Proposed EU rules would be equivalent to tracking all cash transactions As inflation and economic disruption increase around the world, ostensibly stable governments look to increase controls on cryptocurrency. In particular, states loathe what they call "unhosted wallets," meaning cryptocurrency that is totally owned and maintained by an individual, as [...]
Cryptocurrencies are not the threat to U.S. financial power the elites want to present. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, that crusader against big banks, is no fan of bitcoin. Whether because of the environment, the economy, or most recently: international sanctions against Russia, the self-styled protector of the little guy does not [...]
The president's anticipated executive order stopped short of feared regulations but suggests federal unease with uncontrolled development. One of the surest fire ways for a government to look like it's doing something is to commission a report. President Joe Biden's hotly anticipated executive order on cryptocurrency released last week was chock full [...]
The government controls on the traditional banking system also apply to custodial cryptocurrency services. Things are getting pretty wild up in Canada. While other countries are removing their COVID restrictions, our neighbors to the north have decided to invoke emergency powers to seize the bank accounts of those who oppose lockdowns and mandates. [...]
The Olympics are here again! So soon? It's not your imagination: the 2020 games in Japan wrapped up in 2021 due to COVID postponement. And speaking of COVID, the 2022 games are in China. The Chinese Communist Party is certainly hoping to spiff up their image after these bruising past [...]
A House Energy Subcommittee Hearing entertains dangerous and disingenuous rhetoric against technologies for freedom. If you are a government that wants to stop bitcoin, what can you do? Can you make people think it is killing the planet? Authoritarian governments try. The Chinese Communist Party—ever the tree-huggers—clamped down on cryptocurrency last [...]
The U.S. dominated the mining marketplace in 2021. It's something of a running joke that China bans bitcoin every year. It's not hard to see why the famously centralized Chinese state might look askance at a fundamentally decentralized and uncontrollable tool for monetary sovereignty, especially at a time when the CCP is [...]
Politicians attack dollar-backed cryptocurrencies called “stablecoins” and the decentralized finance it enables. The United States federal government is pretty insecure these days. Inflation is high, discontent higher, and no one is quite sure how to sort out our monetary mess. Government agents will not examine their bad choices and change course. They will [...]
WhatsApp and iMessage are not as private as you might think. Most message apps tout their privacy features in some way. It is common to hear marketing language about "end-to-end encryption" and "private messaging" for basically every communications app out there. While it's great that encryption has become a selling [...]
Meet the new hype cycle about new tools for online decentralization. Technological improvements have tended to follow a predictable pattern of initial excitement, subsequent disappointment, and eventual resurgence called a hype cycle. First, a new technology is dreamed or introduced, and suddenly everyone can't stop talking about how it is going [...]
