{"id":13431,"date":"2019-05-25T22:24:50","date_gmt":"2019-05-25T22:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=13431"},"modified":"2019-05-26T10:40:07","modified_gmt":"2019-05-26T10:40:07","slug":"news-bitfinex-tether-v-new-york-cryptopia-hack-coins-moving-hitbtc-may-be-insolvent-craig-wright-copyright-registration-sec-v-icos-money-laundering-is-still-illegal-with-bitcoins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/25\/news-bitfinex-tether-v-new-york-cryptopia-hack-coins-moving-hitbtc-may-be-insolvent-craig-wright-copyright-registration-sec-v-icos-money-laundering-is-still-illegal-with-bitcoins\/","title":{"rendered":"News: Bitfinex\/Tether v. New York, Cryptopia hack coins moving, HitBTC may be insolvent, Craig Wright copyright registration, SEC v. ICOs, money laundering is still illegal with Bitcoins"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Don\u2019t forget \u2014 this news blog runs on your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/davidgerard\/overview\">helpful subscriptions.<\/a> If you\u2019d happily buy me a drink about once a month for my work here \u2014 that\u2019s about $5 right there. Tell your friends and colleagues, and remember to <a href=\"#byemail\">sign up for new posts via email!<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/25\/news-bitfinex-tether-v-new-york-cryptopia-hack-coins-moving-hitbtc-may-be-insolvent-craig-wright-copyright-registration-sec-v-icos-money-laundering-is-still-illegal-with-bitcoins\/suburban-high-life-with-cats\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-13485\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-13485\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/suburban-high-life-with-cats.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/suburban-high-life-with-cats.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/suburban-high-life-with-cats-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/suburban-high-life-with-cats-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><small>Suburban high life, with cats.<\/small><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve just hit <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CasPiancey\/status\/1131923355722891269\">three billion tethers.<\/a> <em>Every single one<\/em> of which is backed by &#8230; something. Or 74% of something.<\/p>\n<p>The Block obtained a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblockcrypto.com\/2019\/05\/21\/tether-admits-in-court-to-investing-some-of-its-reserves-in-bitcoin\/\">Bitfinex court transcript from 16 May,<\/a> and it seems Tether has been backing tethers with Bitcoins. And they&#8217;ll only redeem tethers if you bought them directly from Tether, and you&#8217;re not a US citizen. And if Tether have the cash on hand, which they might not. And if they feel like it. <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2019\/05\/23\/turns-out-you-can-make-money-on-horse-manure-and-tether-is-worth-just-that\/\">Amy Castor<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bennettftomlin.com\/2019\/05\/21\/key-excerpts-and-commentary-from-nyag-tether-court-transcript\/\">Bennett Tomlin<\/a> have analyses.<\/p>\n<p>(Each stable coin is a token <em>representing<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/paoloardoino\/status\/1131213750290341889\">the horse<\/a> that produced it. <a href=\"https:\/\/fishmech.tumblr.com\/post\/127359129398\/horses\">Poor ol&#8217; iFinex,<\/a> thought of the NY Attorney General and died.)<\/p>\n<p>Pure coincidence, but that <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/18\/number-go-down-the-single-trade-that-crashed-bitcoin\/\">5,000 BTC dump on Bitstamp last week<\/a> just happened to be only a few hours after the Bitfinex hearing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Bitcoin\u2019s market cap is $130 billion but a $200 million sell order makes it crash by 10%.<br \/>I guess that should be a clue as to how many of you suckers will be able to actually cash out.<br \/>Enjoy you paper profits!<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Trolly McTrollface (@Tr0llyTr0llFace) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Tr0llyTr0llFace\/status\/1129739997282799619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 18, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Larry Cermak points out what should have been obvious about Tether&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/paoloardoino\/status\/1128372933750132736\">daily trading volume<\/a> being twice the total supply \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lawmaster\/status\/1131835989759090689\">the volume numbers are almost certainly fake.<\/a> &#8220;Based on my estimation, only about 5% of the total Tether volume is coming from exchanges that don&#8217;t fake the majority of the volume. And if I were to make an educated guess, at any given time, only a maximum of 15% of the total Tether volume is real.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">it&#39;s funny to imagine that Tether is being honest about having $0.74 cents for every Tether when they&#39;ve lied about every single other thing they&#39;ve ever proclaimed. But you do you, boo.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CasPiancey (@CasPiancey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CasPiancey\/status\/1129555501790842880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 18, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I mentioned <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/16\/news-mcafee-in-us-custody-ny-ag-v-bitfinex-tether-cryptopia-shuts-quadriga-money-still-gone-tapscott-busted\/\">last week<\/a> how all the QuadrigaCX money is basically just gone \u2014 Amy Castor&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2019\/05\/21\/quadrigacx-trustees-preliminary-report-yup-looks-like-your-moneys-all-gone\/\">written up<\/a> the EY bankruptcy trustee&#8217;s report. EY finally managed to cash those 1,000 bank drafts that were literally <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JackJulian\/status\/1092807578025902082\">sitting on a stove for two years<\/a> \u2014 so one trader watched his money vanish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/QuadrigaCX\/comments\/bqno1q\/got_wrecked\/\">two years later.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>New Zealand&#8217;s Cryptopia exchange went bust last week, and have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2019-05-24\/new-zealand-crypto-firm-hacked-to-death-seeks-u-s-bankruptcy\">filed in the US for bankruptcy protection.<\/a> The initial liquidator&#8217;s report should be out by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Cryptopia_NZ\/status\/1131387671161425922\">4 June.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Coins from the January hack of Cryptopia are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unblock.news\/popular\/coinfirm-hacker-moved-the-stolen-crypto-from-cryptopia-to-unknown-wallets\">moving already.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cryptopia&#8217;s founder, Adam Clark \u2014 who left several months before the hack \u2014 is starting a new exchange \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/decryptmedia.com\/7132\/cryptopia-hack-liquidation-new-exchange\">Assetylene.<\/a> Yeah, that&#8217;s really what it&#8217;s called. Your number one buttcoin exchange.<\/p>\n<p>James Edwards (CryptoMedication) is <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/proofofresearch\/status\/1129650849423286272\">pretty sure<\/a> that the HitBTC exchange is insolvent. Users are also reporting problems withdrawing cryptos \u2014 and delays in crypto withdrawals can&#8217;t be blamed on the banking system.<\/p>\n<p>Bitcoin is a digital bearer asset that it&#8217;s really easy to mess up with \u2014 bitcoin custody turns out to be a super-hard problem. So <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblockcrypto.com\/2019\/05\/16\/coinbase-in-advanced-talks-to-acquire-xapo-sources\/\">Coinbase are looking to buy Xapo,<\/a> who&#8217;ve been doing this for a while.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I made a cryptocurrency news tracker <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JjR58sCQBA\">pic.twitter.com\/JjR58sCQBA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Neeraj K. Agrawal (@NeerajKA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NeerajKA\/status\/892805945201479680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 2, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Craig S. Wright <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/21\/craig-wright-registers-us-copyright-in-bitcoin-0-1-and-the-bitcoin-white-paper-what-this-means\/\">registered copyright<\/a> in Bitcoin 0.1 and the white paper \u2014 and it&#8217;s been greeted <a href=\"https:\/\/ftalphaville.ft.com\/2019\/05\/22\/1558547272000\/Craig-Wright-has-in-no-way-been-officially--recognised--as-Satoshi-Nakamoto\/\">mostly with derision.<\/a> The nChain team is still talking it up \u2014 Jimmy Nguyen bragged to the Financial Times that &#8220;The U.S. Copyright examiner responded far more quickly to the copyright applications than is normal.&#8221; The US Copyright Office has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/press-media-info\/press-updates.html\">replied<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190524181740\/https:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/press-media-info\/press-updates.html\">archive<\/a>) \u2014 explaining that they responded quickly because Craig Wright paid them $800 for an expedited response. And noting in passing that &#8220;Someone who intentionally includes false information in an application may be subject to criminal penalties.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That Copyright Office press page is <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/*\/https:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/press-media-info\/press-updates.html\">new,<\/a> by the way \u2014 it was created on 22 May. How much do you need to annoy a government agency that it literally starts a fresh new press updates web page just to refute your claims?<\/p>\n<p>The Block did a good <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblockcrypto.com\/2019\/05\/21\/a-conversation-with-stephen-palley\/\">podcast with Stephen Palley<\/a> that you should give a listen to \u2014 includes interesting stuff on the Kleiman v. Craig Wright litigation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Craig Wright has filed copyrights for several other written works. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TjbfElOW6C\">pic.twitter.com\/TjbfElOW6C<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Cryptofungus (@crypt0fungus) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/crypt0fungus\/status\/1130836045212344321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 21, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) writes up the one consistent use case for cryptos \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fca.org.uk\/news\/press-releases\/over-27-million-reported-lost-crypto-and-forex-investment-scams\">Over \u00a327 million reported lost to crypto and forex investment scams.<\/a> They suggest you read their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fca.org.uk\/scamsmart\">ScamSmart site.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The SEC is really rolling on busting bad ICOs. They got an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/news\/press-release\/2019-72\">emergency injunction<\/a> against Jose Angel Aman&#8217;s &#8220;Argyle Coin&#8221; ICO from October 2017, which ended up being run as a ponzi scheme. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/litigation\/complaints\/2019\/comp-pr2019-72.pdf\">SEC complaint.<\/a>) And one against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/news\/press-release\/2019-74\">Daniel Pacheco of iPro,<\/a> a fraud so weird that Matt Levine <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/opinion\/articles\/2019-05-24\/the-wild-frauds-are-the-good-ones\">led with it<\/a> in yesterday&#8217;s Money Stuff.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/rules\/sro\/cboebzx\/2019\/34-85896.pdf\">denies yet another Bitcoin ETF<\/a> \u2014 as if you expected anything else. This one is the Van Eck proposal.<\/p>\n<p>Also the SEC \u2014 &#8220;Are you in Fintech and want to speak to us about an issue? It\u2019s &#8216;Come as You Are&#8217; to the SEC\u2019s Philadelphia office June 3 for a conversation with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/finhub\">FINHUB.<\/a>&#8221; Always talk to your regulator <em>before<\/em> you start a fabulous new thing.<\/p>\n<p>The IRS will be publishing new advice on how to treat cryptos for tax purposes, <a href=\"https:\/\/emmer.house.gov\/sites\/emmer.house.gov\/files\/5.16.2019%20emmer%202019-11771.pdf\">&#8220;soon.&#8221;<\/a> This will update their 2014 advice.<\/p>\n<p>Dutch authorities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bleepingcomputer.com\/news\/security\/bestmixerio-service-shut-down-for-laundering-200-million-\/\">shut down a Bitcoin &#8220;mixer&#8221;<\/a> for money laundering \u2014 since obscuring transaction trails is literally what <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cryptocurrency_tumbler\">&#8220;mixers&#8221; and &#8220;tumblers&#8221;<\/a> were designed to do. Bitcoiner Sjors Provoost is <em>outraged<\/em> that the law could enact the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190525192135\/https:\/twitter.com\/provoost\/status\/1131301861565304839\">&#8220;worrying precedent&#8221;<\/a> of treating laundering of money as money laundering.<\/p>\n<p>Provoost also literally says <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190525192717\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/provoost\/status\/1131307655035785216\">&#8220;Banning mixers is akin to banning cryptography&#8221;,<\/a> which is like saying that banning crystal healing is akin to banning transistors. And &#8220;This action puts lives at risk&#8221; \u2014 though the obvious answer is: if you&#8217;re going to do dangerously criminal things, have you considered <i>not<\/i> using a permanent immutable public ledger for the purpose?<\/p>\n<p>(This is all the application of existing laws, of the sort that were in place since before Bitcoin. If you transmit <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/09\/fincens-guidance-on-crypto-business-models-are-you-a-money-transmitter\/\">value that substitutes for currency,<\/a> the laws about it are well-established. I concur that FinCEN can get well over-the-top at times \u2014 and living one&#8217;s life under the loving eye of Sauron can become tiresome, even as I&#8217;m a pretty law-abiding sort in practice \u2014 but none of this is new, and carrying on like it is is nonsensical.)<\/p>\n<p>One bitcoiner tries some do-it-yourself money laundering with a mixer \u2014 and ends up with a <a href=\"https:\/\/np.reddit.com\/r\/Bitcoin\/comments\/bpwtw1\/psa_always_double_check_your_urls_just_got\/\">squeaky-clean wallet.<\/a> Trustless, indeed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I can\u2019t stop thinking about this money laundering stock image <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PTBZS3eu6L\">pic.twitter.com\/PTBZS3eu6L<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Neeraj K. Agrawal (@NeerajKA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NeerajKA\/status\/839167601037168640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 7, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Looks like John McAfee <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/officialmcafee\/status\/1130487789617852418\">didn&#8217;t get busted<\/a> after all. I&#8217;m sure everyone will be relieved.<\/p>\n<p>The Brave web browser will now let you earn BAT tokens for looking at advertisements! &#8230; Oh, you wanted to <em>withdraw<\/em> your BATs? LOL, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/view-ads-get-bat-brave-delivers-on-ico-promise-of-paid-web-browsing\">sucks to be you.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you hire a company to clear up a ransomware infection, they&#8217;ll almost always <a href=\"https:\/\/features.propublica.org\/ransomware\/ransomware-attack-data-recovery-firms-paying-hackers\/\">just pay the hackers<\/a> \u2014 and then charge the customer extra on top.<\/p>\n<p>Telegram&#8217;s TON blockchain network is apparently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblockcrypto.com\/tiny\/sources-telegram-investor-note-reveals-ton-to-launch-in-q3\/\">launching in Q3 this year,<\/a> according to an investor note. That is, they will have <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/04\/18\/telegram-ton-ico-network-in-beta-the-gram-sales-agreement-new-partner-wirecard\/\">something \u2014 anything \u2014 before October 2019,<\/a> so that they don&#8217;t have to return the investors&#8217; $1.8 billion (in actual US dollars, not cryptos). They also plan to list <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/12\/29\/the-telegram-icos-ton-blockchain-has-questionable-security-and-will-probably-centralise\/\">GRAM tokens<\/a> on the Binance, Huobi and OKEx crypto exchanges.<\/p>\n<p>Ben Munster does a curry profile on <a href=\"https:\/\/decryptmedia.com\/7091\/curry-with-the-blocks-mike-dudas\">Mike Dudas of The Block.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Alex Sobel MP \u2014 who I <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/10\/25\/news-crypto-media-pay-to-play-bitmain-ipo-troubles-sia-centralises-proof-of-work-initiative-q-stretches-the-truth\/\">met concerning cryptos<\/a> in October last year \u2014 has an article, &#8220;The Bitcoin Scam,&#8221; in the <a href=\"https:\/\/tribunemag.co.uk\/issue\/spring-2019\">Spring 2019<\/a> issue of Tribune. (I helped with fact-checking.)<\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Pinnock&#8217;s new &#8220;mathematical mystery&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jonathanpinnock.com\/category\/a-question-of-trust\/\"><em>A Question of Trust<\/em><\/a> is out now! (<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2VOKhF1\">UK<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Wg470f\">US<\/a>.) I helped fact-check the cryptocurrency bits. The scene where the main character&#8217;s father talks about the ICO he just bought into is <em>chillingly<\/em> true to life.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/25\/news-bitfinex-tether-v-new-york-cryptopia-hack-coins-moving-hitbtc-may-be-insolvent-craig-wright-copyright-registration-sec-v-icos-money-laundering-is-still-illegal-with-bitcoins\/pinnock-one-eyed-kev\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-13492\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13492\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/pinnock-one-eyed-kev.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/pinnock-one-eyed-kev.jpg 500w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/pinnock-one-eyed-kev-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/25\/news-bitfinex-tether-v-new-york-cryptopia-hack-coins-moving-hitbtc-may-be-insolvent-craig-wright-copyright-registration-sec-v-icos-money-laundering-is-still-illegal-with-bitcoins\/pinnock-nocoiner\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-13493\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13493\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/pinnock-nocoiner.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/pinnock-nocoiner.jpg 500w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/pinnock-nocoiner-300x155.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Left-wing politics site Isocracy has a quick-read version of <em>Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain<\/em> \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/isocracy.org\/content\/cryptocurrencies-bubble-economy-art-steal\">Cryptocurrencies: A Bubble Economy with The Art of the Steal.<\/a> (Lev Lafayette from Isocracy summarised the book, I okayed it.)<\/p>\n<p>As well as my blog and Patreon, you should totally subscribe to Amy Castor&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/blog\/\">blog<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/amycastor\">Patreon.<\/a> Every story in her <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2019\/05\/24\/news-kraken-sets-out-to-raise-millions-circle-is-cutting-staff-bitfinex-scores-another-tiny-victory-in-court\/\">newsletter of yesterday<\/a> is amazing. Did you know that Black Banx, formerly WB21, did a Visa card &#8230; without permission from Visa?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/anguschampion\/status\/1131629507964788738<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Please explain all variants of cryptocurrency\/block chain as gummi bears. Especially &quot;does anyone ever get to eat them,&quot; does real currency exchange hands, and is there really only empty wrappers stored in my pocket?<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Life In Cheap Seats (@LifeCheapSeats) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LifeCheapSeats\/status\/1131856858573103104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 24, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Newsagent tells me he loves the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FT<\/a> \u2019you can do your paperwork on it, so thick\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; emma jacobs (@emmavj) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/emmavj\/status\/1132276721007439873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 25, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\ude02\ud83e\udd23\ud83d\ude05 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IOuKFdhB1H\">pic.twitter.com\/IOuKFdhB1H<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Toby Pinder (@tobypinder) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tobypinder\/status\/1132273511651774464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 25, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The best part of being a journalist is getting to ask rich people uncomfortable questions like \u201chow much money do you have?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Frank Chaparro (@fintechfrank) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fintechfrank\/status\/1129454373749317640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 17, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<br><br><div align=\"center\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\"><img src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/become_a_patron_button.svg\" alt=\"Become a Patron!\" title=\"Become a Patron!\" width=217 height=51><\/a><br><p style=\"align:center;\" class=\"patreon-badge\"><i>Your subscriptions keep this site going. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\">Sign up today!<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How much do you need to annoy a government agency that it starts a whole new press page just to refute your claims?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1290,972,460,1293,1289,1088,38,1192,1087,288,1292,146,1122,1295,1047,166,929,9,1294,7,1298,808,533,1296,1299,6,1134,594,938,70,33,1297,120,1096,39,1097,1045,1162,1291],"class_list":["post-13431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-adam-clark","tag-alex-sobel","tag-amy-castor","tag-argyle-coin","tag-assetylene","tag-bat","tag-bitfinex","tag-black-banx","tag-brave","tag-coinbase","tag-copyright-office","tag-craig-wright","tag-cryptopia","tag-daniel-pacheco","tag-etf","tag-fca","tag-hitbtc","tag-ico","tag-ipro","tag-irs","tag-isocracy","tag-john-mcafee","tag-jonathan-pinnock","tag-jose-angel-aman","tag-lev-lafayette","tag-links","tag-mike-dudas","tag-new-york","tag-quadrigacx","tag-ransomware","tag-sec","tag-sjors-provoost","tag-stephen-palley","tag-telegram","tag-tether","tag-ton","tag-van-eck","tag-wb21","tag-xapo"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13431"}],"version-history":[{"count":65,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13541,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431\/revisions\/13541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}