Pregled sadržaja

1. Definisanje novca
2. Šta je sredstvo razmene?
3. Šta je obračunska jedinica?
4. Šta je zaliha vrednosti?
5. Zašto su važne funkcije novca?
6. Novac Gubi Funkciju: Alhemičar iz Njutonije
7. Eksploatacija pomoću Novca: Agri Perle
8. Novac Gubi Funkciju 2. Deo: Kejnslandski Bankar
9. Da li nas novac danas eksploatiše?
10. Šta je novac, i zašto trebate da brinete?
11. Efikasnija Ušteda Novca
12. Zasluge
13. Molim vas da šerujete!

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Google izveštava o stalnom povećanju interesa u svetu za pitanje „Šta je novac?“ koji se postavlja iz godine u godinu, od 2004. do 2021., a sa naglim porastom nakon finansijske krize 2008. godine.

I izgleda se da niko nema dobar odgovor za to.

Godišnji proseci mesečnih interesa za pretragu. 100 predstavlja najveći interes za pretragu tokom čitavog perioda, koji se dogodio u decembru 2019. Podaci sa Google Trends-a.

Međutim, odgovaranje na ovo naizgled jednostavno pitanje pomoći će vam da razjasnite ulogu novca u vašem životu. Jednom kada shvatite kako novac funkcioniše, tačno ćete videti i zašto svet danas ludi – i šta učiniti povodom toga. Zato hajde da se udubimo u to.

Na pitanje šta je novac, većina ljudi otvori svoje novčanike i pokaže nekoliko novčanica – “evo, ovo je novac!”

Ali po čemu se ove novčanice razlikuju od stranica vaše omiljene knjige? Pa, naravno, zavod za izradu novčanica te zemlje je odštampao te novčanice iz vašeg novčanika kako bi se oduprla falsifikovanju, i svi ih koriste da bi kupili odredjene stvari.

Međutim, Nemačka Marka imala je sva ova svojstva u prošlosti – ali preduzeća danas ne prihvataju te novčanice. Zapravo, građani Nemačke su početkom dvadesetih godina prošlog veka spaljivali papirne Marke kako bi grejali svoje domove. Marka je imala veću vrednost kao papir za potpalu nego kao novac!

1923. nemačka valuta poznata kao Marka bila je jeftinija od uglja i drveta!

Pa šta to čini novac, novcem?

Ispostavilo se da ovo nije pitanje na koje je lako dati odgovor.

Definisanje novca

Novac nije fizička stvar poput novčanice dolara. Novac je društveni sistem koji koristimo da bismo olakšali trgovinu robom i uslugama. Međutim, tokom istorije fizička monetarna dobra igrala su ključnu ulogu u društvenom sistemu novca, često kao znakovi koji predstavljaju vrednost u monetarnom sistemu. Ovaj sistem ima tri funkcije: 1) Sredstvo Razmene, 2) Obračunsku Jedinicu i 3) Zalihu Vrednosti.

Odakle dolaze ove funkcije, i zašto su one vredne?

Šta je sredstvo razmene?

Sredstvo razmene je neko dobro koje se obično razmenjuje za drugo dobro. Najčešće objašnjenje za to kako su se pojavila sredstva razmene glasi otprilike ovako: Boris ima ječam i želeo bi da kupi ovcu od Marka. Marko ima ovce, ali želi samo piliće. Ana ima piliće, ali ona ne želi ječam ili ovce.

To se naziva problem sticaja potreba: dve strane moraju da žele ono što druga ima da bi mogle da trguju. Ako se želje dve osobe ne podudaraju, oni moraju da pronađu druge ljude sa kojima će trgovati dok svi ne pronađu dobro koje žele.

Ljudi koji trguju robom i uslugama moraju da imaju potrebe koje se podudaraju.

Vremenom, veoma je verovatno da će se određena vrsta robe, poput pšenice, pojaviti kao sredstvo razmene jer su je mnogi ljudi želeli. Uzimajući pšenicu kao primer: pšenica je rešila “sticaje potreba” u mnogim zanatima, jer čak i ako onaj koji prima pšenicu a nije želeo da je koristi za sebe, znao je da će je neko drugi želeti.

Ovo nazivamo prodajnost imovine.

Pšenica je dobar primer dobra za prodaju jer svi moraju da jedu, a od pšenice se pravi hleb. Pšenica ima vrednost kao sastojak hleba i kao dobro koje olakšava trgovinu rešavanjem problema „sticaja potreba“.

Razmislite o svojoj želji da dobijete više novčanica u eurima ili drugoj valuti. Ne možete da jedete novčanice da biste preživeli, a i ne bi vam bile od velike koristi ako poželite da ih koristite kao građevinski materijal za vašu kuću. Međutim, znate da sa tim novčanicama možete da kupite hranu i kuću.

Stvarne fizičke novčanice su beskorisne za vas. Novčanice su vam dragocene samo zato što će ih drugi prihvatiti za stvari koje su vama korisne.

Tokom dugog perioda istorije, novac je evoluirao do te mere da monetarno dobro može imati vrednost, a da to dobro ne služi za bilo koju drugu ‘suštinsku’ upotrebu, poput hrane ili energije. Umesto toga, njegova upotreba je zaliha vrednosti i jednostavna zamena za drugu robu u bilo kom trenutku koji poželite.

Šta jedno dobro čini poželjnijim i prodajnijim od drugog dobra?

Deljivost

Definicija: Sposobnost podele dobra na manje količine.

Loš Primer: Dijamante je teško podeliti na manje komade. Za zajednicu od hiljada ljudi koji dnevno izvrše milione transakcija, dijamanti čine loše sredstvo razmene. Previše su retki i nedeljivi da bi se koristili za mnoge transakcije.

Potrebno je puno obuke da bi izrezali dijamant.

Ujednačenost

Definicija: Sličnost pojedinačnih jedinica odredjenog dobra.

Loš Primer: Krave nisu ujednačene – neke su veće, neke manje, neke bolesne, neke zdrave. Sa druge strane, unca čistog zlata je jednolična – jedna unca je potpuno ista kao sledeća. Ovo svojstvo se takođe često naziva zamenljivost.

Svaka je jedinstvena na svoj način.

Prenosivost

Definicija: Lakoća transporta dobra.

Loš Primer: Krava nije baš prenosiva. Zlatnici su prilično prenosivi. Papirne novčanice su još prenošljivije. Knjiga u kojoj se jednostavno beleži vlasništvo nad tim vrednostima (poput Rai kamenog sistema ili digitalnog bankovnog računa) je neverovatno prenosiva, jer nema fizičkog dobra koje treba nositi sa sobom za kupovinu. Postoji samo sistem za evidentiranje vlasništva nad tim vrednostima u nematerijalnom obliku.

Novac star 5000 godina VS novac star 13 godina

Kako dobro postaje sredstvo razmene?

Dobra postaju, i ostaju sredstva razmene zbog svoje univerzalne potražnje, takođe poznate kao njihova prodajnost, čemu pomažu svojstva koja su gore nabrojana.

Mnogo različitih dobara mogu u različitoj meri delovati kao sredstva razmene u ekonomiji. Danas, naša globalna ekonomija koristi valute koje izdaju države, zlato, pa čak i robu poput nafte kao sredstvo razmene.

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Šta je obračunska jedinica?

Stvari se komplikuju kada u ekonomiji postoji mnogo robe koja se prodaje. Čak i sa samo 5 dobara, postoji 10 “kurseva razmene” između svake robe kojih svi u ekonomiji moraju da se sete: 1 svinja se menja za 15 pilića, 1 pile se menja za 15 litara mleka, desetak jaja se menja za 15 litara mleka, i tako dalje. Ako ekonomija ima 50 dobara, među njima postoji 1.225 “kurseva razmene”!

Sredstvo za merenje vrednosti

Zamislite obračunsku jedinicu kao sredstvo za merenje vrednosti. Umesto da se sećamo vrednosti svakog dobra u poredjenju sa drugim dobrima, mi samo treba da se setimo vrednosti svakog dobra u poredjenju sa jednim dobrom – obračunskom jedinicom.

Umesto da se setimo 1.225 kurseva razmene kada imamo 50 proizvoda na tržištu, mi treba da zapamtimo samo 50 cena.

Na primer, ne treba da se sećamo da litar mleka vredi 1/15 piletine ili desetak jaja, možemo da se samo setimo da litar mleka košta 1USD.

Mnogo opcija, sve u istoj obračunskoj jedinici.

Poređenje dobara je lakše sa obračunskom jedinicom

Obračunska jedinica takođe olakšava upoređivanje vrednosti i donošenje odluka. Zamislite da pokušavate da kupite par Nike Air Jordan patika kada ih jedan prodavac prodaje za jedno pile, a drugi za 50 klipova kukuruza.

Šta je zaliha vrednosti?

Do sada smo gledali samo primere transakcija koje se odvijaju u određenom trenutku u vremenu.

Međutim, ljudi vrše transakcije tokom vremena – oni štede novac i troše ga kasnije. Da bi odredjeno dobro moglo da funkcioniše pravilno kao monetarno dobro, ono treba da održi vrednost tokom vremena.

Novac koji vremenom dobro drži vrednost daje njegovom imaocu više izbora kada će taj novac da potroši.

To znači da prodajnost dobra uključuje njegovu sposobnost da održi vrednost tokom vremena.

Šta jedno dobro čini boljom zalihom vrednosti od drugog dobra?

Trajnost

Definicija: Sposobnost dobra da vremenom zadrži svoj oblik.

Loš Primer: Jagode čine lošu zalihu vrednosti jer se lako oštete i brzo trunu.

Odluka je daleko lakša ako jedan prodavac naplaćuje 150 USD, a drugi 200 USD – odmah je očigledno koja je bolja ponuda jer su vrednosti izražene u istoj jedinici.

Nije sjajna forma novca.

Teške za Proizvodnju

Definicija: Teškoće koje ljudi imaju u proizvodnji veće količine dobra.

Loš Primer: Papirne novčanice predstavljaju lošu zalihu vrednosti jer banke i vlade mogu jeftino da ih naprave.

Sa zlatom je suprotno – u ponudi se nalazi ograničena količina uprkos velikoj potražnji za njim, jednostavno zato što ga je vrlo teško iskopati iz zemlje. Ova ograničena ponuda osigurava da svaka jedinica zlata održi vrednost tokom vremena.

Traženje zlata je spora i teška aktivnost. Obično se ne pronađe puno!

Kako dobra postaju zalihe vrednosti?

Dobro postaje zaliha vrednosti ako se vremenom pokaže trajnim i teškim za proizvodnju.

Samo će vreme pokazati da li je neko dobro zaista trajno i da li ga je teško proizvesti. Zbog toga neki oblici novca su postojali vekovima pre nego što je neko otkrio način da ih proizvede više, i na kraju se to dobro više nije koristilo kao novac.

Ovo je priča o školjkama, Rai kamenju i mnogim drugim oblicima novca tokom istorije.

Zlato je primer dobra koje je hiljadama godina služilo kao dobra zaliha vrednosti. Zlato se ne razgrađuje tokom vremena i još uvek ga je teško proizvesti. Hiljadama godina alhemičari su bezuspešno pokušavali da sintetišu zlato iz jeftinih materijala.

Čak i sa današnjim naprednim rudarskim tehnikama, svake godine svi svetski rudnici zlata zajedno mogu da proizvedu samo 2% od ukupne ponude zlata u prometu.

Teškoće u proizvodnji zlata daju izuzetno visok odnos “zaliha i protoka”: zaliha je broj postojećih jedinica, a protok su nove jedinice stvorene tokom određenog vremenskog perioda. Svake godine se stvori vrlo malo novih jedinica zlata, iako je potražnja za zlatom obično vrlo velika.

Kombinujući ovo sa deljivošću, ujednačenošću i prenosivošću zlata, nije ni čudo što je zlato čovečanstvu služilo kao monetarno dobro tokom poslednjih 5.000 godina. Pošto je zlato teško proizvesti, možemo ga nazvati teškim novcem (hard money).

Kao rezultat toga, svoju vrednost je u velikoj meri zadržao kroz milenijume. Cena većine dobara i usluga u pogledu zlata zapravo se vremenom smanjivala kao rezultat tehnoloških inovacija, koje sve proizvode čine jeftinijim.

Uzmimo na primer cene hrane prema praćenju Kancelarije za hranu i poljoprivredu UN-a: sa obzirom na skokove u poljoprivrednoj tehnologiji tokom poslednjih 60 godina, cene hrane drastično su pale kada se procenjuju u zlatu. To čak i važi uprkos činjenici da obični ljudi retko koriste zlato za kupovinu stvari.

Cene hrane su padale u pogledu zlata tokom proteklih 60 godina, i mnogo pre toga (FAO Indeks Cena Hrane u Zlatu)

Zaliha vrednosti omogućava ljudima da uštede novac kako bi mogli da ga ulažu u pokretanje preduzeća i obrazovanje, povećavajući produktivnost društva.

Monetarna dobra koja dobro čuvaju vrednost takođe podstiču dugoročniji pogled na život, ili kratke vremenske preference. Pojedinac može da radi 10 godina, uštedi odredjeno monetarno dobro koje je dobra zaliha vrednosti, i nema potrebe da se plaši da će njegova ušteđevina biti izbrisana krahom tržišta ili povećanjem ponude tog dobra.

Zašto su važne funkcije novca?

Kada neki oblik novca izgubi bilo koju od svojih važnih funkcija kao što su sredstvo razmene, obračunska jedinica i zaliha vrednosti, celokupna ekonomija i društvo mogu da se rastrgnu.

Tokom istorije često vidimo grupe ljudi koje eksploatišu druge iskorišćavajući nesporazume o novcu i važnosti njegovih funkcija.

Sledeće, proći ću kroz istoriju novca, prvo hipotetički da bih ilustrovao poentu, a zatim ću preći na stvarne istorijske primere. Kroz ove primere videćemo štetne efekte na društva u slučajevima kada se izgubi samo jedna od tih ključnih funkcija novca.

Novac Gubi Funkciju: Alhemičar iz Njutonije

Kroz istoriju, mnoga dobra su dolazila i odlazila kao oblici novca. Na žalost, kada se neki oblik novca ukine, ponekad postoji grupa ljudi koja eksploatiše drugi oblik manipulišući tim novcem.

Hajde da pogledamo hipotetičko selo zvano Njutonija da bismo razumeli kako dolazi do ove eksploatacije.

Zelene perle postaju Novac

Tokom stotina godina ribolova u obližnjoj reci, stanovnici Njutonije sakupljali su zelene perle iz vode. Zrnca su mala, lagana, izdržljiva, jednolična i retko se pojavljuju u reci. Ljudi prvo priželjkuju perle zbog svoje lepote. Na kraju, seljani shvataju da svi drugi žele perle – one se vrlo lako mogu prodati. Zrnca uskoro postaju sredstvo razmene i obračunska jedinica u selu: pile je 5 zrna, vreća jabuka 2 zrna, krava 80 zrna.

Ukupna ponuda perli je prilično konstantna i cene se vremenom ne menjaju mnogo. Seoski starešina je uveren da može da se opustiti u poslednjim danima živeći od svoje velike zalihe perli.

Alhemičar stvara više perli

Seoski alhemičar je poželeo da bude bogat čovek, ali nije voleo da vredno radi na tome. Umesto da traži perle u reci ili da prodaje vrednu robu drugim seljanima, on sedeo je u svojoj laboratoriji. Na kraju je otkrio kako da lako stvori stotine perli sa malo peska i vatre.

Seljani koji su tragali za perlama u reci bili su srećni ako bi svaki dan pronašli po 1 zrno. Alhemičar je mogao da proizvede stotine uz malo napora.

Alhemičar troši svoje perle

Budući da je bio prilično zao, alhemičar nije svoj metod pravljenja zrna delio ni sa kim drugim. Stvorio je sebi još više perli i počeo da ih troši za dobra na tržištu u Njutoniji. Tokom sledećih meseci, alhemičar je kupio farmu pilića, nekoliko krava, finu svilu, posteljine i ogromno imanje. On je imao priliku da kupi ova dobra po normalnim cenama na tržištu.

Alhemičarevo trošenje ostavljalo je seljanima mnogo perli, ali malo njihove vredne robe.

Svi seljani su se osećali bogatima – imali su tone perli! Međutim, polako su primetili da i svi ostali takodje imaju tone.

Cene počinju da rastu

Uzgajivač pilića primetio je da sva roba koju je trebalo da kupi na pijaci poskupela. Džak jabuka sada se prodaje za 100 perli – 50 puta više od njihove cene pre nekoliko meseci!

Iako je sada imao hiljade perli, uskoro bi mogao da ostane bez njih zbog ovih cena. Pitao se – da li zaista može sebi da priušti da prodaje svoje piliće za samo 5 perli po komadu? Morao je i on da podigne svoje cene.

Jednostavno rečeno, kao rezultat alhemičarevog trošenja njegovih novostvorenih perli, bilo je previše perli koje su jurile premalo dobara – pa su cene porasle.

Kupci robe bili su spremni da potroše više perli da bi kupili potrebna dobra. Prodavci robe su trebali da naplate više da bi bili sigurni da su zaradili dovoljno da kupe potrebna dobra za sebe.

Budući da su cene svih dobara porasle, možemo reći da se vrednost svake perle smanjila.

Nejednakost bogatstva raste

Seoski starešina, koji je vredno radio da sačuva hiljade perli, sada se našao osiromašenim i gladnim. U međuvremenu, alhemičar je udobno sedeo na svom velikom imanju sa kravama, pilićima i slugama koji su se brinuli za svaki njegov hir.

Alhemičar je efikasno ukrao bogatstvo celog sela, tako što je jeftino proizvodio perle i koristio ih za kupovinu vredne robe.

Ono što je najvažnije, kupio je robu pre nego što je tržište shvatilo da je više perli u opticaju i da ima manje robe, što je dovelo do rasta cena. Ova dodatna proizvodnja perli nije dodala korisnu robu ili usluge selu.

Eksploatacija pomoću Novca: Agri Perle

Nažalost, priča o alhemičaru iz Njutonije nije u potpunosti hipotetička. Ovaj prenos bogatstva kroz stvaranje novca ima istorijske i moderne presedane.

Na primer, afrička plemena su nekada koristila staklene perle, poznate kao “agri perle”, kao sredstvo razmene. U to vreme plemenskim ljudima je bilo veoma teško da prave staklene perle, i one su predstavljale težak novac unutar njihovog plemenskog društva.

Niko nije mogao jeftino da proizvede perle i koristiti ih za kupovinu skupe, vredne robe poput kuća, hrane i odeće.

Perle proizvedene u Gani

Sve se promenilo kada su stigli Evropljani, i primetili upotrebu staklenih perli kao novca.

U to vreme, Evropljani su mogli jeftino da stvaraju staklo u velikim količinama. Kao rezultat toga, Evropljani su počeli tajno da uvoze perle i koriste ih za kupovinu dobara, usluga i robova od Afrikanaca.

Peć za izradu stakla u Muranu, Italija. Ovo ostrvo izvan Venecije proizvodi staklo od 15. veka.

Vremenom se iz Afrike izvlačila vredna roba i ljudi, dok je plemenima ostajalo mnogo perli i malo robe.

Perle su izgubile veći deo vrednosti zbog inflacije uzrokovane snabdevanjem od strane Evropljana.

Rezultat je bio osiromašenje afričkih plemena i bogaćenje Evropljana, kako to ovde objašnjava monetarni istoričar Bezant Denier.

Dragocena roba je kupljena jeftino proizvedenim monetarnim dobrom.

Profitiranje na proizvodnji novca: Emisiona dobit

Ova priča ilustruje kako se bogatstvo prenosi kada jedna grupa može jeftino da proizvodi monetarno dobro.

Razlika između troškova proizvodnje monetarnog dobra i vrednosti tog monetarnog dobra poznata je kao emisiona dobit, eng. seignorage.

Kada je monetarno dobro mnogo vrednije od troškova proizvodnje, ljudi će proizvesti više od monetarnog dobra da bi uhvatili profit od emisione dobiti.

Na kraju će ova povećana ponuda dovesti do pada vrednosti monetarnog dobra. To je zbog zakona ponude i potražnje: kada se ponuda povećava, cena (poznata i kao vrednost) dobra opada.

Novac Gubi Funkciju 2. Deo: Kejnslandski Bankar

U priči o Njutoniji, alhemičar je otkrio način da se od malo peska jeftino stvori više zelenih perli. To se u stvarnosti odigralo kroz trgovinu između Evropljana i Afrikanaca, pričom o agri perlama. Međutim, ove priče su pomalo zastarele – mi više ne trgujemo robom za perle.

Da bismo nas doveli do modernog doba, hajde da promenimo neka imena u našoj priči:

1. Selo Njutonija postaje država koja se zove Kejnsland
2. Alhemičar postaje bankar
3. Seoski starešina postaje penzioner
4. Zelene perle postaju zlato, koje niko ne može jeftinije da stvori – čak ni bankar.

Bankar Menja Papirne Novčanice za Zlato

Kao i u stvarnosti, bankar u ovoj priči nema formulu ili trik da stvori više zlata. Međutim, bankar bezbedno čuva zlato u vlasništvu svakog građanina Kejnslanda. Bankar daje svakom građaninu po jednu potvrdu za svaku uncu zlata koje ima u svom trezoru.

Te potvrde se mogu iskoristiti u bilo koje vreme za stvarno zlato. Papirne potvrde ili novčanice su mnogo pogodnije za plaćanje nego nošenje zlata kroz supermarket.

Građani su srećni – oni imaju prikladno sredstvo plaćanja u vidu bankarevih novčanica, i znaju da niko ne može da ukrade njihovo bogatstvo falsifikujući više zlata.

Građani na kraju počinju da plaćaju u potpunosti papirnim novčanicama, ne trudeći se nikad da zamene svoje novčanice za zlato. Na kraju, novčanice postaju “dobre kao i zlato” – svaka predstavlja fiksnu količinu zlata u bankarevom trezoru.

Ukupno kruži 1.000.000 novčanica, od kojih je svaka otkupljiva za jednu uncu zlata. 1.000.000 unci zlata sedi u bankarevom trezoru. Svaka novčanica je u potpunosti podržana u zlatu.

Starešina koji je sačuvao sve svoje perle u priči o Njutoniji sada je penzioner u Kejnslandu, koji svoje zlato drži u banci i planira da ugodno živi od novčanica koje je dobio zauzvrat.

Hajde da u ovu priču dodamo i novi lik: premijera Kejnslanda. Premijer naplaćuje porez od građana i koristi ga za plaćanje javnih usluga poput policije i vojske. Premijer takođe drži vladino zlato kod bankara.

Bankar Menja Papirne Novčanice za Dug

Premijer želi da osigura da nacionalno zlato ostane na sigurnom, pa banku štiti policijom. Bankar i premijer se zbog toga zbližavaju, pa premijer traži uslugu. Traži od bankara da kreira 200.000 novčanica za premijera, uz obećanje da će mu premijer vratiti za pet godina. Premijeru su novčanice potrebne za finansiranje rata. Građani Kejnslanda borili su se protiv većih poreza zbog finansiranja rata, pa je morao da se obrati bankaru.

Bankar se slaže da izradi novčanice, ali pod jednim uslovom: bankar uzima deo od 10.000 novčanica za sebe. Premijer prihvata posao kojim bankar ’kupuje državni dug’. Sada je u opticaju 1.200.000 novčanica, potpomognutih kombinacijom 1.000.000 unci zlata i ugovorom o dugu sa vladom za 200.000 novčanica.

Premijer troši svoje nove novčanice na bombe kupujući ih od dobavljača iz domaće vojne industrije, a bankar sebi kupuje veliki luksuzni stan.

Dobavljač iz vojne industrije koristi sve nove novčanice koje je dobio od premijera da kupi amonijum nitrat (đubrivo koje se koristi u bombama) za proizvodnju bombi. Sve njegove kupovine povećavaju cenu đubriva za uzgajivače pšenice u Kejnslandu, pa oni podižu cenu pšenice.

Kao uzrok toga, pekar koji kupuje pšenicu treba da podigne cenu svog hleba da bi ostao u poslu. Na taj način cene u Kejnslandu počinju da rastu, baš kao što su to činile u Njutoniji kada su nove perle ušle u opticaj.

Papirne Novčanice Više Ne Predstavljaju Zlato

Penzioner nailazi na finansijski časopis u kojem se pominje premijerov dogovor da se zaduži za finansiranje rata. Obzirom da je mudar, on zna da bombe loše vraćaju ulaganje i sumnja da će premijer ikada da vrati svoj dug.

Ako on ‘podmiri’ svoj dug, to bi ostavilo 1.200.000 novčanica u opticaju sa samo 1.000.000 unci zlata da bi ih podržalo, obezvređujući njegovu ušteđevinu. Već oseća stisak u džepu zbog porasta cena, i on odlučuje da se uputi u lokalnu banku i preda svoje novčanice i zameni ih za zlato, koje niko ne može da napravi u većoj količini.

Kada penzioner stigne u banku, on zatiče i mnoge druge okupljene oko banke. Svi oni se nadaju da će uzeti zlato koje predstavljaju njihove novčanice. Građani Kejnslanda sa pravom se plaše da njihove novčanice gube na vrednosti – oni to već osećaju zbog porasta cena.

Vrata su zaključana, sa obaveštenjem bankara na njima:

Po nalogu premijera, onom koji se plaši za stabilnost ove bankarske institucije, ova banka više neće podržavati konvertibilnost papirnih novčanica u zlato. Hvala vam!

Gomila se razilazi, ostavljena sa jednim izborom: da zadrže svoje novčanice, koje sada vrede manje od 1 unce zlata. Građani sa dovoljno finansijske stabilnosti odlučuju da ulože svoje novčanice u kupovinu akcija banke i kompanija vojne industrije, koje dobro posluju jer mogu da kupuju stvari pre nego što se povećaju tržišne cene.

Mnogi ljudi nisu u mogućnosti da investiraju – oni moraju da gledaju kako njihove zarade stagniraju i kako njihova ušteđevina polako ali sigurno gubi vrednost.

Penzioner, koji se nadao da će živeti od novčanica koje je zaradio tokom svojih 40 radnih godina, sada 40 sati nedeljno provodi iza kase u lokalnoj prodavnici, pitajući se gde je sve pošlo po zlu.

Dug Nikada Nije Otplaćen

Prošlo je nekoliko godina, a premijerov dug prema banci dolazi na naplatu. Budući da je potrošio svih 200.000 novčanica na bombe, koje nemaju baš dobar povraćaj ulaganja, on nema novčanice koje može da vrati banci. Plus, premijer želi da kupi još bombi za svoj rat.

Bankar uverava premijera da je sve u redu. Bankar će napraviti novi ugovor o dugu za 600.000 novčanica, koji bi trebao da stigne na naplatu u narednih 5 godina. Premijer može da iskoristi 200.000 od tih novih 600.000 novčanica da vrati svoj prvobitni dug prema banci, zadrži još 300.000 da kupi još bombi i da 100.000 bankaru da bi mu platio njegove usluge.

To nastavlja da se dešava – svaki put kada dug dospeva na naplatu, bankar stvara više novčanica za vraćanje starijih dugova i daje premijeru još više novca za trošenje. Ovaj ciklus se nastavlja.

Šta se dešava u Kejnslandu?

• Oni koji prvi dobiju nove novčanice, gledaju kako se njihovo bogatstvo povećava
• To uključuje bankara, premijera, vladu i sve one koji mogu da pristupe mogućnostima za investiranje u preduzeća koja prva dobiju nove novčanice (finansijske, vojne itd.).
• Cene roba rastu
• Cene se ne povećavaju ravnomerno – one se povećavaju gde god nove novčanice prvo uđu u ekonomiju i od tog trenutka imaju efekat talasa na tržišta. U našem primeru prvo raste cena amonijum nitrata, zatim cena pšenice, pa cena hleba. A tek na kraju zarade običnih ljudi.
• Štednja i životni standard opšte populacije se smanjuju
• Najviše pate oni koji žive od plate do plate i ne mogu da ulažu. Čak i oni koji su u mogućnosti da investiraju podložni su hirovima tržišta. Mnogi su prisiljeni da prodaju svoje investicije po niskim cenama tokom pada tržišta samo da bi platili svoje dnevne potrebe.
• Razlika u prihodima i bogatstvu između bogatih i siromašnih se povećava
• Bogatstvo opšte populacije se smanjuje, dok se bogatstvo onih koji su blizu mesta gde se troše nove novčanice povećava. Rezultat je disparitet koji se vremenom samo proširuje.

Da li nas novac danas eksploatiše?

Priča o Njutoniji i stvarna priča o agri perlama u Africi deluju pomalo zastarelo. Priča o Kejnslandu, međutim, deluje neobično poznato. U našem svetu cene robe uvek rastu, i vidimo rekordne nivoe nejednakosti u bogatstvu.

U poslednjem odeljku ovog našeg članka Šta je novac, proći ću kroz nastanak bankarstva i korake koji su bili potrebni da se dođe do današnjeg sistema, gde banke i vlade sarađuju u kontroli ekonomije i samog novca.

Šta su banke, i odakle su one došle?

Pojava bankarstva verovatno se dogodila da bi olakšala poljoprivrednu trgovinu i da bi povećala pogodnosti. Iako su se mnoga društva na kraju konvergirala ka upotrebi zlata i srebra kao novca, ovi metali su bili teški i opasni za nošenje kao tovar. Međutim, u mnogim slučajevima ih nije ni trebalo prevoziti. Uzmite ovaj primer:

Grad treba da plati poljoprivrednicima na selu za žito, a poljoprivrednici gradskoj vojsci za zaštitu od varvara. U ovom dogovoru zlato se kreće u oba smera: prema poljoprivrednicima u selu kako bi im se platilo žito, i nazad u grad da bi se platila vojska. Da bi olakšali ove transakcije, preduzetnici su stvorili koncept banke. Banka je zlato čuvala u sigurnom trezoru i izdavala novčanice od papira. Svaka priznanica je predstavljala potvrdu da njen imaoc poseduje određenu količinu zlata u banci. Imaoc novčanice je u svako doba mogao da uzme svoje zlato nazad vraćanjem te novčanice banci.

Korisnici banke mogli su lakše da trguju sa novčanicama od papira, i onaj koji poseduje novčanice mogao je da preuzme njihovo fizičko zlato u bilo kom trenutku. To je te novčanice učinilo “dobrim kao i zlato”.

Banke su izdržavale svoje poslovanje naplaćujući od kupaca naknadu za skladištenje zlata ili pozajmljivanjem dela zlata i zaračunavanjem kamata na njega. Trgovina na ovaj način je mogla da se odvija sa laganim novčanicama od papira umesto sa teškim vrećama zlatnika.

Ovakva praksa sa transakcijama, korišćenjem papirne valute potpomognute monetarnim dobrima, verovatno je započela u Kini u 7. veku.

Na kraju se proširila Evropom 1600-ih, a svoj zalet dobila je u Holandiji sa bankama poput Amsterdamske Wisselbanke. Novčanice Wisselbank-e često su vredele više od zlata koje ih je podržavalo, zbog dodane vrednosti njihovih pogodnosti.

Uspon nacionalnih ‘centralnih banaka’

Tokom vekova, zlato je počelo da se sakuplja u trezorima banaka, jer su ljudi više voleli pogodnosti transakcija sa novčanicama.

Na kraju, nacionalne banke u vlasništvu vlada preuzele su ulogu čuvanja zlata od privatnih banaka koje su započeli preduzetnici.

Nacionalne papirne valute potpomognute zlatnim rezervama u nacionalnim bankama zamenile su novčanice iz privatnih banaka. Sve nacionalne valute bile su jednostavno potvrde za zlato koje se nalazilo u trezoru nacionalne banke.

Ovaj sistem je poznat kao zlatni standard – sve valute su jednostavno predstavljale različite težine zlata.

U gornjem levom uglu novčanice možete videti da piše da je novčanica “zamenljiva za zlato”. Savremeni dolari nemaju ovaj natpis, ali inače izgledaju vrlo slično. Izvor

Zlatni sistem je postojao veći deo vremena, sve do Prvog svetskog rata. Vladama je bilo teško da prikupe novac za ovaj rat putem poreza, pa su morale da budu kreativne.

Kada vlade troše više nego što zarađuju na porezima, to se naziva deficitna potrošnja.

Kako vlade mogu ovo da urade? Vlade to rade tako što pozajmljuju novac prodavajući svoj dug.

Tokom Prvog svetskog rata, vlade su građanima i preduzećima prodavale vrstu duga koja se naziva ratna obveznica. Kada građanin kupi ratnu obveznicu, on preda svoj novac vladi i dobije papir u kojem je stajalo vladino obećanje da će vlasniku obveznice vratiti novac, plus kamate, za nekoliko godina.

Plakat koji obaveštava građane, tražeći od njih da kupe ratne obveznice – što predstavlja zajam vladi. Izvor

Centralne banke ‘monetizuju’ državni dug

Međutim, građani i preduzeća nisu bili voljni da kupe dovoljno ratnih obveznica za finansiranje Prvog svetskog rata.

Vlade se nisu predale – pa su zatražile od svojih nacionalnih ‘centralnih banaka’ da one kupe ove obveznice. Centralne banke su otkupile obveznice, ali ih nisu platile valutom potpomognutom postojećim zlatnim rezervama, kao što su to činili građani i banke prilikom kupovine obveznica.

Centralne banke su umesto toga davale vladi novu, sveže štampanu papirnu valutu potpomognutu samo obveznicom. Ovu valutu podržalo je samo obećanje da će im vlada vratiti dugove. Ovo je poznato kao monetizacija duga.

Budući da su ratne obveznice i valuta samo komadi papira, one su lake i jeftine za proizvodnju i mogu se napraviti u ogromnim količinama. Ono što ograničava proizvodnju i jednog i drugog je poverenje.

Ima smisla da se neko rastane od svog teško stečenog novca da kupi državnu obveznicu, samo ako veruje da će vlada da vrati svoj dug, plus kamate. Centralna banka je “krajnji kupac”, što znači da će ona da kupi državne obveznice kada to niko drugi neće da uradi.

Zapamtite, centralnu banku gotovo da ništa ne košta da kupi državne obveznice, jer oni sami štampaju valutu da bi ih kupili.

Zamislite da pridjete najskupljem automobilu u autosalonu – koji košta 100.000 USD. Mislite da je automobil lep, ali taj novac biste radije potrošili na lepši stan – tako da ste spremni da platite samo 40.000 USD za taj auto.

Sada, hajde da zamislimo da imate štampač za novac i da vas košta samo 50 USD za mastilo i papir da bi ištampali 1.000.000 USD. Vi biste odmah kupili auto, čak i ako biste morali da se cenkate sa drugim čovekom, i da ga na kraju platite 150.000 USD!

Ista stvar se dešava kada centralna banka kupuje obveznice (dugove) od vlade. Centralna banka može da stvori valutu toliko jeftino, da su spremni da plate i više nego što bi drugi platili ove obveznice i nastaviće da ih kupuju čak i kada niko drugi ne bude želeo.

Monetizacija duga uzrokuje inflaciju

Kada centralne banke monetizuju državni dug, funkcija novca kao zalihe vrednosti počinje da se nagriza. Vlada troši novi novac koji je dobila od svoje centralne banke na ratnu robu, obroke i još mnogo toga.

Cene roba rastu od ove novoštampane valute koja kruži kroz ekonomiju. Kada se cene povećavaju, to znači da se vrednost svake jedinice valute smanjuje. Svi koji drže valutu sada imaju manje vrednosti. Danas to nazivamo sporim gubitkom funkcije zalihe vrednosti u novčanoj inflaciji.

Za Nemačku nakon Prvog svetskog rata monetizacija duga izazvala je totalni slom Nemačke ekonomije i stvorila uslove za rast fašizma.

Kao deo sporazuma o prekidu vatre koji je okončao Prvi svetski rat, Nemačka je pobednicima morala da plati ogroman novac. Nemačkoj vladi je bio preko potreban novac, pa su prodale obveznice (dug) Rajhsbanci, nemačkoj centralnoj banci.

Ovaj postupak doveo je do toga da je vlada štampala toliko maraka (tadašnja nemačka valuta) da je tempo inflacije u Nemačkoj ubrzan u hiperinflaciju početkom 1920-ih. Cena vekne hleba za samo 4 godine popela se sa 1,2 marke na 428 biliona maraka.

Tokom i posle Prvog svetskog rata, SAD, Britanija, Francuska i mnoge druge vlade pratile su Nemačku u štampanju valute potpomognute državnim dugom.

To je dovelo do toga da su građani želeli da svoju papirnu valutu zamene za zlato, baš kao i penzioner iz priče o Kejnslandu.

Međutim, mnoge vlade su suspendovale konvertibilnost svojih valuta u zlato. Ovim potezom vlade su primorale svoje građane da drže nacionalnu papirnu valutu i gledaju kako se njihova ušteda smanjuje u vrednosti.

Da bi mogle da nastave da štampaju novac i da bi ga trošile na nepopularne programe za koje nisu mogle da skupljaju poreze za finansiranje – poput ratova.

Bretton Woods: Novi monetarni sistem

Nakon razaranja koja su donela dva svetska rata, vlade su uspostavile novi globalni monetarni sistem prema Bretton Woods-ovom sporazumu iz 1944. godine.

Prema ovom sporazumu, valuta svake države konvertovala se po fiksnom kursu sa američkim dolarom. Američki dolar je zauzvrat predstavljao zlato po stopi od 35 USD za jednu trojsku uncu zlata*.

Sve globalne valute su stoga još uvek bile jednostavna reprezentacija zlata, putem američkih dolara kao posrednika. Redovni građani više nisu mogli da otkupljuju svoje valute za zlato iz Sjedinjenih Država. Međutim, strane centralne banke mogle bi da dođu u Sjedinjene Države da bi zamenile dolare za zlato po stopi od 35 USD za jednu uncu zlata.

Međutim, vlada Sjedinjenih Država nije uvek držala dovoljno zlata da podrži sve dolare u opticaju. Američka vlada nastavila je da finansira proširene socijalne i vojne programe prodajom državnog duga svojoj centralnoj banci, Federalnim rezervama, koja je povećala ponudu dolara bez povećanja ponude zlata koja podupire te dolare.

*Trojna unca je standardna mera čistog zlata i ima malo veću težinu od normalne unce.

Propast Bretton Woods-a

Tokom 1970-ih, sve veći troškovi rata u Vijetnamu i stranih vlada koje su otkupljivale svoje dolare za zlato, stvorili su pritisak na Trezor Sjedinjenih Država.

Ponuda dolara je porasla, dok je zlato u posedu Sjedinjenih Država opalo. Od 1950. pa do početka 1970-ih, rezerve zlata koje je držala vlada Sjedinjenih Država smanjile su se za više od 50%, sa 20 metričkih tona na samo 8 metričkih tona.

Godine 1970. država je imala zlata u vrednosti od samo 12 biliona dolara po zvaničnom kursu od 35 dolara za trojsku uncu zlata. Tokom ovog istog vremenskog perioda, ukupna ponuda američkih dolara otišla je sa oko 32 biliona USD na skoro 70 biliona USD.

Zvanične rezerve zlata u SAD-u su naglo padale od 1950. do 1970. godine, dok su se dolari u opticaju povećavali. Izvor: Wikipedia, DollarDaze.org

Američka vlada nije bila u stanju da potkrepi dolare zlatom od 35 dolara po trojnoj unci, što dovelo do rizika za čitav globalni monetarni sistem.

Početkom sedamdesetih godina, trojna unca zlata trebala je da vredi 200 USD da bi u potpunosti podržala sve američke dolare u opticaju. Rečeno na drugi način, Sjedinjene Države su pokušavale da kažu svetu da jedan dolar vredi 1/35 trojne unce zlata, ali u stvarnosti dolar je vredeo samo 1/200 trojne unce.

Kad su strane vlade trebale da pribave dolare za međunarodnu trgovinu i rezerve, bile su opelješene. Francuska vlada je to shvatila šezdesetih godina prošlog veka i počela je da prodaje svoje američke dolare za zlato po zvaničnom kursu od 35 dolara za trojsku uncu zlata.

Zemlje su počinjale da se bude iz šeme američke vlade. SAD su krale bogatstvo putem emisione dobiti, prodajući dolare za 1/35 trojne unce zlata, kada su vredeli samo 1/200 trojske unce.

Nixonov Šok ulazi u ’tradicionalni’ novac

Da bi kuća od karata mogla da ostane na mestu, predsednik Nixon je 1971. najavio da će američka vlada privremeno da obustavi konvertibilnost dolara u zlato.

Strane vlade više nisu mogle da polažu pravo na zlato svojim papirnim dolarima, a dolar više nije bio “poduprt” zlatom. Nixon je tvrdio da će ovo stabilizovati dolar.

50 godina kasnije, kristalno je jasno da je ovo samo pomoglo dolaru da izgubi vrednost i da ovaj “privremeni” program još uvek traje.

Pre 1971. godine, sve globalne valute bile su vezane za američki dolar putem Bretton Woods-ovog sporazuma. Kada je Nixon promenio američki dolar iz dolara podržanog u zlatu u dolar podržan dugom, ovim je promenio i svaku drugu valutu na Zemlji.

Sam je učinio da se celokupna svetska ekonomija zasniva na dugovima. Valute više nisu predstavljale zlato, već su predstavljale vrednost državnog duga.

Zlatni Standard se nikada nije vratio

Konvertibilnost američkih dolara u zlato – zlatni standard – nikada se nije vratio.

Od 1971. godine, čitav globalni monetarni sistem pokreće se tradicionalnim “fiat” valutama: poverenjem u vladine institucije da održavaju valutni sistem.

Većina valuta podržana je kombinacijom duga njihove vlade i drugih tradicionalnih valuta poput dolara i evra. Papirne valute više nisu podržane zlatom, imovinom koja je više od 5000 godina služila kao težak novac.

Danas vas vlade prisiljavaju da plaćate porez u njihovoj valuti i manipulišu saznanjima oko novca kako bi osigurale da potražnja za njihovom valutom ostane velika.

To im omogućava da neprestano štampaju više valuta, da bi je potrošili na vladine projekte, uzrokujući inflaciju cena koja jede i smanjuje bogatstvo i plate.

Američka vlada sada prodaje državne obveznice (dugove), poznate kao obveznice Trezora SAD, eng. US Treasuries, komercijalnim bankama u zamenu za američke dolare.

Vlada koristi te dolare za finansiranje svog budžetskog deficita. Komercijalne banke prodaju mnoge obveznice Trezora SAD, koje su kupile, američkoj centralnoj banci, Federalnim Rezervama.

Federalne rezerve plaćaju komercijalnim bankama sveže štampanim novcem “pomoću računara i upisivanjem količine na račun”, kako je rekao bivši predsednik Fed-a Ben Bernanke.

Ove komercijalne banke često zarađuju samo kupujući obveznice Trezora SAD od države i prodajući ih centralnoj banci. Kupujte nisko, prodajte visoko.

Centralne banke ovaj proces kupovine državnog duga – odnosno pozajmljivanja novca državi – nazivaju operacijama otvorenog tržišta.

Kada centralna banka odjednom kupi velike iznose duga, oni to nazivaju kvantitativnim ublažavanjem. Centralne banke javno najavljuju kupovinu državnog duga, ali vrlo malo ljudi razume šta to zapravo znači.

Euro, jen i svaka druga valuta koja se danas koristi funkcionišu slično kao američki dolar.

Da li će SAD ikada vratiti svoj nacionalni dug? Neobična stvar u vezi sa državnim dugom SAD-a je ta što vlada poseduje štampariju potrebnu za njegovu otplatu.

Kao rezultat toga, kada vlada duguje novac, oni samo pozajme još više novca da bi otplatile taj dug, povećavajući nacionalni dug.

Ako vam ovo zvuči kao Ponzijeva piramidalna šema, to je zato što ona to i jeste – najveća Ponzijeva šema u istoriji. Kao i svaka Ponzijeva šema, nastaviće se sve dok su ljudi koji kupuju Ponzijevu šemu budu uvereni da će im biti plaćeno nazad.

Ako ljudi i nacije prestanu da se zadužuju i koriste američke dolare jer nemaju poverenja u američku vladu ili vide da cena robe raste (tj. dolar postaje sve manje vredan), potražnja za dolarom će opadati, što će izazvati začaranu spiralu.

Ova spirala često završi u hiperinflaciji, kao što smo videli u novijoj istoriji sa Jugoslavijom, Venecuelom, Argentinom, Zimbabveom i mnogim drugim državama.

Ovo je način kako funkcioniše novac na vašem bankovnom računu. Novac svake nacije na svetu pati od istih problema kao i perle i novčanice u pričama o Njutoniji i Kejnslandu.

Kako banke i vlade kradu tvoj novac?

Tokom vekova, stigli smo do monetarnog sistema u kojem banke i vlade mogu da štampaju novu valutu za finansiranje svojih operacija i svojih prijatelja u zločinu, dok kradu bogatstvo svojih građana.

Šta će se desiti sa svetom kada novac bude mogao da štampa svaki narod na planeti?

• Bogatstvo onih koji su blizu pravljenja nove valute se povećava
• Vlada i politički povlašćena klasa ljudi, imaju pristup novoštampanom novcu pre svih ostalih, pa mogu da ga potroše pre nego što cene porastu. Na ovaj efekat pokazao je ekonomista Richard Cantillon sredinom 1700-ih i poznat je kao Cantillonov Efekat.
• Cena robe raste (poznato kao inflacija)
• Ne raste sve roba istovremeno u ceni. Roba blizu mesta gde se proizvodi nova valuta – finansijski sektor i vlada – prva raste, i odatle uzrokuje efekt talasa na cene.
• Inflacija se često predstavlja kao promena cene potrošačke korpe, poznata kao Indeks Potrošačkih Cena, eng. Consumer Price Index (CPI). Vlada ima alate za manipulisanje ovim brojem kako bi osigurala da se ona čini niskom i stabilnom, kao što je objašnjeno u našem članku o inflaciji.
• Finansijska imovina često primećuje ogromnu inflaciju, ali bankari to ne nazivaju inflacijom – oni kažu da naša ekonomija cveta! Nakon što su američke Federalne rezerve učetvorostručile ponudu američkih dolara u šest godina nakon finansijske krize 2008. godine, banke koje su dobile te nove dolare, kupile su akcije i obveznice, stvarajući ogroman balon u cenama ove imovine.
• Štednja i životni standard stanovništva se smanjuju
• Plate su jedna od poslednjih “cena” u ekonomiji koja se prilagođava, jer se često povećavaju samo jednom godišnje. U međuvremenu, cene dnevnih potrepština te osobe koja zaradjuje platu neprestano rastu kako novi novac kruži ekonomijom.
• Najviše su pogođeni oni koji žive od plate do plate – a to je 70% Amerikanaca.
• Razlike u prihodima između bogatih i siromašnih se povećavaju, kao što se vidi na grafikonu ispod.

Koncentracija Dohotka na Vrhu Naglo je Porasla od 1970-ih (Udeo u ukupnom prihodu pre oporezivanja u domaćinstvima sa najvišim dohotkom (uključujući kapitalne dobitke), 1913-2018)

Zašto i dalje imamo isti monetarni sistem?

Ako ovaj sistem bogate još više obogaćuje, a siromašne još više osiromašuje, dovodeći do političke nestabilnosti, zašto ga onda ne bismo promenili?

Najveći razlog zašto se ništa ne menja je verovatno to što puno toga ne znamo o samom sistemu. Svi svakodnevno koristimo valute svojih vlada, ali većina nas ne razume kako sistem funkcioniše i šta on čini našim društvima.

Obrazovni sistem, mediji i finansijski stručnjaci neprestano nam govore da je monetarni sistem previše komplikovan da bi ga normalni ljudi razumeli. Mnogi od nas se zato i ne trude da pokušaju.

Još nekoliko razloga zašto ovaj sistem nastavlja da opstaje:

• Mnogo je ljudi koji imaju direktnu korist od štampanja novog novca.
• Ti ljudi ne žele nikakve promene i bore se da zadrže tu moć.
• Nacionalne valute su često pogodne
• Kreditne kartice, online bankarstvo i još mnogo toga čine upravljanje nacionalnim valutama i njihovo trošenje lakim i jednostavnim.
• Građani moraju da plaćaju porez u svojoj nacionalnoj valuti
• To stvara potražnju za tom valutom od svih građana, povećavajući njenu vrednost.
• Glavna međunarodna tržišta, poput nafte, denominirana su u dolarima.
• Nafta je potrebna svakoj zemlji na planeti, ali pošto mnogi ne mogu da je proizvode, moraju da je kupuju na međunarodnim berzama. Od 1970-ih na ovim berzama gotovo sva nafta se prodaje za dolare, što stvara potražnju za dolarima. Da bi se odmaknule od ovog sistema, zemlje bi trebale da pronađu novu valutu ili robu za trgovinu naftom, što zahteva vreme i rizike.
• Nije postojala dobra alternativa
• Uz globalnu ekonomiju u realnom vremenu, naš sistem digitalnog bankarstva koji koristi nacionalne valute je pogodan. Transakcija u tvrdom novcu poput zlata bila bi previše nezgrapna za današnji svet. Digitalna valuta pod nazivom Bitcoin, predstavljena 2009. godine, je rastuća alternativa koja nudi čvrst novac koji se kreće brzinom interneta.

Šta je novac, i zašto trebate da brinete?

Novac je alat koji olakšava razmenu dobara. Kao i svako drugo dobro, novac se pridržava zakona ponude i potražnje – povećanje potražnje povećaće njegovu vrednost, a povećanje ponude smanjiće njegovu vrednost.

Na ovaj način novac se ne razlikuje od kuće ili piletine. Međutim, velika prodajnost novca znači da je potražnja za njim uvek velika. Kao rezultat, novac mora biti težak za proizvodnju (a samim tim i ograničen u ponudi) ili će ga onaj ko ga može napraviti, stvoriti toliko, da vremenom više neće služiti kao zaliha vrednosti. Uskoro će izgubiti svoje funkcije kao sredstvo razmene i obračunske jedinice.

Najbolji novac u datoj ekonomiji je onaj koji se najslobodnije kreće – svi ga žele, lako je obaviti transakcije sa njim i koji sa vremenom dobro drži svoju vrednost. Nijedan novac nije savršen u svemu ovome, a neki ističu jednu funkciju novca na štetu drugih.

Iako se istorija ne ponavlja, ona se rimuje, a usponi i padovi monetarnih sistema imaju jasne ritmove. Uspon i pad monetarnog sistema često sledi opšti obrazac koji smo videli u pričama o agri perlama i Kejnslandu: pojavljuje se odredjenji oblik novca koji pomaže ljudima da efikasnije trguju i štede, ali na kraju gubi na vrednosti kada neko shvati kako da ga jeftino stvori u velikoj količini. Međutim, tokom dugog perioda vremena, monetarni sistemi su se poboljšali u sve tri funkcije novca.

Na primer, zlato je tokom vremena dobro služilo kao zaliha vrednosti. Međutim, naša međusobno povezana ekonomija ne bi mogla efikasno da funkcioniše ako bi trebalo da fizičko zlato zamenimo robom i uslugama. Mnogo je lakše kretati se na papirnom i digitalnom novcu, ali istorija nam govori da su vlade i bankari iskoristili ove oblike novca za krađu bogatstva putem inflacije.

Današnji globalni monetarni sistem je vrlo zgodan, a digitalna plaćanja i kreditne kartice olakšavaju trošenje novca. Ovo skriva stalnu inflaciju koja nagriza vrednost svake jedinice novca i dovodi do sve većeg jaza u bogatstvu.

Nadam se da je ovaj članak proširio vaše razumevanje novca i njegove uloge u društvu. Ovo je samo početak svega što treba istražiti o novcu: za kasnije su sačuvane teme o inflaciji, kamatnim stopama, pozajmljivanju, poslovnim ciklusima i još mnogo toga.

Efikasnija Ušteda Novca

Možda se pitate kako zaštititi svoju štednju kada svaki oblik često korišćenog novca i investicija pati od inflacije ponude – koja umanjuje vrednost i prenosi bogatstvo onima koji mogu da stvore novac ili investiciju. Možda se čini da se ništa na planeti danas ne može kvalifikovati kao ‘težak’ novac, ali dve stvari ipak ostaju: zlato i njegov noviji rođak Bitcoin. Obe ove stvari je neverovatno teško proizvesti, a jedna od njih se kreće brzinom interneta i može se čuvati u vašem mozgu.

Ako želite da saznate više o Bitcoin-u kao sredstvu za zaštitu vaše ušteđevine, pročitajte ovde. Ako ste već spremni za kupovinu Bitcoin-a, pogledajte moj vodič za kupovinu Bitcoin-a. Možete početi sa investiranjem sa samo 5 ili 10 €.

Zasluge

Hvala svima koji su pomogli u izradi i uređivanju ove serije o novcu: @ck_SNARKS, @CryptoRothbard, Neil Woodfine, Emil Sandstedt, Taylor Pearson, Parker Lewis, Jason Choi, mojoj porodici i mnogim drugima.

Hvala svima koji su ovo inspirisali i razvili ključne ideje koje su ovde primenjene: Friedrich Hayek, Carl Menger, Ludwig Von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Saifedean Ammous, Dan Held, Pierre Rochard, Stephan Livera, Michael Goldstein, i mnogi drugi.

Molim vas da šerujete! Ako vam je ovaj članak otvorio oči o tome kako funkcioniše naš novac i finansijski sistem, kontaktirajte me ili ostavite komentar!

Ako vam se sviđa moj rad, molim vas da ga podelite sa svojim prijateljima i porodicom. Cilj mi je da svima pružim pogled u ekonomiju i na to kako ona utiče na njihov život.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Let's dive into the most interesting forward-looking predictions from my recent conversations with industry experts.

Court Cases Against Bitcoin Developers Will Set Critical Precedent for the Industry's Future - Zack Shapiro

The outcome of the Samurai Wallet case will determine whether software developers can be held legally responsible for how users employ their non-custodial Bitcoin tools. Zack Shapiro laid out the stakes clearly: "The precedent that the Bank Secrecy Act can be applied to just software that allows you to move your own money on the Bitcoin blockchain is incredibly dangerous for developers, for node runners, for miners... Basically everyone in the Bitcoin space is at risk here."

According to Shapiro, the government's position in this case fundamentally misunderstands Bitcoin's architecture: "The government says that the defendants transmitted, Keone and Bill transmitted money that they knew belonged to criminals. That's not how a coin join works. The people who transmitted the money are the people that used Whirlpool and the people that used Ricochet. They signed their keys."

Should this prosecution succeed in establishing precedent, Shapiro predicts catastrophic consequences: "If that becomes the law of the land... then basically no actor in the Bitcoin economy is safe. The government's theory is that if you facilitate movement of money, you're a money transmitter, that would reach node runners, wallet developers, miners, lightning routing nodes... whatever tool stack you use, the people who built that are at risk."

With the case continuing despite FinCEN's own position that Samurai's software isn't money transmission, Shapiro believes the resolution will likely come through political rather than legal channels in the next 6-12 months.

Malpractice Around COVID mRNA Vaccines Will Be Exposed Within 2 Years - Dr. Jack Kruse

Dr. Jack Kruse predicts that major revelations about mRNA vaccine damage will force an eventual removal from the market, particularly from childhood vaccination schedules. During our conversation, Dr. Kruse shared alarming statistics: "25,000 kids a month are getting popped with this vaccine. Just so you know, since Trump has been elected, three million doses have been given to children."

According to Dr. Kruse, the scale of this problem dwarfs other health concerns: "The messenger job can drop you like Damar Hamlin, can end your career like JJ Watt, can end your career like all the footballers who've dropped dead on a soccer field." What makes this particularly concerning is the suppression of evidence about the damages, with Dr. Kruse noting that data from Japan showing changes in cancer distribution patterns was pulled, and VAERS data being dismissed despite showing alarming signals.

Dr. Kruse believes the coming years will see an unavoidable reckoning: "If by the end of this year, everybody in unison realized that MRA platform is bad news and it's gone. That to me is... I would tell you the biggest win is to get rid of the MRA platform even before any of the Bitcoin stuff." This suggests he expects significant momentum toward removing these vaccines from circulation by the end of 2025.

Global Economic Reordering Will Create Demand for Neutral Reserve Assets Like Bitcoin and Gold - Lyn Alden

The next two years will be critical in determining whether the United States maintains dollar dominance while navigating Triffin's dilemma. During our conversation, Lyn highlighted how the current administration is attempting to thread a needle between reshoring manufacturing while maintaining the dollar's reserve status - an almost impossible task on extremely fragile ground.

"When they talk about kind of a currency accord to weaken the dollar, they mentioned ideally they wanted to use multi-lateral approaches, but there are some unilateral approaches that they can do, which includes printing dollars to buy reserve assets," Lyn explained when discussing Treasury advisor Stephen Myron's position paper.

As the world potentially moves to a multipolar currency system, Lyn predicts significant demand increases for neutral reserve assets. "The two options on the table at this point are gold and Bitcoin," she noted, but pointed out that "our geopolitical adversaries have been stacking gold for a while and with a special intensity for the last three years." This creates a strategic opportunity for the US, as Bitcoin is "overwhelmingly held in the United States."

Lyn believes this transition is already underway, with the demand for neutral reserve assets like Bitcoin growing as countries seek alternatives to solely dollar-denominated reserves.

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Blockspace conducts cutting-edge proprietary research for investors.

Iran's Shadow Mining Economy: 2 GW of Bitcoin Mined Underground While Legal Operations Struggle

Iran hosts a thriving underground Bitcoin mining industry that has emerged as a critical financial lifeline for citizens grappling with international sanctions and domestic economic controls. This shadow economy dwarfs the legal sector, with an estimated 2 gigawatts of illegal mining operations compared to just 5 megawatts of sanctioned activity.

According to ViraMiner CEO Masih Alavi, approximately 800,000 illegal miners have been discovered and fined by authorities. Yet operations continue in homes, office buildings, and even jewelry stores, where Iranians tap into unmetered electricity to mine Bitcoin, later converting it to stablecoins like USDT for savings and commerce.

While the government has approved permits for about 400 megawatts of legal mining capacity, punitive electricity tariffs and regulatory barriers have strangled legitimate operations. "I blamed the government for this situation," says Alavi. "They introduced flawed policies in the beginning, especially by setting the wrong electricity tariffs for the mining industry."

Despite using obsolete equipment like Antminer S9s and M3s, underground miners remain profitable when converting earnings to Iranian rials, creating an ecosystem that serves an estimated 18 million Iranian cryptocurrency holders.

Looking ahead, Alavi predicts further crackdowns as Iran enters peak electricity demand season, potentially reducing legal mining to zero while underground operations continue to evolve sophisticated detection evasion techniques.

Link to Full Article

Subscribe to them here (seriously, you should): https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com/

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Ten31, the largest bitcoin-focused investor, has deployed $150M across 30+ companies through three funds. I am a Managing Partner at Ten31 and am very proud of the work we are doing. Learn more at ten31.vc/invest.

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@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Marty's Bent

Here's a great presentation from our good friend Michael Goldstein, President of the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute titled Hodl for Good. He gave it earlier this year at the BitBlockBoom Conference, and I think it's something everyone reading this should take 25 minutes to watch. Especially if you find yourself wondering whether or not it's a good idea to spend bitcoin at any given point in time. Michael gives an incredible Austrian Economics 101 lesson on the importance of lowering one's time preference and fully understanding the importance of hodling bitcoin. For the uninitiated, it may seem that the hodl meme is nothing more than a call to hoard bitcoins in hopes of getting rich eventually. However, as Michael points out, there's layers to the hodl meme and the good that hodling can bring individuals and the economy overall.

The first thing one needs to do to better understand the hodl meme is to completely flip the framing that is typically thrust on bitcoiners who encourage others to hodl. Instead of ceding that hodling is a greedy or selfish action, remind people that hodling, or better known as saving, is the foundation of capital formation, from which all productive and efficient economic activity stems. Number go up technology is great and it really matters. It matters because it enables anybody leveraging that technology to accumulate capital that can then be allocated toward productive endeavors that bring value to the individual who creates them and the individual who buys them.

When one internalizes this, it enables them to turn to personal praxis and focus on minimizing present consumption while thinking of ways to maximize long-term value creation. Live below your means, stack sats, and use the time that you're buying to think about things that you want in the future. By lowering your time preference and saving in a harder money you will have the luxury of demanding higher quality goods in the future. Another way of saying this is that you will be able to reshape production by voting with your sats. Initially when you hold them off the market by saving them - signaling that the market doesn't have goods worthy of your sats - and ultimately by redeploying them into the market when you find higher quality goods that meet the standards desire.

The first part of this equation is extremely important because it sends a signal to producers that they need to increase the quality of their work. As more and more individuals decide to use bitcoin as their savings technology, the signal gets stronger. And over many cycles we should begin to see low quality cheap goods exit the market in favor of higher quality goods that provide more value and lasts longer and, therefore, make it easier for an individual to depart with their hard-earned and hard-saved sats. This is only but one aspect that Michael tries to imbue throughout his presentation.

The other is the ability to buy yourself leisure time when you lower your time preference and save more than you spend. When your savings hit a critical tipping point that gives you the luxury to sit back and experience true leisure, which Michael explains is not idleness, but the contemplative space to study, create art, refine taste, and to find what "better goods" actually are. Those who can experience true leisure while reaping the benefits of saving in a hard asset that is increasing in purchasing power significantly over the long term are those who build truly great things. Things that outlast those who build them. Great art, great monuments, great institutions were all built by men who were afforded the time to experience leisure. Partly because they were leveraging hard money as their savings and the place they stored the profits reaped from their entrepreneurial endeavors.

If you squint and look into the future a couple of decades, it isn't hard to see a reality like this manifesting. As more people begin to save in Bitcoin, the forces of supply and demand will continue to come into play. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoin, there are around 8 billion people on this planet, and as more of those 8 billion individuals decide that bitcoin is the best savings vehicle, the price of bitcoin will rise.

When the price of bitcoin rises, it makes all other goods cheaper in bitcoin terms and, again, expands the entrepreneurial opportunity. The best part about this feedback loop is that even non-holders of bitcoin benefit through higher real wages and faster tech diffusion. The individuals and business owners who decide to hodl bitcoin will bring these benefits to the world whether you decide to use bitcoin or not.

This is why it is virtuous to hodl bitcoin. The potential for good things to manifest throughout the world increases when more individuals decide to hodl bitcoin. And as Michael very eloquently points out, this does not mean that people will not spend their bitcoin. It simply means that they have standards for the things that they will spend their bitcoin on. And those standards are higher than most who are fully engrossed in the high velocity trash economy have today.

In my opinion, one of those higher causes worthy of a sats donation is the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute. Consider donating so they can preserve and disseminate vital information about bitcoin and its foundations.

The Shell Game: How Health Narratives May Distract from Vaccine Risks

In our recent podcast, Dr. Jack Kruse presented a concerning theory about public health messaging. He argues that figures like Casey and Calley Means are promoting food and exercise narratives as a deliberate distraction from urgent vaccine issues. While no one disputes healthy eating matters, Dr. Kruse insists that focusing on "Froot Loops and Red Dye" diverts attention from what he sees as immediate dangers of mRNA vaccines, particularly for children.

"It's gonna take you 50 years to die from processed food. But the messenger jab can drop you like Damar Hamlin." - Dr Jack Kruse

Dr. Kruse emphasized that approximately 25,000 children per day are still receiving COVID vaccines despite concerns, with 3 million doses administered since Trump's election. This "shell game," as he describes it, allows vaccines to remain on childhood schedules while public attention fixates on less immediate health threats. As host, I believe this pattern deserves our heightened scrutiny given the potential stakes for our children's wellbeing.

Check out the full podcast here for more on Big Pharma's alleged bioweapons program, the "Time Bank Account" concept, and how Bitcoin principles apply to health sovereignty.

Headlines of the Day

Aussie Judge: Bitcoin is Money, Possibly CGT-Exempt - via X

JPMorgan to Let Clients Buy Bitcoin Without Direct Custody - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

Mubadala Acquires $408.5M Stake in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF - via X

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---

Ten31, the largest bitcoin-focused investor, has deployed 158,469 sats | $150.00M across 30+ companies through three funds. I am a Managing Partner at Ten31 and am very proud of the work we are doing. Learn more at ten31.vc/invest.

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Final thought...

I've been walking from my house around Town Lake in Austin in the mornings and taking calls on the walk. Big fan of a walking call.

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[![Hodl Bitcoin For Good](https://www

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

When I was a kid, I wanted to be rich, but found the prospect of hard work tedious, pointless and soul-crushing. Instead of studying for exams, getting some job and clawing your way up the ladder, I wondered why we couldn’t just build a device that measured your brain capacity and awarded you the money you would have made had you applied yourself. Eliminate the middleman, so to speak, the useless paper pushing evoked by the word “career.”

But when you think about it, it’s not really money you’re after, as money is but purchasing power, and so it’s the things money can provide like a nice lifestyle and the peace of mind that comes from not worrying about it. And it’s not really the lifestyle or financial independence, per se, since moment to moment what’s in your bank account isn’t determining your mental state, but the feeling those things give you — a sense of expansiveness and freedom.

But if you did have such a machine, and it awarded you the money, you probably wouldn’t have that kind of expansiveness and freedom, especially if you did nothing to achieve those things. You would still feel bored, distracted and unsatisfied despite unrestricted means to travel or dine out as you saw fit. People who win the lottery, for example, tend to revert to their prior level of satisfaction in short order.

The feeling you really want then is the sense of rising to a challenge, negotiating and adapting to your environment, persevering in a state of uncertainty, tapping into your resourcefulness and creativity. It’s only while operating at the edge of your capacity you could ever be so fulfilled. In fact, in such a state the question of your satisfaction level would never come up. You wouldn’t even think to wonder about it you’d be so engrossed.

So what you really crave is a mind device that encourages you to adapt to your environment using your full creative capabilities in the present moment, so much so you realize if you do not do this, you have the sense of squandering your life in a tedious, pointless and soul-crushing way. You need to be totally stuck, without the option of turning back. In sum, you need to face reality exactly as it is, without any escape therefrom.

The measure of your mind in that case is your reality itself. The device is already with you — it’s the world you are presently creating with the consciousness you have, providing you avenues to escape, none of which are satisfactory, none that can lead to the state you truly desire. You have a choice to pursue them fruitlessly and wind up at square one, or to abandon them and attain your freedom. No matter how many times you go down a false road, you wind up at the same place until you give up on the Sisyphean task and proceed in earnest.

My childhood fantasy was real, it turns out, only I had misunderstood its meaning.

@ a5142938:0ef19da3

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Learn more on Wikipedia

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Marty's Bent

via me

Don't sleep on what's happening in Japan right now. We've been covering the country and the fact that they've lost control of their yield curve since late last year. After many years of making it a top priority from a monetary policy perspective, last year the Bank of Japan decided to give up on yield curve control in an attempt to reel inflation. This has sent yields for the 30-year and 40-year Japanese government bonds to levels not seen since the early 2000s in the case of the 30-year and levels never before seen for the 40-year, which was launched in 2007. With a debt to GDP ratio that has surpassed 250% and a population that is aging out with an insufficient amount of births to replace the aging workforce, it's hard to see how Japan can get out of this conundrum without some sort of economic collapse.

This puts the United States in a tough position considering the fact that Japan is one of the largest holders of U.S. Treasury bonds with more than $1.20 trillion in exposure. If things get too out of control in Japan and the yield curve continues to drift higher and inflation continues to creep higher Japan can find itself in a situation where it's a forced seller of US Treasuries as they attempt to strengthen the yen. Another aspect to consider is the fact that investors may see the higher yields on Japanese government bonds and decide to purchase them instead of US Treasuries. This is something to keep an eye on in the weeks to come. Particularly if higher rates drive a higher cost of capital, which leads to even more inflation. As producers are forced to increase their prices to ensure that they can manage their debt repayments.

It's never a good sign when the Japanese Prime Minister is coming out to proclaim that his country's financial situation is worse than Greece's, which has been a laughing stock of Europe for the better part of three decades. Japan is a very proud nation, and the fact that its Prime Minister made a statement like this should not be underappreciated.

As we noted last week, the 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds are drifting higher as well. Earlier today, the 30-year bond yield surpassed 5%, which has been a psychological level that many have been pointed to as a critical tipping point. When you take a step back and look around the world it seems pretty clear that bond markets are sending a very strong signal. And that signal is that something is not well in the back end of the financial system.

This is even made clear when you look at the private sector, particularly at consumer debt. In late March, we warned of the growing trend of buy now, pay later schemes drifting down market as major credit card companies released charge-off data which showed charge-off rates reaching levels not seen since the 2008 great financial crisis. At the time, we could only surmise that Klarna was experiencing similar charge-off rates on the bigger-ticket items they financed and started doing deals with companies like DoorDash to finance burrito deliveries in an attempt to move down market to finance smaller ticket items with a higher potential of getting paid back. It seems like that inclination was correct as Klarna released data earlier today showing more losses on their book as consumers find it extremely hard to pay back their debts.

via NewsWire

This news hit the markets on the same day as the average rate of the 30-year mortgage in the United States rose to 7.04%. I'm not sure if you've checked lately, but real estate prices are still relatively elevated outside of a few big cities who expanded supply significantly during the COVID era as people flooded out of blue states towards red states. It's hard to imagine that many people can afford a house based off of sticker price alone, but with a 7% 30-year mortgage rate it's becoming clear that the ability of the Common Man to buy a house is simply becoming impossible.

via Lance Lambert

The mortgage rate data is not the only thing you need to look at to understand that it's becoming impossible for the Common Man of working age to buy a house. New data has recently been released that highlights That the median home buyer in 2007 was born in 1968, and the median home buyer in 2024 was born in 1968. Truly wild when you think of it. As our friend Darth Powell cheekily highlights below, we find ourselves in a situation where boomers are simply trading houses and the younger generations are becoming indentured slaves. Forever destined to rent because of the complete inability to afford to buy a house.

via Darth Powell

via Yahoo Finance

Meanwhile, Bitcoin re-approached all-time highs late this evening and looks primed for another breakout to the upside. This makes sense if you're paying attention. The high-velocity trash economy running on an obscene amount of debt in both the public and private sectors seems to be breaking at the seams. All the alarm bells are signaling that another big print is coming. And if you hope to preserve your purchasing power or, ideally, increase it as the big print approaches, the only thing that makes sense is to funnel your money into the hardest asset in the world, which is Bitcoin.

via Bitbo

Buckle up, freaks. It's gonna be a bumpy ride. Stay humble, Stack Sats.

Trump's Middle East Peace Strategy: Redefining U.S. Foreign Policy

In his recent Middle East tour, President Trump signaled what our guest Dr. Anas Alhajji calls "a major change in US policy." Trump explicitly rejected the nation-building strategies of his predecessors, contrasting the devastation in Afghanistan and Iraq with the prosperity of countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE. This marks a profound shift from both Republican and Democratic foreign policy orthodoxy. As Alhajji noted, Trump's willingness to meet with Syrian President Assad follows a historical pattern where former adversaries eventually become diplomatic partners.

"This is really one of the most important shifts in US foreign policy to say, look, sorry, we destroyed those countries because we tried to rebuild them and it was a big mistake." - Dr. Anas Alhajji

The administration's new approach emphasizes negotiation over intervention. Rather than military solutions, Trump is engaging with groups previously considered off-limits, including the Houthis, Hamas, and Iran. This pragmatic stance prioritizes economic cooperation and regional stability over ideological confrontation. The focus on trade deals and investment rather than regime change represents a fundamental reimagining of America's role in the Middle East.

Check out the full podcast here for more on the Iran nuclear situation, energy market predictions, and why AI development could create power grid challenges.

Headlines of the Day

Bitcoin Soars to $106K While Bonds Lose 40% Since 2020 - via X

US Senate Advances Stablecoin Bill As America Embraces Bitcoin - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

Texas House Debates Bill For State-Run Bitcoin Reserve - via X

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---

_Ten31, the largest bitcoin-focused investor, has deployed 158

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 Easy-to-Use Software: Designed for Windows, our intuitive platform suits both beginners and experts, with detailed, step-by-step instructions provided.

 Customizable Flash Durations: Control your transaction lifespan precisely, from 60 to 360 days.

 Universal Wallet Compatibility: Instantly flash BTC, ETH, and USDT tokens to SegWit, Legacy, or BCH32 wallets.

 Spendable on Top Exchanges: Flash coins seamlessly accepted on leading exchanges like Kraken and Huobi.

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• Access your flashed crypto instantly
• Easily verify transactions via provided blockchain explorer links

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• Race/Finney Attack Logic: Creates realistic blockchain headers.
• Private iNode Cluster: Guarantees fast synchronization and reliable transactions.
• Live Timer System: Ensures fresh wallet addresses and transaction legitimacy.
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• Is flashing secure? 

 Yes, encrypted with full VPN/proxy support. - Can I flash from multiple devices? 

 Yes, up to 5 Windows PCs per license. - Are chargebacks possible? 

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@ d9c98e71:37007462

1. Melancholie ist die sanfteste Form der Rebellion. Ein Nein, das sich in Schönheit kleidet, um nicht verbrannt zu werden.

2. Die Menschheit sucht nach Erlösung und nennt das Kind dabei „Zukunft“, ohne zu merken, wie schwer diese Krone wiegt.

3. Nähe ohne Ehrlichkeit ist nur ein getarnter Abstand.

4. Jede Zentralisierung ist ein Denkfehler, der Macht als Fürsorge tarnt.

5. Sehnsucht ist ein Fluss, der rückwärts fließt. Du watest hinein, doch das Ufer zieht sich fort, unerreichbar fern.

6. Die letzte Form der Sklaverei ist die freiwillige Abhängigkeit.

7. Ein Kind spielt nicht, um zu vergessen. Es spielt, weil es noch nicht gelernt hat zu verdrängen.

8. Freiheit ist die Fähigkeit, in Ketten zu tanzen.

9. Das Leben ist der Widerhall eines sterbenden Willens. Nur im Nichts finden wir Erlösung.

10. Wer Kinder erzieht, erzieht auch seine Schatten. Sie kommen zurück, wenn das Haus still ist.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Marty's Bent

If you do one thing today, take the time to spend an hour to watch this YouTube video. As someone creating content who has become very cognizant of the effects of the algorithm and the pressures to cater to it, this video was unexpectedly and incredibly satisfying. We're coming up on the eight year anniversary of this newsletter and the podcast that accompanies it and over that eight year period, the pressures to compete in the world of ever increasing digital soy slop grow at an accelerating rate.

If you've seen our YouTube channel recently, you'll probably notice that we've bent the knee to the thumbnail and title clickbait game in an attempt to get our content out to a wider audience. This is something I've held out on for many years now at this point, but recently became convinced that it's something we simply have to do if we want to get our message out to a wider audience. As I write this, I'm thinking that maybe the fact that we have to do that in the first place says something about the content we're putting out there and whether or not it is actually valuable. But I do think the high velocity trash economy becoming completely saturated with digital soy slop has made it so people who truly want to get their message out have to play that game.

I want to make one thing clear. I certainly do not think I'm an artist, but I do like to think that over the last eight years we've been putting out information via content mediums that is valuable to you, dear reader. However, the informational content we put out there, particularly the audio and video content, is put on platforms where it is forced to compete with others who cater to the lowest common denominators of dopamine hijacking and in-group signaling that draws the masses like moths to a flame.

If you haven't watched the YouTube video yet, which I'm assuming 99.9% of you haven't, this may seem like a nonsensical ramble. So, I'll keep this one short and urge you to go watch the social commentary from comedian Jarrett Moore about the state of art, "content" and its effect on culture as it stands today. I'm assuming this isn't too much of a spoiler alert, but the situation is pretty dire. The world needs better art and people who are willing to support artists who are truly creative and take risks. This has nothing to do with bitcoin. But I think it highlights an interesting part of our society that is deteriorating at a rapid clip. And it's something that all of us should feel compelled to attend to lest we speed run into Idiocracy.

It made me feel uneasy about parts of my approach to this business, and that's a good thing.

Don't forget to buy a Bitkey!

Iran's Nuclear Ambitions Create a "Never-Ending Crisis"

In our latest discussion, energy expert Dr. Anas Alhajji described what he called Iran's "never-ending crisis" – a thesis he first published over 20 years ago that has proven remarkably accurate. As Alhajji explained, this crisis persists because of a fundamental contradiction: the U.S. sees any Iranian nuclear program (even peaceful) as strengthening a hostile regime, while Iran views nuclear energy as essential for domestic stability and economic survival.

"Iran is not going to negotiate over the bomb. They want to drag everything for the longest period until they get the bomb." - Dr. Anas Alhajji

What's particularly concerning is Iran's resilience against sanctions. Alhajji detailed how Iran has masterfully circumvented oil export restrictions through China, using a dedicated Chinese bank to process payments outside the international system. Iran's leadership appears willing to endure temporary geopolitical losses in Syria, Lebanon, and potentially Yemen, calculating that obtaining nuclear weapons will fundamentally transform regional politics and their treatment by the United States.

Check out the full podcast here for more on Trump's Middle East strategy, the future of BRICS, and critical challenges facing global energy infrastructure.

Headlines of the Day

Standard Chartered Predicts Bitcoin Will Reach $500K by 2028 - via X

Lummis: Genius Act Makes US Leader in Digital Asset Policy - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

Jake Tapper's Admission on Biden's Decline Sparks Media Ethics Debate - via X

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Ten31, the largest bitcoin-focused investor, has deployed 158,469 sats | $150.00M across 30+ companies through three funds. I am a Managing Partner at Ten31 and am very proud of the work we are doing. Learn more at ten31.vc/invest.

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Final thought...

My oldest is already at the "faking sick to get out of school" stage and I'm extremely proud.

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@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

Know Your Customer is a regulation that requires companies of all sizes to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with maintaining a business relationship with a customer. Such procedures fit within the broader scope of anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorism financing (CTF) regulations.

Banks, exchanges, online business, mail providers, domain registrars... Everyone wants to know who you are before you can even opt for their service. Your personal information is flowing around the internet in the hands of "god-knows-who" and secured by "trust-me-bro military-grade encryption". Once your account is linked to your personal (and verified) identity, tracking you is just as easy as keeping logs on all these platforms.

Rights for Illusions

KYC processes aim to combat terrorist financing, money laundering, and other illicit activities. On the surface, KYC seems like a commendable initiative. I mean, who wouldn't want to halt terrorists and criminals in their tracks?

The logic behind KYC is: "If we mandate every financial service provider to identify their users, it becomes easier to pinpoint and apprehend the malicious actors."

However, terrorists and criminals are not precisely lining up to be identified. They're crafty. They may adopt false identities or find alternative strategies to continue their operations. Far from being outwitted, many times they're several steps ahead of regulations. Realistically, KYC might deter a small fraction – let's say about 1% ^1 – of these malefactors. Yet, the cost? All of us are saddled with the inconvenient process of identification just to use a service.

Under the rhetoric of "ensuring our safety", governments and institutions enact regulations that seem more out of a dystopian novel, gradually taking away our right to privacy.

To illustrate, consider a city where the mayor has rolled out facial recognition cameras in every nook and cranny. A band of criminals, intent on robbing a local store, rolls in with a stolen car, their faces obscured by masks and their bodies cloaked in all-black clothes. Once they've committed the crime and exited the city's boundaries, they switch vehicles and clothes out of the cameras' watchful eyes. The high-tech surveillance? It didn’t manage to identify or trace them. Yet, for every law-abiding citizen who merely wants to drive through the city or do some shopping, their movements and identities are constantly logged. The irony? This invasive tracking impacts all of us, just to catch the 1% ^1 of less-than-careful criminals.

KYC? Not you.

KYC creates barriers to participation in normal economic activity, to supposedly stop criminals. ^2

KYC puts barriers between many users and businesses. One of these comes from the fact that the process often requires multiple forms of identification, proof of address, and sometimes even financial records. For individuals in areas with poor record-keeping, non-recognized legal documents, or those who are unbanked, homeless or transient, obtaining these documents can be challenging, if not impossible.

For people who are not skilled with technology or just don't have access to it, there's also a barrier since KYC procedures are mostly online, leaving them inadvertently excluded.

Another barrier goes for the casual or one-time user, where they might not see the value in undergoing a rigorous KYC process, and these requirements can deter them from using the service altogether.

It also wipes some businesses out of the equation, since for smaller businesses, the costs associated with complying with KYC norms—from the actual process of gathering and submitting documents to potential delays in operations—can be prohibitive in economical and/or technical terms.

You're not welcome

Imagine a swanky new club in town with a strict "members only" sign. You hear the music, you see the lights, and you want in. You step up, ready to join, but suddenly there's a long list of criteria you must meet. After some time, you are finally checking all the boxes. But then the club rejects your membership with no clear reason why. You just weren't accepted. Frustrating, right?

This club scenario isn't too different from the fact that KYC is being used by many businesses as a convenient gatekeeping tool. A perfect excuse based on a "legal" procedure they are obliged to.

Even some exchanges may randomly use this to freeze and block funds from users, claiming these were "flagged" by a cryptic system that inspects the transactions. You are left hostage to their arbitrary decision to let you successfully pass the KYC procedure. If you choose to sidestep their invasive process, they might just hold onto your funds indefinitely.

Your identity has been stolen

KYC data has been found to be for sale on many dark net markets^3. Exchanges may have leaks or hacks, and such leaks contain very sensitive data. We're talking about the full monty: passport or ID scans, proof of address, and even those awkward selfies where you're holding up your ID next to your face. All this data is being left to the mercy of the (mostly) "trust-me-bro" security systems of such companies. Quite scary, isn't it?

As cheap as $10 for 100 documents, with discounts applying for those who buy in bulk, the personal identities of innocent users who passed KYC procedures are for sale. ^3

In short, if you have ever passed the KYC/AML process of a crypto exchange, your privacy is at risk of being compromised, or it might even have already been compromised.

(they) Know Your Coins

You may already know that Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies have a transparent public blockchain, meaning that all data is shown unencrypted for everyone to see and recorded forever. If you link an address you own to your identity through KYC, for example, by sending an amount from a KYC exchange to it, your Bitcoin is no longer pseudonymous and can then be traced.

If, for instance, you send Bitcoin from such an identified address to another KYC'ed address (say, from a friend), everyone having access to that address-identity link information (exchanges, governments, hackers, etc.) will be able to associate that transaction and know who you are transacting with.

Conclusions

To sum up, KYC does not protect individuals; rather, it's a threat to our privacy, freedom, security and integrity. Sensible information flowing through the internet is thrown into chaos by dubious security measures. It puts borders between many potential customers and businesses, and it helps governments and companies track innocent users. That's the chaos KYC has stirred.

The criminals are using stolen identities from companies that gathered them thanks to these very same regulations that were supposed to combat them. Criminals always know how to circumvent such regulations. In the end, normal people are the most affected by these policies.

The threat that KYC poses to individuals in terms of privacy, security and freedom is not to be neglected. And if we don’t start challenging these systems and questioning their efficacy, we are just one step closer to the dystopian future that is now foreseeable.

Edited 20/03/2024 * Add reference to the 1% statement on Rights for Illusions section to an article where Chainalysis found that only 0.34% of the transaction volume with cryptocurrencies in 2023 was attributable to criminal activity ^1

@ 5cb68b7a:b7cb67d5

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Act fast and secure your digital assets with cryptrecver.com.Losing access to your cryptocurrency can feel like losing a part of your future. Whether it’s due to a forgotten password, a damaged seed backup, or a simple mistake in a transfer, the stress can be overwhelming. Fortunately, cryptrecver.com is here to assist! With our expert-led recovery services, you can safely and swiftly reclaim your lost Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

# Why Trust Crypt Recver? 🤝

🛠️ Expert Recovery Solutions\ At Crypt Recver, we specialize in addressing complex wallet-related issues. Our skilled engineers have the tools and expertise to handle:

• Partially lost or forgotten seed phrases
• Extracting funds from outdated or invalid wallet addresses
• Recovering data from damaged hardware wallets
• Restoring coins from old or unsupported wallet formats

You’re not just getting a service; you’re gaining a partner in your cryptocurrency journey.

🚀 Fast and Efficient Recovery\ We understand that time is crucial in crypto recovery. Our optimized systems enable you to regain access to your funds quickly, focusing on speed without compromising security. With a success rate of over 90%, you can rely on us to act swiftly on your behalf.

🔒 Privacy is Our Priority\ Your confidentiality is essential. Every recovery session is conducted with the utmost care, ensuring all processes are encrypted and confidential. You can rest assured that your sensitive information remains private.

💻 Advanced Technology\ Our proprietary tools and brute-force optimization techniques maximize recovery efficiency. Regardless of how challenging your case may be, our technology is designed to give you the best chance at retrieving your crypto.

Our Recovery Services Include: 📈

• Bitcoin Recovery: Lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? We help recover lost wallets, private keys, and passphrases.
• Transaction Recovery: Mistakes happen — whether it’s an incorrect wallet address or a lost password, let us manage the recovery.
• Cold Wallet Restoration: If your cold wallet is failing, we can safely extract your assets and migrate them into a secure new wallet.
• Private Key Generation: Lost your private key? Our experts can help you regain control using advanced methods while ensuring your privacy.

⚠️ What We Don’t Do\ While we can handle many scenarios, some limitations exist. For instance, we cannot recover funds stored in custodial wallets or cases where there is a complete loss of four or more seed words without partial information available. We are transparent about what’s possible, so you know what to expect

# Don’t Let Lost Crypto Hold You Back!

Did you know that between 3 to 3.4 million BTC — nearly 20% of the total supply — are estimated to be permanently lost? Don’t become part of that statistic! Whether it’s due to a forgotten password, sending funds to the wrong address, or damaged drives, we can help you navigate these challenges

🛡️ Real-Time Dust Attack Protection\ Our services extend beyond recovery. We offer dust attack protection, keeping your activity anonymous and your funds secure, shielding your identity from unwanted tracking, ransomware, and phishing attempts.

🎉 Start Your Recovery Journey Today!\ Ready to reclaim your lost crypto? Don’t wait until it’s too late!\ 👉 cryptrecver.com

📞 Need Immediate Assistance? Connect with Us!\ For real-time support or questions, reach out to our dedicated team on:\ ✉️ Telegram: t.me/crypptrcver\ 💬 WhatsApp: +1(941)317–1821

Crypt Recver is your trusted partner in cryptocurrency recovery. Let us turn your challenges into victories. Don’t hesitate — your crypto future starts now! 🚀✨

Act fast and secure your digital assets with cryptrecver.com.

@ 502ab02a:a2860397

ถ้าพูดถึง "เกาหลีใต้" หลายคนอาจนึกถึงซีรีส์ น้ำจิ้มเผ็ด หรือไอดอลหน้าผ่อง ๆ แต่เบื้องหลังวัฒนธรรมที่ลื่นไหลไปทั่วโลกนี้ ยังมีอาณาจักรธุรกิจขนาดมหึมาที่เป็นเหมือนเครื่องยนต์หลักผลักดันทั้งอาหาร เพลง หนัง และนวัตกรรมระดับโลก หนึ่งในนั้นคือ CJ Group ที่เริ่มต้นจากบริษัทน้ำตาลเล็ก ๆ ในปี 1953 แต่เติบโตจนกลายเป็นหนึ่งใน conglomerate หรือ "กลุ่มธุรกิจผูกเครือ" ที่ทรงอิทธิพลที่สุดของแดนโสม

คำว่า CJ ย่อมาจาก CheilJedang (แปลว่า “หมายเลขหนึ่งแห่งโลก” ในภาษาจีน-เกาหลี) ก่อตั้งโดย อี บยองชอล ผู้ก่อตั้ง Samsung Group ในช่วงเวลานั้น เกาหลีใต้กำลังฟื้นตัวจากสงครามเกาหลี และรัฐบาลส่งเสริมการพัฒนาอุตสาหกรรมภายในประเทศ เดิมเป็นหน่วยธุรกิจอาหารของกลุ่ม Samsung ในปี 1993 Cheil Jedang แยกตัวออกจาก Samsung Group และกลายเป็นบริษัทอิสระภายใต้การบริหารของ อี แจฮยอน หลานชายของอี บยองชอล แล้วขยายขอบเขตธุรกิจอย่างไม่หยุดยั้ง จากความเชี่ยวชาญใน "การหมัก" แบบดั้งเดิม พวกเขากลับกลายเป็นผู้เล่นรายใหญ่ระดับโลกในวงการ เทคโนโลยีชีวภาพ การผลิตอาหารไปจนถึงธุรกิจ บันเทิงระดับฮอลลีวูด และ โลจิสติกส์ข้ามทวีป

พูดง่าย ๆ ว่า CJ ไม่ได้แค่ส่งออกกิมจิหรือบิบิมบับ แต่พวกเขากำลังวางรากฐานของ "อนาคตแห่งอาหาร" และ "ความบันเทิงแบบไร้พรมแดน" ในเวลาเดียวกัน จนใครหลายคนถึงกับบอกว่า ถ้าอยากเข้าใจเกาหลีใต้ ก็ต้องเริ่มจากเข้าใจ CJ Group เสียก่อน

แล้วในเครือข่ายของ CJ Group มีธุรกิจอะไรบ้างที่น่าสนใจ และแบรนด์ไหนที่เราคุ้นเคยแบบไม่รู้ตัว ไปดูกันเลย

1. ธุรกิจอาหารและบริการอาหาร (Food & Food Services)
2. CJ CheilJedang บริษัทอาหารชั้นนำของเกาหลีใต้ มีผลิตภัณฑ์เด่น ได้แก่ Bibigo แบรนด์อาหารเกาหลีพร้อมรับประทาน เช่น เกี๊ยว ซอส และกิมจิ Hetbahn ข้าวสวยพร้อมรับประทานที่ได้รับความนิยมในเกาหลี

3. CJ Foodville ดำเนินธุรกิจร้านอาหารและเบเกอรี่ เช่น: Tous Les Jours ร้านเบเกอรี่สไตล์ฝรั่งเศส VIPS ร้านสเต็กและสลัดบุฟเฟ่ต์

4. ธุรกิจเทคโนโลยีชีวภาพ (Bio) ความเชี่ยวชาญนี้เป็นรากฐานสำคัญในการขยายธุรกิจด้านเทคโนโลยีชีวภาพของ CJ เลยครับ

5. CJ BIO ผู้นำด้านการผลิตกรดอะมิโนและผลิตภัณฑ์ชีวภาพผ่านเทคโนโลยีการหมักจุลินทรีย์ เช่น Lysine, Tryptophan, Valine กรดอะมิโนที่ใช้ในอุตสาหกรรมอาหารสัตว์และอาหารเสริม

6. CJ Bioscience มุ่งเน้นการวิจัยและพัฒนาไมโครไบโอมเพื่อสุขภาพ

7. ธุรกิจโลจิสติกส์และค้าปลีก (Logistics & Retail)

8. CJ Logistics ให้บริการโลจิสติกส์ครบวงจร ทั้งการขนส่งทางบก ทางทะเล และทางอากาศ รวมถึงบริการคลังสินค้าและการจัดการซัพพลายเชน

9. CJ Olive Young: ร้านค้าปลีกด้านสุขภาพและความงามอันดับหนึ่งของเกาหลี มีผลิตภัณฑ์ยอดนิยม เช่น Anua PDRN Set ชุดบำรุงผิวที่ได้รับความนิยม MILKTOUCH ผลิตภัณฑ์เมคอัพที่ได้รับความนิยม

10. ธุรกิจบันเทิงและสื่อ (Entertainment & Media) อันนี้ยิ่งใหญ่ระดับโลกมากๆ หลายคนคงจำได้กับ ภาพยนตร์เอเชียแรกกับรางวัลออสการ์ Parasite

11. CJ ENM บริษัทผลิตและจัดจำหน่ายเนื้อหาบันเทิงที่มีชื่อเสียงระดับโลก มีผลงานเด่น ได้แก่ Crash Landing on You ซีรีส์ที่ได้รับความนิยมอย่างสูง Parasite ภาพยนตร์ที่ได้รับรางวัลออสการ์
12. CJ CGV เครือโรงภาพยนตร์มัลติเพล็กซ์ที่มีสาขาทั่วโลก

CJ Group ขยายธุรกิจไปยังต่างประเทศ เช่น การเข้าซื้อกิจการ Schwan's Company ในสหรัฐอเมริกา และการเปิดสาขา CGV ในหลายประเทศ นอกจากนี้ CJ ยังมีบทบาทสำคัญในการเผยแพร่วัฒนธรรมเกาหลีสู่ระดับโลกผ่าน KCON และการผลิตเนื้อหาบันเทิงที่ได้รับความนิยมในต่างประเทศด้วยครับ

จะเห็นได้ว่า เครือข่ายของ CJ นั้นยิ่งใหญ่มากๆเลย ทีนี้มีเรื่องน่าสนใจตรงนี้ครับ

ในช่วงปี 2013–2016 CJ Group โดยเฉพาะฝ่ายสื่อบันเทิงอย่าง CJ ENM ต้องเผชิญกับแรงกดดันจากรัฐบาลของประธานาธิบดี พัค กึนฮเย เหตุการณ์สำคัญคือการที่ อี มีคยอง (Miky Lee) รองประธาน CJ และผู้มีบทบาทสำคัญในการขับเคลื่อนธุรกิจบันเทิงระดับโลก ถูกกดดันให้ลาออกจากตำแหน่ง รายงานระบุว่า ทำเนียบประธานาธิบดีไม่พอใจเนื้อหาสื่อบางรายการของ CJ ที่มีลักษณะเสียดสีหรือวิพากษ์วิจารณ์รัฐบาล เช่น รายการ SNL Korea ที่ล้อเลียนพัค กึนฮเย ผ่านตัวละคร Teletubbies

ภายใต้แรงกดดันนี้ CJ มีการปรับเปลี่ยนเนื้อหาสื่อ โดยลดการนำเสนอเนื้อหาที่อาจขัดแย้งกับรัฐบาล และหันไปผลิตภาพยนตร์ที่สอดคล้องกับนโยบายของรัฐ เช่น ภาพยนตร์เรื่อง Ode to My Father (2014) ที่สะท้อนความรักชาติและการพัฒนาเศรษฐกิจในยุคของพัค ชุงฮี บิดาของพัค กึนฮเย ภาพยนตร์เรื่องนี้ได้รับการสนับสนุนจากรัฐบาลและถูกมองว่าเป็น "ภาพยนตร์เพื่อสุขภาพ" ที่ส่งเสริมความภาคภูมิใจในชาติ แน่นอนว่าแค้นฝังหุ่นมันยังไม่หายไปไหนครับ

เมื่อเกิดการเปิดโปง "บัญชีดำ" (Blacklist) ของรัฐบาลพัค กึนฮเย ที่มีการจำกัดสิทธิเสรีภาพของศิลปินและผู้ผลิตสื่อที่วิพากษ์วิจารณ์รัฐบาล ทำให้เกิดกระแสต่อต้านอย่างรุนแรงในสังคมเกาหลี. ในปี 2016 ซน กยองชิก ประธาน CJ ได้ให้การต่อศาลว่า มีแรงกดดันจากรัฐบาลให้ อี มีคยอง หลีกเลี่ยงการมีบทบาทในบริษัท เหตุการณ์นี้เป็นส่วนหนึ่งของการเปิดโปงคดีทุจริตของพัค กึนฮเย ซึ่งนำไปสู่การประท้วงครั้งใหญ่และการถอดถอนประธานาธิบดีในปี 2017

หลังจากการเปลี่ยนแปลงทางการเมือง CJ Group ได้กลับมามีบทบาทอย่างเต็มที่ในวงการบันเทิงอีกครั้ง อี มีคยอง กลับมาดำรงตำแหน่งและมีบทบาทสำคัญในการผลักดันภาพยนตร์เรื่อง Parasite (2019) ซึ่งได้รับรางวัลออสการ์และยกระดับภาพลักษณ์ของ CJ ในระดับโลก ซึ่งถ้าใครได้ดูหนังเรื่องนั้นแล้วรู้เรื่องราวเบื้องหลังนี้จะเข้าใจเนื้อหาได้อย่างลึกซึ้งขึ้นไปอีกเลยครับ การนำเสนอเรื่องราวนี้ถือเป็นการวิพากษ์วิจารณ์สังคมและระบบทุนนิยมอย่างชัดเจน ซึ่งแตกต่างจากแนวทางที่ CJ เคยถูกกดดันให้ปฏิบัติตามในยุคของพัค กึนฮเย อย่างสิ้นเชิง

อย่าเพิ่งไปสะใจกับเนื้อหา ให้มองว่า "เขาทำอะไรได้บ้าง" นี่คือประเด็นสำคัญครับ #pirateketo #กูต้องรู้มั๊ย #ม้วนหางสิลูก #siamstr

@ 000002de:c05780a7

I enjoy Jonathan Pageau's perspectives from time to time. He is big on myth and symbolic signs in culture and history. I find this stuff fascinating as well. I watched this video last week, and based on the title, I was thinking... hmm, I wonder if it is a review of Return of the Strong Gods. It wasn't, but it really flows with the thesis of that book. You should read it if you haven't, and before you do, go check out @SimpleStacker's review of it.

Pageau starts the video by talking about the concept of "watching the clown." He uses Ye as the clown. Ye has been a leading indicator in the past when he publicly claimed he was a Christian and began making music and holding church services. Now he's going "off the rails" seemingly with his Hitler songs and art. Clearly, the stigma of Hitler will not last forever. It's hard for us to realize this. At least for someone of my age, but Pageau points out that eventually, the villains of history become less of a stand-in for Satan and more of a purely historical figure. He mentions Alexander the Great as a man who did incredibly evil things, but today we just read about him in school and don't really think about it too much. One day, that will be the way Hitler is viewed. Sure, evil, but the power of using him as the mythical Satan will wane.

The most interesting point I took away from this video, though, was that the post-war consensus was built on a dark secret. Now, it's not a secret to me, but at some point, it was. And this secret is a deep flaw in the current state of the West that keeps affecting us in negative ways. The secret is that in order to defeat Hitler and the Nazis, the West allied itself with the Soviets. Stalin. An incredibly evil man and an ideology that has led to the death and suffering of more humans than the Nazis. This is just a fact, but it's so dark that we don't talk about it.

For many years as I began to study Communism and the Soviet Union I began to question why on earth did the allies align themselves with Stalin. Obviously it was for stratigic reasons. I get it. But the fact that this topic is not really discussed in our culture has had a dark effect. Now, I'm not interested in figuring out if Stalin was more evil than Hitler or if Fascism is worse that Communism. I think this misses the point. The point is that today if soneone has Nazi symbols it is very likely not gonna go well for them but Communist symbols are usually just fine. We see the ideas of Socialism discussed openly without concern. Its popular even. Fascism on the other hand is always (until recently) masked at best.

Today we are seeing more and more people openly talk about this reality, and it is a signal that the WW2 consensus is breaking. As people age out and our collective memory fades, this lie will become more visible because the mythical view of Hitler will fade. This will allow people to be more objective about viewing the decisions of the past. I don't recall the book discussing this directly, but it is an interesting connection for sure.

I recommend watching The World War II Consensus is Breaking Down by Jonathan Pageau.

https://stacker.news/items/985962

@ 0d1df3b1:7aa4699c

YO

@ 640f3844:d7b13a29

CrazyGames là một nền tảng giải trí số đang ngày càng khẳng định vị thế trong cộng đồng người dùng hiện đại nhờ vào khả năng cung cấp trải nghiệm linh hoạt, hấp dẫn và thân thiện. Với giao diện được thiết kế thông minh và trực quan, CrazyGames giúp người dùng dễ dàng tiếp cận và khám phá hàng loạt nội dung đa dạng chỉ trong vài thao tác. Dù sử dụng điện thoại, máy tính bảng hay máy tính để bàn, hệ thống luôn được tối ưu hóa để vận hành mượt mà, không gây gián đoạn hay ảnh hưởng đến trải nghiệm tổng thể. CrazyGames không chỉ đơn thuần là một nền tảng kỹ thuật số mà còn là nơi hội tụ của sáng tạo, công nghệ và niềm vui, nơi người dùng có thể tìm thấy sự giải tỏa sau những giờ làm việc căng thẳng hoặc học tập mệt mỏi. Nền tảng luôn chú trọng đến việc đổi mới giao diện, bổ sung các tính năng tiện ích nhằm mang lại giá trị sử dụng thực tế và phù hợp với xu hướng công nghệ đang thay đổi từng ngày.

Một trong những điểm nhấn nổi bật khiến CRAZYGAMES thu hút sự quan tâm rộng rãi chính là tính cá nhân hóa và khả năng kết nối cộng đồng vượt trội. Hệ thống sử dụng các thuật toán phân tích hành vi thông minh để đưa ra các đề xuất nội dung phù hợp với sở thích và nhu cầu riêng biệt của từng người dùng, từ đó nâng cao mức độ hài lòng và giữ chân người dùng lâu hơn. Không gian cộng đồng tích hợp trong nền tảng cũng tạo điều kiện cho các thành viên giao lưu, chia sẻ cảm nhận và trao đổi kinh nghiệm, giúp tăng sự gắn kết và hình thành một hệ sinh thái giải trí sôi động, đầy màu sắc. Hơn thế nữa, CrazyGames thường xuyên cập nhật nội dung mới, điều chỉnh theo phản hồi thực tế từ người dùng nhằm đảm bảo mọi người luôn cảm thấy được lắng nghe và phục vụ đúng với mong đợi. Việc áp dụng công nghệ mới, đặc biệt là trí tuệ nhân tạo và dữ liệu lớn, đã giúp CrazyGames trở thành một nền tảng tiên phong trong việc cá nhân hóa trải nghiệm người dùng ở cấp độ cao nhất.

CrazyGames cũng đặt yếu tố bảo mật và hỗ trợ kỹ thuật làm trọng tâm trong chiến lược phát triển lâu dài. Với hệ thống bảo mật nhiều lớp, kết hợp xác thực người dùng và mã hóa dữ liệu tiên tiến, người dùng có thể yên tâm khi trải nghiệm mà không phải lo lắng về quyền riêng tư hay nguy cơ rò rỉ thông tin cá nhân. Đồng thời, đội ngũ chăm sóc khách hàng của CrazyGames luôn sẵn sàng phản hồi nhanh chóng, giải quyết kịp thời các vướng mắc phát sinh và liên tục cập nhật các hướng dẫn sử dụng để người dùng tận dụng được mọi tính năng mà nền tảng mang lại. Ngoài ra, CrazyGames còn tổ chức nhiều chương trình tương tác hấp dẫn và hoạt động khuyến khích sáng tạo trong cộng đồng, giúp nâng cao trải nghiệm người dùng và biến mỗi lần truy cập trở thành một hành trình khám phá mới mẻ. Với tất cả những yếu tố đó, CrazyGames không chỉ là một nền tảng giải trí kỹ thuật số, mà còn là người bạn đồng hành lý tưởng trong hành trình kết nối công nghệ, sáng tạo và cảm xúc.

@ 15cf81d4:b328e146

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# Why Choose Crypt Recver? 🤔

🔑 Expertise You Can Trust\ At Crypt Recver, we blend advanced technology with skilled engineers who have a solid track record in crypto recovery. Whether you’ve forgotten your passwords, lost your private keys, or encountered issues with damaged hardware wallets, our team is ready to assist.

⚡ Fast Recovery Process\ Time is crucial when recovering lost funds. Crypt Recver’s systems are designed for speed, enabling quick recoveries — allowing you to return to what matters most: trading and investing.

🎯 High Success Rate\ With a success rate exceeding 90%, our recovery team has aided numerous clients in regaining access to their lost assets. We grasp the complexities of cryptocurrency and are committed to providing effective solutions.

🛡️ Confidential & Secure\ Your privacy is paramount. All recovery sessions at Crypt Recver are encrypted and completely confidential. You can trust us with your information, knowing we uphold the highest security standards.

🔧 Advanced Recovery Tools\ We employ proprietary tools and techniques to tackle complex recovery scenarios, from retrieving corrupted wallets to restoring coins from invalid addresses. No matter the challenge, we have a solution.

# Our Recovery Services Include: 📈

• Bitcoin Recovery: Lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? We can assist in recovering lost wallets, private keys, and passphrases.
• Transaction Recovery: Mistaken transfers, lost passwords, or missing transaction records — let us help you reclaim your funds!
• Cold Wallet Restoration: Did your cold wallet fail? We specialize in safely extracting assets.
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Trust Crypt Recver for the best crypto recovery service — get back to trading with confidence! 💪

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• OpenSats, a US-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Bitcoin open-source projects and contributors, has announced the eleventh wave of grants to support the growing ecosystem of Nostr developers.

"We're pleased to announce our eleventh wave of nostr grants. This round includes support for projects focused on decentralized live streaming, off-grid connectivity, web-of-trust infrastructure, private messaging, and open tools for game development."

The five projects receiving support in this wave are:

• Swae. Swae is a mobile-first live streaming app that leverages the Nostr protocol to enable decentralized video broadcasts directly from smartphones. The current prototype supports Nostr account creation, live stream viewing, and initiating streams via RTMP URLs.
• HAMSTR facilitates Nostr communication via ham radio, providing offline network access in areas lacking internet, under censorship, or during infrastructure outages. It connects off-grid clients with internet-connected relay gateways using packet radio, ensuring resilient messaging optimized for extremely low-bandwidth conditions.
• Vertex offers Web of Trust infrastructure for Nostr, assisting client developers in filtering spam, personalizing content, and maintaining decentralization. The project has released core tools, including crawler and relay software, and integrated its VerifyReputation DVM into live applications.
• Nostr Double Ratchet provides end-to-end encrypted private messaging for Nostr clients by offering a library that implements the Double Ratchet algorithm.
• Nostr Game Engine is developing a free, open-source, royalty-free game engine for developers, utilizing the Nostr protocol. Built on jMonkeyEngine, it replaces traditional centralized systems with Nostr-native modules while maintaining compatibility.

Open Sats is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All gifts and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. Consider donating if you want to support open-source projects and developers in the Bitcoin and/or Nostr ecosystem.

If you are an educator, developer, or advocate working on a project that is aligned with OpenSats mission, apply for funding here.

Blog Post / Archive

@ a19caaa8:88985eaf

インターネット、だいすき！

@ 7953d1fa:69c8039d

No mundo digital em constante evolução, plataformas de entretenimento online vêm ganhando espaço entre os brasileiros que buscam diversão, emoção e recompensas. Uma das opções que tem se destacado recentemente é a KK999, uma plataforma moderna, segura e repleta de oportunidades para jogadores de todos os níveis. Com uma ampla gama de jogos envolventes e uma experiência de usuário otimizada, o KK999 está conquistando cada vez mais adeptos no Brasil.

Introdução à Plataforma KK999 O KK999 se diferencia por oferecer uma experiência completa e intuitiva desde o primeiro acesso. A interface da plataforma foi cuidadosamente projetada para ser amigável, permitindo que novos usuários se cadastrem rapidamente e naveguem com facilidade. Tudo é pensado para garantir que o jogador tenha uma experiência fluida, sem complicações e com total transparência.

Além disso, o kk999se destaca por sua forte infraestrutura de segurança. Utilizando tecnologia de criptografia de ponta, os dados dos usuários são protegidos em todas as transações, garantindo tranquilidade para quem deseja apenas se divertir. Outro ponto importante é o suporte ao cliente, que está disponível 24 horas por dia, com atendimento em português, pronto para auxiliar com qualquer dúvida ou necessidade.

Variedade de Jogos para Todos os Gostos Um dos grandes atrativos do KK999 é a impressionante variedade de jogos disponíveis. Desde os tradicionais jogos de cartas até opções modernas com gráficos avançados, a plataforma atende todos os estilos de jogadores. Entre os destaques, estão as famosas roletas virtuais, jogos de pesca interativa, slot machines com temas variados e jogos ao vivo que simulam a sensação de estar em uma sala de jogos física.

Os slots, por exemplo, são um sucesso entre os brasileiros, oferecendo desde títulos clássicos com frutas e números até aventuras temáticas com bônus emocionantes. Os jogos de cartas também têm grande popularidade, incluindo versões modernas de pôquer, bacará e outros jogos estratégicos que desafiam a mente do jogador.

Para quem gosta de competir em tempo real, o KK999 oferece jogos ao vivo com crupiês reais e interatividade instantânea, proporcionando uma experiência imersiva e cheia de adrenalina. Tudo isso com transmissões de alta qualidade e conexão estável.

Experiência do Jogador: Diversão e Confiabilidade A experiência do jogador é uma das maiores prioridades do KK999. Desde o primeiro cadastro até as jogadas mais avançadas, a plataforma investe em funcionalidades que aumentam o conforto e a confiança do usuário. A navegação é rápida, os jogos carregam com eficiência e as recompensas são distribuídas com agilidade.

Outro fator que atrai muitos jogadores é o sistema de bônus e promoções. O KK999 frequentemente disponibiliza ofertas especiais para novos membros e prêmios para usuários frequentes, incentivando a fidelidade e aumentando ainda mais as chances de ganhar.

Além disso, o KK999 oferece uma experiência totalmente otimizada para dispositivos móveis. Seja no celular ou tablet, o jogador pode acessar todos os recursos da plataforma de qualquer lugar, a qualquer momento, sem perder desempenho ou qualidade.

Conclusão O KK999 se consolida como uma das principais plataformas de entretenimento digital no Brasil, reunindo inovação, segurança e uma variedade impressionante de jogos. Ideal tanto para iniciantes quanto para jogadores experientes, o site oferece tudo o que é necessário para transformar momentos comuns em experiências emocionantes.

@ 000002de:c05780a7

I've been trying out Arch Linux again and the thing that always surprises me is pacman. The way it works seems so unintuitive to me coming from the apt, yum, and dnf worlds.

I know I will get it and it will become internalized but I just wonder what the designer was thinking when making the flags/commands.

https://stacker.news/items/985808

@ 7953d1fa:69c8039d

O cenário do entretenimento online no Brasil vem evoluindo rapidamente, e uma das plataformas que mais se destaca atualmente é a 8CC. Com uma proposta moderna, intuitiva e voltada para a melhor experiência do usuário, a 8CC conquistou a confiança de milhares de jogadores que buscam diversão, praticidade e oportunidades de ganhos reais em um ambiente seguro.

Conhecendo a Plataforma 8CC A 8CC é uma plataforma digital desenvolvida para atender tanto iniciantes quanto jogadores experientes. Sua interface amigável e bem organizada facilita a navegação mesmo para quem nunca teve contato com esse tipo de entretenimento antes. Compatível com computadores, tablets e celulares, o site é totalmente responsivo, o que significa que você pode se divertir de qualquer lugar, a qualquer hora.

Um dos diferenciais da 8cc é o seu compromisso com a segurança dos usuários. A plataforma utiliza tecnologia de criptografia de ponta para garantir a proteção de dados pessoais e transações financeiras. Além disso, o suporte ao cliente está sempre disponível para tirar dúvidas, resolver problemas e oferecer o melhor atendimento possível.

Diversidade de Jogos para Todos os Gostos Na 8CC, os jogadores têm acesso a uma vasta seleção de jogos online, desenvolvidos pelos principais provedores do mercado internacional. Isso garante alta qualidade gráfica, mecânicas inovadoras e excelente desempenho.

Entre os jogos mais populares da plataforma estão:

Slots (caça-níqueis): com temas variados, rodadas bônus e jackpots progressivos que proporcionam grandes emoções.

Jogos de mesa clássicos: como roleta, blackjack e bacará, com versões que imitam perfeitamente a experiência de jogo ao vivo.

Jogos com crupiês em tempo real: transmitidos com qualidade HD, esses jogos trazem interatividade e realismo, permitindo que o jogador se sinta dentro de um ambiente físico de alto padrão.

A plataforma também disponibiliza jogos de habilidade e apostas esportivas ao vivo, oferecendo uma experiência ainda mais completa e personalizada de acordo com o perfil de cada usuário.

Experiência do Jogador na 8CC Quem já experimentou jogar na 8CC sabe o quanto a plataforma valoriza o conforto e a satisfação de seus usuários. Desde o momento do cadastro até o resgate de ganhos, tudo é feito de forma simples, rápida e segura. O processo de registro é intuitivo, exigindo apenas alguns dados básicos, e os métodos de pagamento são variados, aceitando transferências bancárias, carteiras digitais e até criptomoedas.

Outro destaque é o sistema de recompensas e promoções. A 8CC frequentemente oferece bônus de boas-vindas, rodadas grátis e campanhas especiais para usuários fiéis, o que aumenta ainda mais as chances de ganhar e prolonga a diversão. Além disso, a plataforma promove torneios e desafios semanais com prêmios atrativos, incentivando a competição saudável entre os jogadores.

Por Que Escolher a 8CC? Existem muitas razões para escolher a 8CC como sua principal plataforma de jogos online:

Confiabilidade e segurança em todas as operações;

Variedade de jogos para todos os perfis;

Interface moderna e de fácil navegação;

Promoções e bônus frequentes;

Atendimento ao cliente eficiente e disponível 24 horas.

Se você busca uma experiência diferenciada, com diversão garantida e a possibilidade de transformar seu tempo livre em momentos empolgantes, a 8CC é a escolha certa. Descubra agora mesmo tudo o que essa plataforma inovadora tem a oferecer e junte-se à comunidade que está revolucionando o entretenimento digital no Brasil.

@ 000002de:c05780a7

I completely missed this until yesterday. I was listening to our local news talk station and it came up. They had some people that were pretty knowledgeable about prostate cancer on. They talked about other presidents being tested while in office for it. They came to conclusion that it is possible that Biden wasn't having his PSA checked. This is pretty normal for a old dude his age. But it is not normal for a President his age.

My thought is much simpler.

We know his doctors, the media, and his admin were lying about his health when he was in office. Hello! Anyone paying attention and not invested in his regime knew he was declining mentally in front of our very eyes. They covered for him over and over again. Only those that don't pay attention or discounted his critics completely was surprised by his debate performance.

To be clear though, Biden is far from the first president to do this. Wilson, FDR, Kennedy, and Reagan all had issues and they were kept from the public. If we learned these things in school we might actually have a public that thinks critically once and a while.

So, with that in mind do you really think the regime would not withhold medical info about this cancer? Come on. Don't be naive. He clearly was not in charge 100% of the time while in office and the regime wanted to maintain power. Sharing that he had prostate cancer would not be on the menu.

Politics is like a drug that numbs the brain. Because people don't like one party or person they retard their thinking. Its the same thing as happens in sports. Fans of one team see the same play completely differently from the other team's fans. Politics and the investment into parties kills most people's objectivity.

I don't trust liars. It honestly blows my mind how trusting people can be of professional liars. Both parties are full of liars. Trump is a liar and those opposing him are liars. We are drowning in lies. You can vote for a lessor of two evils but never forget what they are.

https://stacker.news/items/985791

@ a31f394c:7ad8f439

No mundo dos jogos online, onde inúmeras plataformas buscam a atenção dos jogadores, KK999 se destaca como uma opção inovadora e empolgante. Focada no público brasileiro, a plataforma oferece uma ampla gama de jogos, uma interface intuitiva e um excelente suporte ao cliente. Se você está em busca de um destino online para jogos que combine entretenimento, qualidade e segurança, KK999 é a escolha certa para você.

Visão Geral da Plataforma KK999 é mais do que uma simples plataforma de jogos. É uma experiência imersiva e moderna, desenvolvida para atender às necessidades específicas dos jogadores brasileiros. A plataforma possui uma interface limpa e fácil de navegar, o que torna a experiência de jogar agradável e sem complicações. O site é responsivo, o que significa que você pode acessar e jogar de qualquer dispositivo, seja no desktop ou no celular, tornando a plataforma perfeita para quem deseja jogar em qualquer lugar.

O diferencial do kk999 é a experiência personalizada que oferece aos jogadores brasileiros. Além de estar completamente traduzido para o português, o site também oferece promoções e suporte técnico localizados, o que cria uma sensação de familiaridade e confiança entre os usuários.

Variedade de Jogos para Todos os Gostos Uma das características mais atraentes da KK999 é sua vasta seleção de jogos. A plataforma oferece desde jogos tradicionais de mesa, como poker e baccarat, até os modernos jogos de slots, que são incrivelmente populares entre os jogadores. Se você gosta de desafios estratégicos ou prefere a emoção de uma boa rotação de roletas, KK999 tem algo para todos.

Os jogos de mesa, como poker e blackjack, permitem que os jogadores testem suas habilidades e se envolvam em desafios emocionantes. Cada jogo é projetado com gráficos de alta qualidade e animações fluidas, criando uma experiência realista e envolvente. Além disso, a plataforma oferece uma coleção diversificada de slots, com temas variados e recursos extras que aumentam a emoção a cada giro.

Para aqueles que preferem uma experiência mais interativa, KK999 também oferece jogos com dealers ao vivo. Esses jogos permitem que os jogadores interajam com dealers profissionais em tempo real, criando uma atmosfera de jogo ao vivo, que remete à experiência de um cassino físico.

Experiência do Jogador: Segurança e Suporte de Qualidade O KK999 entende que uma experiência de jogo de alta qualidade vai além de apenas jogar. A plataforma se destaca pelo seu compromisso com a segurança dos jogadores. Utilizando as mais recentes tecnologias de criptografia, KK999 garante que todas as informações pessoais e financeiras dos jogadores estejam seguras, proporcionando tranquilidade para que os jogadores possam se concentrar apenas no jogo.

Além disso, o suporte ao cliente do KK999 é impecável. A plataforma oferece suporte 24 horas por dia, 7 dias por semana, por meio de chat ao vivo e e-mail. Caso o jogador tenha dúvidas sobre um jogo, questões relacionadas à conta ou precise de assistência técnica, a equipe de atendimento está sempre disponível e pronta para ajudar.

Bônus e Promoções para Todos os Jogadores KK999 também se destaca pelas suas ofertas generosas de bônus e promoções. Para os novos jogadores, a plataforma oferece bônus de boas-vindas, enquanto os jogadores regulares podem aproveitar programas de fidelidade que recompensam a lealdade dos usuários com ofertas exclusivas e prêmios.

Essas promoções tornam a experiência de jogar ainda mais divertida e empolgante, dando aos jogadores mais chances de se divertir e ganhar enquanto jogam seus jogos favoritos.

Conclusão KK999 se estabeleceu como uma plataforma de jogos online de referência no Brasil, oferecendo uma experiência única que combina uma enorme variedade de jogos, uma interface amigável, suporte excepcional e medidas de segurança robustas. Se você está à procura de uma plataforma para se divertir e explorar, KK999 é o lugar perfeito para começar sua jornada de jogos online.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Key Takeaways

In this episode of the TFTC podcast, Dom Bei—a firefighter, union leader, and CalPERS Board of Trustees candidate—makes a powerful case for why the largest pension fund in the U.S. must seriously consider Bitcoin as both an investment opportunity and an educational tool. Highlighting CalPERS’ missed decade in private equity and its troubling 75% funded status, Bei critiques the system’s misaligned incentives and high leadership turnover. He argues that Bitcoin offers more than just potential gains—it forces participants to confront foundational issues like inflation, wealth extraction, and financial literacy. Through his nonprofit Proof of Workforce, Bei has already helped unions adopt Bitcoin in self-custody and believes that small, incremental steps can drive reform. His campaign is about re-engaging the 2 million CalPERS members, challenging political inertia, and avoiding another decade of lost opportunity.

Best Quotes

"Bitcoin’s brand is resilience, and that cannot be undone."

"I don’t need to convince pensions to buy Bitcoin. I just need them to look into it."

"The first pension was funded with confiscated warships. The original incentive structure was theft."

"CalPERS is the second-largest purchaser of medical insurance in the U.S., behind the federal government."

"Only 10% of CalPERS members voted in the last board election. That’s insane."

"Bitcoin’s simplest features remain its most impressive: you hold something that’s yours, and no one can take it."

"We don’t need pensions to go all in. Just get off zero."

"Mainstream media has run an 80% negative campaign on Bitcoin for a decade. That’s not a conspiracy—it’s just math."

Conclusion

Dom Bei’s conversation with Marty Bent frames Bitcoin not as a cure-all, but as a critical tool worth exploring—one that promotes financial literacy, institutional accountability, and personal sovereignty. His call for education, transparency, and incremental reform challenges broken pension governance and urges workers to reclaim control over both their retirements and their understanding of money. In a landscape of growing liabilities and political interference, Bei’s campaign sparks a vital conversation at the intersection of sound money and public service—one that aligns closely with Bitcoin’s foundational ethos.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
0:32 - Opportunity Cost app
3:34 - Dom's background
10:36 - Fold & Bitkey
12:13 - How pensions got to this point
19:29 - Impact of failure
28:10 - Unchained
28:38 - CalPERS politicized
33:49 - How pensions should approach bitcoin
42:49 - How to educate
49:37 - Energy/mining
55:55 - Running for the board
1:08:52 - Roswell NM
1:12:33 - C2A

Transcript

(00:00) pension funds are chasing liabilities and having to basically be these vehicles that play in the big kids sandbox. It's cutthroat and there's no mercy there. I can't imagine a world where the pension goes bust, that's going to send shock waves through so many different sectors of the economy. I mean, you're talking global impact.
(00:17) If you have a CIO that's incentivized for the fund to do well, they're going to find Bitcoin. The numbers don't lie. Bitcoin's brand is resilience, and that cannot be undone. What's up, freaks? Sitting down with Dom Bay, running for the board of trustees of Kalpers. Dom, welcome to the show. Thanks, Marty.
(00:44) And uh uh what else? What is up, freaks? How's everyone doing today? I hope everybody's doing well. Vibes are high here. Uh been vibe coding. The vibes are high because the vibe coding has been up. I vibe coded something last night. Feeling pretty excited. Nice. What were you working on? Is it a top secret or uh No, I think by the time this episode airs, I'll have released it, but it's a simple, very simple product.
(01:07) Uh, a browser extension that allows you to put the price of goods that you may or may not be buying in SATS alongside dollars so that you recognize the opportunity cost of purchasing things. Uh, I like that. That's that's you know I was working once with a hotel that was looking at doing Bitcoin like you know different Bitcoin stuff whether it's like putting on the treasury and one of the things I told him I was like you guys should just do a coffee shop where you just have dollar price and sats price just next to each
(01:38) other. It' be a cool thing you know something that we don't see a lot as Bitcoiners but just to you know we all do it. you get that familiarity where you go like, well, what would this be in SATS? And it's easy to look up big things but not little things. Um, so that's really cool, man. That's a that's a that'll be that'll be good. Yeah.
(01:56) The whole idea is to just have the concept of opportunity costs while you're spending front of mind, while you're shopping on the internet, which I think actually ties in perfectly with what we're here to talk about today with you specifically, is the opportunity costs that exist within pensions um that are deploying capital in ways that they have for many decades and many are missing.
(02:23) uh the Bitcoin boat. Many who haven't spoken to you are missing the Bitcoin boat and you are taking it upon yourself to try to tackle one of the biggest behemoths in the world of pensions and Kalpers to really drive home this opportunity cost at at the pension level. Yeah, for sure. you know, the outgoing chief investment officer of Kalpers, uh, Nicole Muso, uh, described the 10-year era of private equity that KPERS missed as the lost decade.
(02:56) Uh, it was the pinnacle of private equity, and Kalpers really felt like they didn't have enough capital uh, deployed. And you know, in past conversations, I've I've talked about, you know, knowing what we know about Bitcoin and where it's at and where it's going. Are you going to have similar commentary from pensions around the country in 2035 saying, "Hey, we're going to get into Bitcoin now.
(03:21) We we had a lost decade where it was just staring us right in the face and oh, we didn't really need to do much but learn about it and uh we missed the boat. So now, you know, let's let's learn about it. It'll be time will tell. Yeah. Let's jump into how you got to the point where you decided to run for the board of trustees at Kalpers.
(03:46) Let's get into your history uh as a firefighter working with the union and then your advocacy in recent years going out to public pensions, particularly those of emergency responders to to get Bitcoin within their their pension systems. and yeah, why you think Kalpers is the next big step for you? For sure. So, um I got hired as a firefighter uh just around I'm coming up on my 16-year anniversary.
(04:11) Uh I got hired as a firefighter in Santa Monica and early in my career as a firefighter. Uh someone reached out and said, "Hey, you know, you're you're you're kind of a goofball. You like talking to people and and um there's this person on the board who does a lot of our political stuff. he's leaving. You should get with him and kind of learn about what he does and go find out. And so, uh, I went with him.
(04:36) First thing he did was bring me to this breakfast with a city council member and we were talking history in the city and and I just like, you know, I love that kind of stuff and learning about, you know, the backstories behind whatever's going on and all the moving pieces. And so, uh, I ended up getting on our board, um, for the Santa Monica firefighters and pretty pretty young, doing a lot of the political stuff, ended up becoming the vice president and then became the president of the firefighters and what was over a 10-year period of serving as
(05:07) an elected board member for the firefighters. Um, you know, kind of parallel to that and unrelated, I found Bitcoin in 2017 uh randomly working at a conference, which um I forget which conference it was, but I kind of looked back and I think it might have been consensus. I'm not sure. Um, but this was 2017 and I remember my one takeaway from this conference which may or may not have been consensus and it was this.
(05:39) The people I spoke to there were equally or greater as uh convicted as any group or constituency I'd ever met in my entire life. That's including firefighters. Um you know like like any group the conviction was was was unmissable. Uh and you could tell the people I talked to there they would not be uh convinced otherwise.
(06:08) And uh at that time, you know, there wasn't as much of a division between the different coins, you know, like like there was Ethereum people there and there was Bitcoiners there, but there was a definite like someone got a hold of me and was like, "Hey, uh Bitcoin is something that like forget all this other stuff.
(06:25) You need to just learn this." And and I remember taking that away and kind of got passively involved. Wasn't super active in the space. um just kind of like you know learned about it and grabbed a little bit and and you know just kind of did that thing. the board took up a lot of my time. And so, um, another thing that happened while I was on the board was I was appointed to a pension advisory committee for the city of Santa Monica where we had a full presentation from the board uh, and um, they came and presented to us and and different um,
(06:58) not the board, it was like different team members. And so I learned a ton about the pension and and I've always been a I was a history major in college, so I love learning about history. and I started really getting into the history of pensions which is fascinating. We'll save that for another episode for the sake of your viewers.
(07:18) Um but but um started doing that and when I got off the board um you know in addition to this

@ dc0bbb4c:b5479e81

Trong bối cảnh thị trường giải trí trực tuyến ngày càng phát triển mạnh mẽ, 1BWM đã và đang khẳng định vị thế là một trong những nền tảng kỹ thuật số được cộng đồng người dùng tin tưởng và lựa chọn nhiều nhất. Nhờ sở hữu giao diện thiết kế hiện đại, tinh tế và cực kỳ dễ sử dụng, 1BWM giúp người dùng dễ dàng tiếp cận và trải nghiệm mọi tiện ích mà nền tảng này mang lại chỉ với vài thao tác đơn giản. Không chỉ vậy, 1BWM còn ghi điểm bởi khả năng tối ưu hóa trải nghiệm trên đa dạng thiết bị như điện thoại di động, máy tính bảng và máy tính để bàn, giúp người dùng có thể giải trí bất cứ lúc nào, ở bất kỳ đâu một cách thuận tiện và mượt mà. Từ các chuyên mục nội dung hấp dẫn, phong phú cho đến hệ thống tính năng linh hoạt, 1BWM luôn biết cách làm mới mình để phù hợp với xu hướng công nghệ và nhu cầu giải trí ngày càng đa dạng của người dùng hiện đại.

Điểm mạnh nổi bật tiếp theo khiến 1BWM được nhiều người lựa chọn chính là hệ thống bảo mật dữ liệu và quyền riêng tư vô cùng nghiêm ngặt. Nền tảng này ứng dụng công nghệ mã hóa tiên tiến, đảm bảo mọi thông tin cá nhân, tài khoản và dữ liệu giao dịch của người dùng luôn được bảo vệ an toàn tuyệt đối. Bên cạnh đó, 1BWM còn sở hữu đội ngũ chăm sóc khách hàng chuyên nghiệp, tận tâm và giàu kinh nghiệm, luôn sẵn sàng hỗ trợ giải đáp mọi thắc mắc cũng như xử lý các tình huống phát sinh một cách nhanh chóng, hiệu quả nhất. Người dùng có thể yên tâm khi trải nghiệm các dịch vụ tại đây mà không phải lo lắng về bất cứ rủi ro nào liên quan đến bảo mật thông tin. Ngoài ra, nền tảng này còn thường xuyên triển khai các chương trình ưu đãi hấp dẫn, quà tặng đặc biệt dành cho người dùng mới lẫn hội viên lâu năm, tạo thêm nhiều giá trị và động lực cho cộng đồng người tham gia.

Không dừng lại ở đó, 1BWM luôn nỗ lực không ngừng trong việc nâng cao chất lượng dịch vụ và mở rộng thêm nhiều tiện ích giải trí mới, nhằm mang đến cho người dùng những trải nghiệm trọn vẹn và thú vị nhất. Nền tảng này liên tục cập nhật các chuyên mục nội dung mới mẻ, phong phú và bắt kịp xu hướng giải trí hiện đại, giúp người dùng luôn có thêm nhiều lựa chọn phù hợp với sở thích cá nhân. Đồng thời, 1BWM cũng chú trọng vào việc cải tiến công nghệ, tối ưu tốc độ kết nối và giao diện sử dụng để nâng cao trải nghiệm mỗi lần truy cập. Với định hướng phát triển rõ ràng cùng sự đầu tư bài bản, 1BWM không chỉ là một nền tảng giải trí đơn thuần mà còn là cộng đồng trực tuyến năng động, nơi người dùng có thể kết nối, tương tác và chia sẻ những khoảnh khắc giải trí vui vẻ, ý nghĩa cùng nhau. Nhờ những ưu điểm vượt trội này, 1BWM ngày càng khẳng định được vị thế và trở thành sự lựa chọn hàng đầu của người dùng Việt khi tìm kiếm một không gian giải trí số chất lượng, an toàn và uy tín.

@ 87f5e1d9:e251d8f4

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# Why Trust Crypt Recver? 🤝

🛠️ Expert Recovery Solutions\ At Crypt Recver, we specialize in addressing complex wallet-related issues. Our skilled engineers have the tools and expertise to handle:

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• Extracting funds from outdated or invalid wallet addresses
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🚀 Fast and Efficient Recovery\ We understand that time is crucial in crypto recovery. Our optimized systems enable you to regain access to your funds quickly, focusing on speed without compromising security. With a success rate of over 90%, you can rely on us to act swiftly on your behalf.

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💻 Advanced Technology\ Our proprietary tools and brute-force optimization techniques maximize recovery efficiency. Regardless of how challenging your case may be, our technology is designed to give you the best chance at retrieving your crypto.

Our Recovery Services Include: 📈

• Bitcoin Recovery: Lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? We help recover lost wallets, private keys, and passphrases.
• Transaction Recovery: Mistakes happen — whether it’s an incorrect wallet address or a lost password, let us manage the recovery.
• Cold Wallet Restoration: If your cold wallet is failing, we can safely extract your assets and migrate them into a secure new wallet.
• Private Key Generation: Lost your private key? Our experts can help you regain control using advanced methods while ensuring your privacy.

⚠️ What We Don’t Do\ While we can handle many scenarios, some limitations exist. For instance, we cannot recover funds stored in custodial wallets or cases where there is a complete loss of four or more seed words without partial information available. We are transparent about what’s possible, so you know what to expect

# Don’t Let Lost Crypto Hold You Back!

Did you know that between 3 to 3.4 million BTC — nearly 20% of the total supply — are estimated to be permanently lost? Don’t become part of that statistic! Whether it’s due to a forgotten password, sending funds to the wrong address, or damaged drives, we can help you navigate these challenges

🛡️ Real-Time Dust Attack Protection\ Our services extend beyond recovery. We offer dust attack protection, keeping your activity anonymous and your funds secure, shielding your identity from unwanted tracking, ransomware, and phishing attempts.

🎉 Start Your Recovery Journey Today!\ Ready to reclaim your lost crypto? Don’t wait until it’s too late!\ 👉 cryptrecver.com

📞 Need Immediate Assistance? Connect with Us!\ For real-time support or questions, reach out to our dedicated team on:\ ✉️ Telegram: t.me/crypptrcver\ 💬 WhatsApp: +1(941)317–1821

Crypt Recver is your trusted partner in cryptocurrency recovery. Let us turn your challenges into victories. Don’t hesitate — your crypto future starts now! 🚀✨

Act fast and secure your digital assets with cryptrecver.com.

@ f6488c62:c929299d

เรื่องจริงที่ต้องเตือน: เมื่อ "ความรวยจากคริปโต" กลายเป็นดาบสองคมที่อันตรายถึงชีวิต! 🔪💰

ในขณะที่หลายคนยินดีกับกำไรจาก Bitcoin และคริปโตอื่นๆ มีเรื่องราวอีกด้านที่น่าสะเทือนใจเกิดขึ้นทั่วโลก โดยเฉพาะเหตุการณ์ "ลักพาตัวเพื่อเรียกค่าไถ่เป็นคริปโต" ที่ทวีความรุนแรงขึ้น

ข้อมูลและข่าวจากหลายแหล่งยืนยันว่า ผู้ใช้งานคริปโตกำลังตกเป็นเป้าหมายของอาชญากร โดยใช้วิธีการที่โหดเหี้ยม เช่น การทำร้ายร่างกาย หรือแม้กระทั่งการ "ตัดนิ้ว" เพื่อบีบบังคับให้เหยื่อโอนคริปโตใน Cold Wallet ที่เก็บไว้! เคสล่าสุดที่เกิดขึ้นในฝรั่งเศสและสหรัฐฯ ในช่วงปี 2025 เป็นเครื่องย้ำเตือนชั้นดี

ทำไมพวกเขาถึงเลือก "คุณ" ที่เป็นนักลงทุนคริปโต? ปัจจัยสำคัญคือ: มูลค่าสินทรัพย์ที่คุณถือสูงมาก, การเก็บ Private Key ของ Cold Wallet คือจุดอ่อนที่คนร้ายใช้ความรุนแรงบังคับเอาได้ง่าย, และที่น่าตกใจคือ การ "โพสต์โชว์ความรวย" หรือพูดถึงคริปโตมากเกินไปบนโซเชียลมีเดีย กำลังเป็นการชี้เป้าให้ตัวเอง!

ข้อคิดและแนวทางป้องกันตัวที่สำคัญสุดๆ:

จงเป็น "Ghost" ในโลกคริปโต: อย่าให้ใครรู้ว่าคุณถืออะไร เท่าไหร่ หรือรวยแค่ไหน การปิดทองหลังพระในโลกคริปโตอาจช่วยรักษาชีวิตคุณได้ ยกระดับความปลอดภัย "ชีวิตจริง": คิดถึงกล้องวงจรปิด, ระบบรักษาความปลอดภัยที่บ้าน, การจ้างบอดี้การ์ด (ถ้าจำเป็นจริงๆ), และระวังการเดินทางคนเดียว บริหารจัดการ "กุญแจ" ของคุณให้ดีที่สุด: Cold Wallet สำคัญมาก แต่การเก็บ Private Key ให้ปลอดภัยจากสายตาคนอื่น และการกระจายความเสี่ยงโดยแบ่งทรัพย์สินไปหลาย Wallet ก็สำคัญไม่แพ้กัน ความรุนแรงในวงการคริปโตเป็นบทเรียนราคาแพงที่บอกว่า ความมั่งคั่งที่มองไม่เห็นในโลกดิจิทัลนั้น มีราคาค่างวดที่ต้องจ่ายในโลกจริงหากประมาท การลงทุนอย่างรอบคอบ ไม่ใช่แค่การดูกราฟ แต่คือการประเมินและจัดการความเสี่ยงใน "ชีวิต" ของคุณด้วย!

แชร์โพสนี้เพื่อเตือนเพื่อนๆ นักลงทุนทุกคน ให้ปลอดภัยทั้งทรัพย์สินและชีวิตครับ/ค่ะ!

Crypto #Bitcoin #Ethereum #ColdWallet #PrivateKey #Security #Crime #DigitalAssets #Investor #SafetyFirst #เตือนภัย #ลงทุนอย่างปลอดภัย

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

U.S. Leads the World in Bitcoin Ownership, New Report Shows

A new report from River reveals that the United States dominates Bitcoin ownership globally, holding about 40% of all available Bitcoin. With 14.3% of its population owning Bitcoin, the U.S. outpaces Europe, Oceania, and Asia combined.

The United States is the global Bitcoin superpower.

Our new report breaks down how this advantage can fuel the next era of American prosperity. pic.twitter.com/v5BNgTGsKA

— River (@River) May 20, 2025

Corporate America also leads in Bitcoin holdings. Thirty-two U.S. public companies, with a combined market cap of $1.26 trillion, hold Bitcoin as a treasury asset. These firms account for 94.8% of all Bitcoin owned by publicly traded companies worldwide. Major holders include Strategy with 569,000 BTC, U.S. mining companies with 96,000 BTC, and others with 68,000 BTC, totaling 733,000 BTC in the U.S., compared to 40,000 BTC held elsewhere.

Since China’s ban on Bitcoin mining in 2021, the United States has become the global leader in Bitcoin mining, responsible for 38% of all new Bitcoin mined since then. The U.S. attracts miners thanks to its stable regulatory environment, access to deep and liquid capital markets, and abundant energy resources. These advantages have helped the U.S. increase its share of the global Bitcoin mining hashrate by over 500% since 2020, solidifying its position as the center of the industry.

Bitcoin is also emerging as America’s preferred reserve asset, overtaking gold. Over 49.6 million Americans are in favor of holding Bitcoin, compared to 36.7 million who still prefer gold.

The US government’s bitcoin advantage is greater than that of gold, where the US accounts for just 29.9% of the world’s central bank gold reserves. 

“Because there is a fixed supply of BTC, there is a strategic advantage to being among the first nations to create a strategic bitcoin reserve,” said the White House on March 7, 2025.

Politically, support for Bitcoin is gaining significant momentum across the U.S. government. As of now, 59% of U.S. Senators and 66% of House Representatives openly support pro-Bitcoin policies, signaling a notable shift in political attitudes and greater acceptance of digital assets as key components of America’s economic future.

The study highlights that Bitcoin ownership is highest among American males aged 31-35 and 41-45, with ownership rates ranging from 3% to 41% within these age groups. Politically, those identifying as “very liberal” or “neutral” are more likely to own Bitcoin than conservatives, though conservatives still make up a significant portion of holders.

This post U.S. Leads the World in Bitcoin Ownership, New Report Shows first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 6fc114c7:8f4b1405

In the realm of cryptocurrency, the stakes are incredibly high, and losing access to your digital assets can be a daunting experience. But don’t worry — cryptrecver.com is here to transform that nightmare into a reality! With expert-led recovery services and leading-edge technology, Crypt Recver specializes in helping you regain access to your lost Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Why Choose Crypt Recver? 🤔 🔑 Expertise You Can Trust At Crypt Recver, we blend advanced technology with skilled engineers who have a solid track record in crypto recovery. Whether you’ve forgotten your passwords, lost your private keys, or encountered issues with damaged hardware wallets, our team is ready to assist.

⚡ Fast Recovery Process Time is crucial when recovering lost funds. Crypt Recver’s systems are designed for speed, enabling quick recoveries — allowing you to return to what matters most: trading and investing.

🎯 High Success Rate With a success rate exceeding 90%, our recovery team has aided numerous clients in regaining access to their lost assets. We grasp the complexities of cryptocurrency and are committed to providing effective solutions.

🛡️ Confidential & Secure Your privacy is paramount. All recovery sessions at Crypt Recver are encrypted and completely confidential. You can trust us with your information, knowing we uphold the highest security standards.

🔧 Advanced Recovery Tools We employ proprietary tools and techniques to tackle complex recovery scenarios, from retrieving corrupted wallets to restoring coins from invalid addresses. No matter the challenge, we have a solution.

Our Recovery Services Include: 📈 Bitcoin Recovery: Lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? We can assist in recovering lost wallets, private keys, and passphrases. Transaction Recovery: Mistaken transfers, lost passwords, or missing transaction records — let us help you reclaim your funds! Cold Wallet Restoration: Did your cold wallet fail? We specialize in safely extracting assets. Private Key Generation: Forgotten your private key? We can help you generate new keys linked to your funds without compromising security. Don’t Let Lost Crypto Ruin Your Day! 🕒 With an estimated 3 to 3.4 million BTC lost forever, it’s essential to act quickly when facing access issues. Whether you’ve been affected by a dust attack or simply forgotten your key, Crypt Recver provides the support you need to reclaim your digital assets.

🚀 Start Your Recovery Now! Ready to retrieve your cryptocurrency? Don’t let uncertainty hold you back! 👉 Request Wallet Recovery Help Today!cryptrecver.com

Need Immediate Assistance? 📞 For quick queries or support, connect with us on: ✉️ Telegram: t.me/crypptrcver 💬 WhatsApp: +1(941)317–1821

Trust Crypt Recver for the best crypto recovery service — get back to trading with confidence! 💪

In the realm of cryptocurrency, the stakes are incredibly high, and losing access to your digital assets can be a daunting experience. But don’t worry — cryptrecver.com is here to transform that nightmare into a reality! With expert-led recovery services and leading-edge technology, Crypt Recver specializes in helping you regain access to your lost Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

# Why Choose Crypt Recver? 🤔

🔑 Expertise You Can Trust\ At Crypt Recver, we blend advanced technology with skilled engineers who have a solid track record in crypto recovery. Whether you’ve forgotten your passwords, lost your private keys, or encountered issues with damaged hardware wallets, our team is ready to assist.

⚡ Fast Recovery Process\ Time is crucial when recovering lost funds. Crypt Recver’s systems are designed for speed, enabling quick recoveries — allowing you to return to what matters most: trading and investing.

🎯 High Success Rate\ With a success rate exceeding 90%, our recovery team has aided numerous clients in regaining access to their lost assets. We grasp the complexities of cryptocurrency and are committed to providing effective solutions.

🛡️ Confidential & Secure\ Your privacy is paramount. All recovery sessions at Crypt Recver are encrypted and completely confidential. You can trust us with your information, knowing we uphold the highest security standards.

🔧 Advanced Recovery Tools\ We employ proprietary tools and techniques to tackle complex recovery scenarios, from retrieving corrupted wallets to restoring coins from invalid addresses. No matter the challenge, we have a solution.

# Our Recovery Services Include: 📈

• Bitcoin Recovery: Lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? We can assist in recovering lost wallets, private keys, and passphrases.
• Transaction Recovery: Mistaken transfers, lost passwords, or missing transaction records — let us help you reclaim your funds!
• Cold Wallet Restoration: Did your cold wallet fail? We specialize in safely extracting assets.
• Private Key Generation: Forgotten your private key? We can help you generate new keys linked to your funds without compromising security.

Don’t Let Lost Crypto Ruin Your Day! 🕒

With an estimated 3 to 3.4 million BTC lost forever, it’s essential to act quickly when facing access issues. Whether you’ve been affected by a dust attack or simply forgotten your key, Crypt Recver provides the support you need to reclaim your digital assets.

🚀 Start Your Recovery Now!\ Ready to retrieve your cryptocurrency? Don’t let uncertainty hold you back!\ 👉 Request Wallet Recovery Help Today!cryptrecver.com

Need Immediate Assistance? 📞

For quick queries or support, connect with us on:\ ✉️ Telegram: t.me/crypptrcver\ 💬 WhatsApp: +1(941)317–1821

Trust Crypt Recver for the best crypto recovery service — get back to trading with confidence! 💪

@ 33baa074:3bb3a297

Distilled water and purified water are different in some aspects. Which one is better depends on personal needs and preferences. The following is a comparative analysis of the two from multiple dimensions:

Water source and process flow Distilled water: The water source usually comes from natural water bodies such as rivers, lakes and seas. It is treated by distillation, that is, water is heated to boiling and water vapor is condensed into liquid water. This process can remove impurities, harmful substances and most minerals in the water.

Purified water: The water source is mainly tap water. Through a series of complex processes such as filtration, adsorption, reverse osmosis, and electrolysis, harmful substances, bacteria, viruses and some minerals in the water are removed to achieve high purity. The process flow is relatively complex and some trace elements that are beneficial to the human body are retained.

Ingredients and nutrition Distilled water: Highly pure, almost no minerals and trace elements. Long-term drinking may cause the human body to lack necessary minerals and trace elements, thus affecting health.

Purified water: After treatment, some trace elements that are beneficial to the human body are retained. While maintaining a high degree of purity, it has certain nutritional value and is more suitable as daily drinking water to meet the basic needs of the human body for water and minerals.

Uses Distilled water: Due to its high purity and impurity-free characteristics, it is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry (such as preparing and diluting various drug solutions, saline, and cleaning wounds, etc.), chemical experiments (dissolving and diluting chemical reagents, preparing chemical solutions, etc.), and industrial production.

Purified water: More used in daily drinking, cooking, and brewing tea and coffee. It has a fresh taste and no odor, which can better preserve the original flavor of food and drinks. It can also be used to prepare infant milk powder and formula milk powder, etc., which is safer and more reliable because it does not contain harmful substances.

Potential risks Distilled water: Due to the lack of minerals and trace elements, it may cause nutritional imbalance in the human body.

Purified water: Although some trace elements are retained, it may also bring potential health risks due to chemical residues in the processing process.

In summary, if you are worried about the loss of minerals, it may be more appropriate to choose purified water; if you think that excessive mineral intake is not good for health, then distilled water may be a better choice. But no matter which one you choose, it is not recommended to drink a large amount of water for a long time. It can be combined with other mineral-rich drinks or foods to maintain the body's nutritional balance.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

The Blockchain Group Secures €8.6 Million to Boost Bitcoin Strategy

The Blockchain Group (ALTBG), listed on Euronext Growth Paris and known as Europe’s first Bitcoin Treasury Company, has announced a capital increase of approximately €8.6 million as it pushes forward with its Bitcoin Treasury Company strategy. The funding was raised through two operations, a Reserved Capital Increase and a Private Placement, with both priced at €1.279 per share.

JUST IN: French company The Blockchain Group raises €8.6 million to buy more #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/VjTKyFSS6w

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 20, 2025

This price represents a 20.18% premium over the 20-day volume-weighted average share price but a 46.26% discount compared to the closing price on May 19, 2025, reflecting recent high share price volatility.

“The Company’s Board of Directors decided on May 19, 2025, using the delegated authority granted by the shareholders’ meeting held on February 21, 2025, under the terms of its 5th resolution, on an issuance, without pre-emptive rights for shareholders, of 3,368,258 new ordinary shares of the Company at a price of €1.2790 per share, including an issuance premium, representing a premium of approximately 20.18% compared to the weighted average of the twenty closing prices of ALTBG shares on Euronext Growth Paris preceding the decision of the Company’s Board of Directors, corresponding to a total subscription amount of €4,308,001.98,” said the press release. 

In the Reserved Capital Increase, 3.37 million shares were issued to selected investors, including Robbie van den Oetelaar, TOBAM Bitcoin Treasury Opportunities Fund, and Quadrille Capital, raising over €4.3 million. The Private Placement raised another €4.35 million via the issuance of 3.4 million shares, targeting qualified investors.

“The Board of Directors also decided on a capital increase without pre-emptive rights for shareholders through an offering exclusively targeting a limited circle of investors acting on their own behalf or qualified investor, ” stated the press release.

The funds will support The Blockchain Group’s ongoing strategy of accumulating Bitcoin and expanding its subsidiaries in data intelligence, AI, and decentralized tech. Following this capital increase, the company’s share capital stands at €4.37 million, divided into over 109 million shares.

“The funds raised through the Capital Increase will enable the Company to strengthen its Bitcoin Treasury Company strategy, consisting in the accumulation of Bitcoin, while continuing to develop the operational activities of its subsidiaries,” said the press release.

Additionally, on May 12, The Blockchain Group announced it secured approximately €12.1 million through a convertible bond issuance reserved for Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream.

This post The Blockchain Group Secures €8.6 Million to Boost Bitcoin Strategy first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.