{"id":14659,"date":"2019-09-30T22:03:06","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T22:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=14659"},"modified":"2020-09-03T10:31:59","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T10:31:59","slug":"news-bitcoin-crashes-despite-bakkt-crypto-research-council-libra-tether-stay-kik-shuts-down-messenger-craig-wrights-apparent-plagiarism-coindesk-shakeup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/09\/30\/news-bitcoin-crashes-despite-bakkt-crypto-research-council-libra-tether-stay-kik-shuts-down-messenger-craig-wrights-apparent-plagiarism-coindesk-shakeup\/","title":{"rendered":"News: Bitcoin crashes despite Bakkt, Crypto Rating Council, Libra, Tether stay, Kik shuts down Messenger, Craig Wright&#8217;s apparent plagiarism, CoinDesk shakeup"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Remember, I have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/davidgerard\">Patreon<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 for just $5 a month, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/davidgerard\">support my work<\/a> here! If you read this stuff and think &#8220;I&#8217;d buy that guy a drink&#8221; at least once a month \u2014 this is how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/davidgerard\">you can do just that.<\/a> If you&#8217;re in London, I also accept drinks in person.<\/li>\n<li>And don&#8217;t forget to subscribe to <a href=\"#byemail\">new blog posts by email!<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Will Bitcoin become the world&#8217;s reserve currency? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/theonevortex\">@theonevortex<\/a> thinks it will, but \u2014 you&#8217;ll be amazed to hear \u2014 I don&#8217;t. So we&#8217;re doing a <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.trustory.io\/claim\/1404\/\">live video debate!<\/a> Tomorrow, 1 October 2019, at 20:00 UTC. (That&#8217;s 1:00 pm PST or 9:00pm BST.) Put your questions in live!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/09\/30\/news-bitcoin-crashes-despite-bakkt-crypto-research-council-libra-tether-stay-kik-shuts-down-messenger-craig-wrights-apparent-plagiarism-coindesk-shakeup\/a-short-story-featuring-coinbase-and-paypal\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-14670\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-14670\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/a-short-story-featuring-coinbase-and-paypal.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/a-short-story-featuring-coinbase-and-paypal.png 630w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/a-short-story-featuring-coinbase-and-paypal-300x264.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>BUTTCOIN: They&#8217;re all dead. Every coin&#8217;s dead, Brian.<br \/>\nCOINBASE: Bitcoin isn&#8217;t, is it?<br \/>\nBUTTCOIN: Every coin&#8217;s dead, Brian!<br \/>\nCOINBASE: Not ETC!<br \/>\nBUTTCOIN: Satoshi&#8217;s ever-growing teeth! Yes, ETC. Every coin. Every coin&#8217;s dead, Brian!<br \/>\nCOINBASE: BATs?<br \/>\nBUTTCOIN: They&#8217;re dead, Brian. Every coin is dead. Every coin is dead, Brian.<br \/>\nCOINBASE: Wait. Are you trying to tell me all the coins are dead?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Bitcoin crashed again last week \u2014 the BTC\/USD price on CoinBase went from $9716 on 24 September to $7712 on 26 September. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/skew_markets\/status\/1176593668867788800\">About $643 million of long bets<\/a> were liquidated on BitMEX \u2014 just like what happened in <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/18\/number-go-down-the-single-trade-that-crashed-bitcoin\/\">May this year.<\/a> Because you can make more money on a bet than it costs to rig the bet. This is \u2014 as always \u2014 <i>good<\/i> news for Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>FT Alphaville <a href=\"https:\/\/ftalphaville.ft.com\/2019\/09\/24\/1569340802000\/A-Cushing--Oklahoma-effect-for-bitcoin-futures-\/\">suggests<\/a> the crash could have come from the Bakkt futures market existing at all \u2014 thus forming a complete price discovery mechanism,\u00a0<em>i.e.<\/em>, a trustworthy way to short Bitcoin \u2014 though I have my doubts.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m pretty sure &#8220;institutional demand&#8221; for Bitcoin has always been a non-disprovable mirage. The Bakkt futures failed to quite set the market on fire \u2014 there are a total of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theice.com\/products\/72035464\/Bakkt-Bitcoin-USD-Monthly-Futures-Contract\/data?marketId=6137541\">126 BTC of contracts<\/a> as I write this. 32 BTC of this was on the first day, 23 September, a week ago.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/9493\/debate-will-bakkt-send-bitcoins-price-skyrocketing\">Debate: Will Bakkt send Bitcoin&#8217;s price skyrocketing?<\/a> With a quote from me \u2014 my considered opinion was &#8220;LOL, nope.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Crypto exchange volumes are still through the floor \u2014 &#8220;trading volume down about 40% on some major exchanges in the past month&#8221; \u2014 so several exchanges are offering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2019-09-24\/crypto-exchanges-step-up-customer-bounties-as-volume-declines\">bounties for recruiting new signups.<\/a> This is totally not a pyramid scheme! It&#8217;s shaped more like a funnel.<\/p>\n<p>Coinbase, desperate for trading volume, is looking at <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.coinbase.com\/coinbase-continues-to-explore-support-for-new-digital-assets-70419575eac4\">adding coins that haven&#8217;t even been released yet.<\/a> Quite a few of these are venture capitalist funded coins, where the VCs have already pretty much written off their investment \u2014 <i>e.g.<\/i>, Telegram&#8217;s GRAM token. I&#8217;m sure Coinbase board or senior staff won&#8217;t have large holdings in any of these.<\/p>\n<p>Coinbase has <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.coinbase.com\/introducing-the-crypto-rating-council-d6ee33a8f34d\">joined with<\/a> several other crypto exchanges and large traders to start a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cryptoratingcouncil.com\/\">Crypto Rating Council<\/a> \u2014 the people trying to sell you these things are purporting to tell you <i>how likely<\/i> they are to be securities. The US laws on this are really pretty clear, but the exchanges want the sort of &#8220;regulatory clarity&#8221; that gives an answer they <i>like.<\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ofnumbers\/status\/1178658261664321536\">Tim Swanson<\/a> points out that Coinbase tried writing a similarly self-serving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coinbase.com\/legal\/securities-law-framework.pdf\">Securities Law Framework<\/a> in late 2016 \u2014 that was made moot by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/news\/press-release\/2017-131\">DAO Report,<\/a> and quietly shelved.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/anguschampion\/status\/1176585959120482311<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yesterday a large shadow appeared in the shade of the catalpa and a lone cicada whistled at noon. The entrails of a freshly slaughtered pigeon broke below the support line of the large descending triangle I&#39;ve been carving out for months. This is a very a bearish technical &#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3oIvQJKnLq\">https:\/\/t.co\/3oIvQJKnLq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Palley (@stephendpalley) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stephendpalley\/status\/1176859784160665601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 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<p>Facebook&#8217;s Libra has been <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/2YJIS\">directly inspiring<\/a> central bankers to look into doing Central Bank Digital Currencies \u2014 just in case someone <i>competent<\/i> tries to do a private Libra-style coin on a large scale. But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblockcrypto.com\/linked\/40246\/cbdc-does-not-necessarily-need-blockchain-says-chilean-official\">&#8220;CBDC does not necessarily need blockchain,&#8221;<\/a> said one Chilean official \u2014 well, of course not, since CBDC is just a buzzword too.<\/p>\n<p>Libra&#8217;s currency basket <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/wirtschaft\/facebook-will-kryptowaehrung-libra-nicht-an-yuan-koppeln-a-1287853.html\">will be made up of<\/a> 50% US dollar, 18% Euro, 14% Japanese yen, 11% British pounds, and 7% Singapore dollar. If it ever launches.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve seen stories claiming that Mark Zuckerberg said Libra might not launch in 2020, he didn&#8217;t quite \u2014 though he did <a href=\"https:\/\/asia.nikkei.com\/Editor-s-Picks\/Interview\/Zuckerberg-wants-Facebook-to-look-before-it-leaps\">dodge the question.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nobody:<br \/>\nNot a soul:<br \/>\nIBM: &#8220;We&#8217;ve spent four years on this blockchain nonsense and it&#8217;s been a money pit, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/09\/23\/libra-ibm-says-its-open-to-working-with-facebook-on-digital-currency.html\">please, Mr. Zuckerberg, give us some juicy consulting bucks.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">if you did not make a tweet about libra that went viral last week, ask yourself: why are you even on cryptotwitter?<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Georgios Konstantopoulos (@gakonst) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gakonst\/status\/1142810653113147392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 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>Bitfinex\/Tether got <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/bitfinex-can-stop-turning-over-documents-to-nyag-appeals-court-rules\">a stay on turning documents over<\/a> to the New York Attorney General, while they finish writing their appeal. They have until 4 November 2019. The appeal will probably be fully briefed \u2014 both sides put in their submissions \u2014 by December, and be heard in January 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Bitfinex&#8217;s bank Deltec isn&#8217;t just into Tether \u2014 it&#8217;s also into <a href=\"https:\/\/menafn.com\/1099031218\/Blockchain-Use-Case-Real-EstateDeltec-Bank-Knowledge-series\">&#8220;blockchain.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Latest in <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/05\/02\/crypto-capital-and-bitfinexs-missing-millions-and-reggie-fowler\/\">Reggie Fowler,<\/a> Bitfinex&#8217;s money mule \u2014 at the 16 September status conference, both the defense and the prosecution asked for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750.34.0.pdf\">further stay<\/a> until 13 November &#8230; &#8220;for the parties to engage in plea negotiations.&#8221; I wonder if Reggie is going to be supplying all the evidence he possibly can against the others.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just confirmed it today, Bitcoin is officially dead. Can\u2019t say I\u2019m surprised. RIP 2002-2019. You had a good run.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1175126667146063872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 20, 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>Kik has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/technology-49809449\">shut down<\/a> the Kik Messenger network, firing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.calcalistech.com\/ctech\/articles\/0,7340,L-3770921,00.html\">all the staff<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 what remains of the company is now focused entirely on <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@tedlivingston\/moving-forward-boldly-with-kin-ec6290a6453\">selling Kin tokens<\/a> to &#8230; someone, somewhere? The price as of this evening is <a href=\"https:\/\/coinmarketcap.com\/currencies\/kin\/#markets\">eight ten-thousandths of a cent.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>How ICOs on exciting new <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/06\/01\/the-mathcoins-decentralised-cryptocurrency-without-the-blockchain\/\">math coins<\/a> work \u2014 Cardano may have dropped 97%, but the good news is that Charles Hoskinson <a href=\"https:\/\/crypto.bi\/tape\/hoskinson-travels\/\">had a lot of fun and made a bundle.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kim Dotcom is <a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/9529\/bitfinex-new-ieo-platform-list-kim-dotcom-token\">finally getting into crypto!<\/a> He&#8217;s issuing his KIM tokens as an Initial Exchange Offering on Bitfinex. I can hardly think of a more fitting pair.<\/p>\n<p>ImageProtect and KodakOne are still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globenewswire.com\/news-release\/2019\/09\/24\/1919839\/0\/en\/IMTL-and-KODAKOne-Complete-Significant-IP-Transfer-to-Commence-Revenue-Generation-Activities-in-5M-Strategic-Partnership.html\">sending out press releases<\/a> about their plans for mass copyright-trolling. I think this was the thing they announced <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/08\/27\/news-craig-wright-loses-big-to-kleiman-tokens-from-safts-are-securities-patrick-byrne-iota-again\/\">a month ago,<\/a> being announced again. We&#8217;ll know they&#8217;re <i>doing<\/i> anything when we start hearing about people getting demands for cash from Kodak.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC has sued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/news\/press-release\/2019-181\">Nikolay Evdokimov of ICOBox<\/a> for an illegal $14 million offering of ICOBox&#8217;s own ICO tokens \u2014 unregistered securities \u2014 as well as trading other ICO tokens that were unregistered securities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/karbonbased\/status\/1175790669421522944<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>How unfortunate. <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@samwill102244\/anatomy-of-a-fraud-a-deep-dive-into-one-of-craig-wrights-plagiarized-papers-96bc8624fc12\">&#8220;Anatomy of a fraud \u2014 A deep dive into one of Craig Wright\u2019s plagiarized papers&#8221;<\/a> by Sam Willians shows the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic.unicamp.br\/~stolfi\/temp\/ICC_Bulletin_v3_UNICAMP.pdf\">original 1964 paper<\/a> that Wright appears to have copied for <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/chapter\/10.1007\/978-3-030-29516-5_23\">&#8220;A Proof of Turing Completeness in Bitcoin Script.&#8221;<\/a> (Found by Jorge Stolfi.) Williams also lists seven previous examples of apparent plagiarism on Wright&#8217;s part. But I&#8217;m sure there&#8217;s a perfectly reasonable explanation.<\/p>\n<p>Does anyone know if Craig Wright&#8217;s lawyers ever got back to Peter McCormack&#8217;s lawyers? That <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/08\/14\/peter-mccormack-responds-to-craig-wrights-defamation-claim-and-its-blistering\/\">&#8220;21 days to respond&#8221;<\/a> is long up.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">For the avoidance of any doubt <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QAAaZ4q3KB\">pic.twitter.com\/QAAaZ4q3KB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Izabella Kaminska (@izakaminska) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/izakaminska\/status\/1176247009260580864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 23, 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>A huge Bitcoin mining farm in China has burnt down \u2014 with a <a href=\"https:\/\/beincrypto.com\/footage-of-bitcoin-mega-mining-farm-burning-down-surfaces\/\">2-Hour Block Time.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kyrgyzstan <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/kyrgyzstan-cuts-off-power-to-45-crypto-miners-for-overconsumption\">cut off 45 Bitcoin mining companies<\/a> after they were found to be using 136 megawatts \u2014 or more electricity than three local regions, Issyk-Kul, Talas and Naryn.<\/p>\n<p>Incognito says: pay just $200 for one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/9688\/incognito-node-earn-bitcoin-while-you-sleep\">money printing machines!<\/a> Why aren&#8217;t we just running them ourselves, so we can print money and keep it? Well, we&#8217;re just generous, see. Incognito are running a variant on the cloud mining scam. They claim you can make money in BTC and ETH, mining at home \u2014 in fact, the only coin you can &#8220;mine&#8221; (it&#8217;s proof-of-stake) is their own token. And maybe you can sell it later. &#8220;I&#8217;m just a little skeptical,&#8221; says one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Buttcoin\/comments\/d918oq\/here_pay_200_for_one_of_our_money_printing\/\">\/r\/buttcoin commentator<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 &#8220;it can&#8217;t be very sophisticated if it doesn&#8217;t even have a cable <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HabichtJonathan\/status\/1103308262588534784\">looping back to itself.<\/a>&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Uber driver: what do you do<br \/>Me: i work in crypto currency<br \/>Him: capital currency?<br \/>Me: bitcoin<br \/>Him: buttcoin?<br \/>Me: bitcoin<br \/>Him: buttcoin?<br \/>Me: yes<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Philip London (@plondon514) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/plondon514\/status\/1157501657988489216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 3, 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>&#8220;With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine&#8221; \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/tools.ietf.org\/html\/rfc1925\">RFC 1925<\/a> on the Lightning Network. The Block interviews LNBig, the single individual who supplies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblockcrypto.com\/post\/41083\/person-behind-40-of-lns-capacity-i-have-no-doubt-in-bitcoin-and-the-lightning-network\">40% of the liquidity<\/a> on the network.<\/p>\n<p>Big shakeup at CoinDesk, with Barry Silbert of owners Digital Currency Group pulling the news site <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/coindesk-to-move-into-same-building-as-owner-digital-currency-group\">into the main DCG offices<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblockcrypto.com\/linked\/41051\/coindesk-editor-in-chief-pete-rizzo-departs-after-6-years\">firing long-time editor Pete Rizzo.<\/a> Several other journalists have quit or been fired also. CoinDesk doesn&#8217;t even carry ads any more, except for its own conferences, so I&#8217;m wondering what DCG&#8217;s business model will be for CoinDesk going forward.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve been around Bitcoin for a while, you&#8217;ve probably heard that the average life expectancy for a fiat currency is 27 years. JP Koning researched this \u2014 and it turns out to be <a href=\"https:\/\/jpkoning.blogspot.com\/2019\/09\/the-life-and-death-of-internet-monetary.html\">completely made-up goldbug nonsense.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Financial services are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/93140eac-9cbb-11e9-9c06-a4640c9feebb?segmentId=778a3b31-0eac-c57a-a529-d296f5da8125\">disillusioned in the blockchain.<\/a> It turns out that starting with the solution and trying to work backwards to a use case doesn&#8217;t work out so well.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BLOCKCHAIN GUY: if you put your data on blockchain it&#39;s uneditable by a malicious third party!<br \/>ANYONE: what if the issue is access to the data rather than the unlikely possibility an attacker will maliciously edit our entire database for funsies.<br \/>BLOCKCHAIN GUY: it only goes up!<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; lvl 45 chaos potus (@thetomzone) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thetomzone\/status\/1177452617351364608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 27, 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>Jamie Bartlett&#8217;s spent nine months putting together an epic eight-part podcast telling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-49826161\">the story of the Onecoin ponzi.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Telegram is taking GRAM tokens live in a month! I was <a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/9637\/telegram-slips-past-regulators-busy-trashing-libra\">quoted in Decrypt<\/a> on the subject.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/kevinhunt\/status\/1176868849851011072<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Over the years, I heard a few academics refer to their &quot;billionaire friend&quot; who was into Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>I wonder how many of them were referring to Epstein.<\/p>\n<p>My guess, based on their connections and recent revelations: all of them.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Emin G\u00fcn Sirer (@el33th4xor) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/el33th4xor\/status\/1171109515649015808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 9, 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\">We\u2019ll always remember with fondness that time a bunch of basement dwelling incels bought into a Ponzi scheme convinced that they were smarter than Wall Street insiders.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Trolly McTrollface (@Tr0llyTr0llFace) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Tr0llyTr0llFace\/status\/1177232211701112834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 26, 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>https:\/\/twitter.com\/thecryptodavid\/status\/1176628560540209152<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am thinking of organizing a comedy show called bitcoin guns and meat.  <\/p>\n<p>oh wait no need.<\/p>\n<p>it&#39;s already on twitter.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Palley (@stephendpalley) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stephendpalley\/status\/1175468995144761346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 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<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">New self portrait: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QVGZjE97lN\">pic.twitter.com\/QVGZjE97lN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Susie Cagle (@susie_c) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/susie_c\/status\/1169852608598560769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 6, 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>Watch me debate Bitcoin as a reserve currency tomorrow!<\/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":[1280,1481,21,38,1067,74,940,1474,1475,288,98,146,1473,977,444,1098,316,9,1478,1431,1480,1353,30,1476,27,380,372,1479,1328,233,6,1316,594,1477,1173,1482,1269,33,1096,39,1472],"class_list":["post-14659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-bakkt","tag-barry-silbert","tag-bitcoin","tag-bitfinex","tag-bitmex","tag-blockchain","tag-cardano","tag-cbdc","tag-charles-hoskinson","tag-coinbase","tag-coindesk","tag-craig-wright","tag-crypto-rating-council","tag-deltec","tag-facebook","tag-gram","tag-ibm","tag-ico","tag-icobox","tag-image-protect","tag-incognito","tag-jp-koning","tag-kik","tag-kim","tag-kim-dotcom","tag-kin","tag-kodakone","tag-kyrgyzstan","tag-libra","tag-lightning-network","tag-links","tag-lnbig","tag-new-york","tag-nikolay-evdokimov","tag-onecoin","tag-pete-rizzo","tag-reggie-fowler","tag-sec","tag-telegram","tag-tether","tag-vortex"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14659","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=14659"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17114,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14659\/revisions\/17114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}