{"id":20267,"date":"2021-08-22T19:54:28","date_gmt":"2021-08-22T19:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=20267"},"modified":"2021-11-02T19:35:48","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T19:35:48","slug":"news-facebook-abandoning-diem-soulja-boy-vs-atari-kurson-arrested-again-el-salvador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/08\/22\/news-facebook-abandoning-diem-soulja-boy-vs-atari-kurson-arrested-again-el-salvador\/","title":{"rendered":"News: Facebook abandoning Libra\/Diem, Soulja Boy vs. Atari, Kurson arrested again, El Salvador"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/11\/26\/get-signed-copies-of-libra-shrugged-and-attack-of-the-50-foot-blockchain\/\">Signed copies<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/book\/\"><i>Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain<\/i><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/libra\/\"><i>Libra Shrugged<\/i><\/a> are still in stock, for \u00a325 the pair plus postage \u2014 \u00a36 UK, \u00a310 Europe, \u00a312 rest of world. <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/11\/26\/get-signed-copies-of-libra-shrugged-and-attack-of-the-50-foot-blockchain\/\">See the post for details.<\/a> I still have <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/08\/12\/news-the-senate-hates-bitcoin-tether-and-usdc-attestations-defi-money-market-and-poloniex-settle-with-sec-poly-network-hack\/\">free stickers!<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Support my work by signing up for the Patreon \u2014 $5 or $20 a month, or what you have. It really does help. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/davidgerard\"><i>Patreon<\/i><\/a>]<\/li>\n<li>Remind your friends and colleagues to sign up to get this newsletter (and the other blog posts) by email. [<a href=\"#byemail\"><i>scroll down, or click here<\/i><\/a>]<\/li>\n<li>I don&#8217;t have stickers (yet) \u2014 but the Anticryptocurrency Aktion design below is CC-by 4.0 (credit: Hannah Kolbeck), and you can <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/lj\/crypto-aktion.svg\">download the SVG here<\/a> to print your own.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/08\/22\/news-facebook-abandoning-diem-soulja-boy-vs-atari-kurson-arrested-again-el-salvador\/crypto-aktion\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20269\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-20269\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/crypto-aktion.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"510\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/crypto-aktion.png 680w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/crypto-aktion-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/crypto-aktion-348x215.png 348w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Carpe Diem<\/h3>\n<p>Facebook started the Libra project in 2019 as a proposal for a new cryptocurrency, to be run by a consortium. Facebook also started Calibra, a custodial wallet provider for Libra. I wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/libra\/\">a book on how badly all of this went down with regulators.<\/a> It turns out nobody trusts Facebook.<\/p>\n<p>The Libra project crashed head-first into a brick wall of regulatory clarity. The Facebook\u00a0wallet project <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/05\/31\/news-not-craig-wrights-bitcoins-how-tether-flows-goldman-sachs-spurns-bitcoin-calibra-is-now-novi\/\">renamed itself Novi,<\/a> and the blockchain project <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/12\/03\/facebooks-libra-is-now-diem-stable-act-says-stablecoins-must-get-banking-licenses\/\">renamed itself Diem.<\/a> In May this year, Diem <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/05\/14\/facebooks-diem-stablecoin-moves-to-the-us-and-hooks-up-with-silvergate-bank\/\">moved from Switzerland to the US,<\/a> and proposed a US dollar stablecoin, backed by a reserve to be held in Silvergate Bank.<\/p>\n<p>Novi wants to <i>do<\/i> stuff. So Facebook\u2019s crypto wallet unit is now looking to other stablecoins, because Diem is taking too long. Frank Chaparro at The Block says that \u201cDiem has hit new regulatory headwinds\u201d \u2014 it turns out that a name change fooled nobody. The Diem Association is \u201ceffectively a zombie organization.\u201d Ya think? [<i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblockcrypto.com\/daily\/114371\/future-of-diem-hangs-in-the-balance-as-novi-looks-for-an-alternative\">The Block<\/a>, paywalled; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fintechfrank\/status\/1427381264542277638\">Twitter<\/a><\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Novi has been talking to both Circle (USDC) and Paxos. This explains the recent sniping between Circle and Paxos \u2014 they\u2019re both looking to land this huge account.<\/p>\n<p>Novi is actively hiring compliance people as well \u2014 as is <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/07\/16\/newsdefi-education-fund-latest-binance-woes-fatf-rules-developers-hate-crypto\/\">the rest of the crypto industry,<\/a> of course.<\/p>\n<p>Silvergate Bank\u2019s share price dropped on the news \u2014 Silvergate had been talking up Diem as important to future earnings in its Q2 2021 earnings call. [<a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/quote\/SI\/chart?p=SI#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\"><i>Yahoo!<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/seekingalpha.com\/article\/4440186-silvergate-capital-corporations-si-ceo-alan-lane-on-q2-2021-results-earnings-call-transcript\"><i>Seeking Alpha<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>David Marcus made a blog post a few days later. He says how unfair \u2014 how un-<i>American<\/i> \u2014 it is that payment innovation like Diem or Novi should be suppressed just because regulators don\u2019t trust Facebook in any regard whatsoever. So that\u2019ll be the regulatory headwind, then. He posted this the day before the FTC filed <i>yet another<\/i> antitrust action against Facebook. [<i><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@davidmarcus\/good-stablecoins-a-protocol-for-money-and-digital-wallets-the-formula-to-fix-our-broken-payment-f11f59fc92d7\">Medium<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/press-releases\/2021\/08\/ftc-alleges-facebook-resorted-illegal-buy-or-bury-scheme-crush\">FTC<\/a><\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Facebook\u2019s WhatsApp application has Novi icons inside the binary file, though they\u2019re not in use at present. (In case you ever wondered why Facebook apps are so fat.) Earlier in August, those icons were changed to remove the three wavy lines from the Libra\/Diem branding. The public Novi website hasn\u2019t changed \u2014 yet. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SteveMoser\/status\/1425420285809934341\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Facebook updated Novi\u2019s logo and branding. Novi is a digitial wallet for Libra payments. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%24FB&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">$FB<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/novi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#novi<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/t2ar1vKoZb\">pic.twitter.com\/t2ar1vKoZb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SteveMoser\/status\/1425420285809934341?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 11, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Decentralising your funds, to me<\/h3>\n<p>How does DeFi voting work? About as well as the rest of DeFi. Uniswap recently voted on a Community-Enabled Analytics proposal to give $25 million of UNI tokens to blockchain analytics firm Flipside Crypto.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal was contentious \u2014 it gave all the money to the proposers\u2019 friends, with votes mostly coming in from \u201cuniversity blockchain clubs\u201d funded by venture capitalists Andreesen Horowitz. (Also, that Nic Carter would get the title \u201cSupreme Being.\u201d) [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.withtally.com\/governance\/uniswap\/proposal\/7\"><i>Tally<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/uniswap-proposal-sparks-another-governance-controversy\/\"><i>CryptoBriefing<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>One \u201cno\u201d voter\u00a0suggested that \u201cusing the UNI treasury for large cash grabs to support pet causes often benefitting narrow groups of actors is very bad\u201d \u2014 clearly not understanding <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/07\/16\/newsdefi-education-fund-latest-binance-woes-fatf-rules-developers-hate-crypto\/\">the purpose of Uniswap,<\/a> or of DeFi in general. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iamDCinvestor\/status\/1428331527771918343\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>As it happened, an <i>unfortunate<\/i> bug in the Tally voting software was rendering \u201cno\u201d votes as \u201cyes\u201d votes. Whoops! The proposal had gone below the threshold of votes to be a valid proposal, so the vote was cancelled. I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be fine next time Andreesen Horowitz want to give their mates all the money. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/voteWithTally\/status\/1428442454978531328\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/tally-blog\/incident-summary-tally-voting-bug-dd6f9cceaae4\"><i>Tally<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/getty_hill\/status\/1428426838963998724\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Atari baby<\/h3>\n<p>Soulja Boy is a rapper who seems never to have seen an altcoin he didn\u2019t like. He recently claimed on a video stream to be a majority shareholder in the holding company that presently owns the name and trademarks of the \u201880s computer and games company Atari. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/THHGURU1\/status\/1428412501457244162\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>, video<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Atari quickly denied this \u2014 \u201cWe know that CEO of Atari is a dream job, but that honor belongs to Wade Rosen.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/atari\/status\/1428551350116364291\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Soulja Boy reacted very angrily in a video where he showed the contract he had with Atari. (Warning: strong language.) [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/akademiks\/status\/1428793483557486603\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>] Twitter user Cynn Smith zoomed in on the contract: \u201cIt says \u2018Atari Tokens\u2019 on the contract he screen shotted. Not Atari shares in the company. Atari Tokens are their crypto currency. Like a Bitcoin competitor. So it was a promo deal they wanted to pay with their own crypto. Nothing to do with shares or ownership.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Cynnthetic\/status\/1428848927982465027\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Soulja Boy got one million Atari Tokens \u2014 or about $60,000, if he could cash them out. This is rather less than the value even of the flayed and tattered hide of what was once a computer company that the holding company is dressing up in and dancing around pretending to be.<\/p>\n<h3>Regulatory clarity<\/h3>\n<p>After the cryptocurrency industry\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/08\/12\/news-the-senate-hates-bitcoin-tether-and-usdc-attestations-defi-money-market-and-poloniex-settle-with-sec-poly-network-hack\/\">performative idiocy over the US Senate infrastructure bill<\/a> a couple of weeks ago, the Treasury will be clarifying that only actual brokers will be required to comply with the new IRS reporting requirements on cryptocurrency. That is, like the law says. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2021-08-13\/treasury-seeks-to-quell-fears-crypto-tax-rules-are-overly-broad\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The Ontario Securities Commission has acted against the OKEx crypto exchange \u2014 specifically Aux Cayes Fintech Co. Ltd., incorporated in the Seychelles \u2014 for offering derivatives trading in Ontario without being registered. OSC asks for disgorgement and costs. \u201cThe OSC thanks the Seychelles Financial Services Authority for its assistance in this matter.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.osc.ca\/en\/news-events\/news\/osc-takes-action-against-fourth-non-compliant-international-crypto-asset-trading-platform\"><i>press release<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.osc.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/2021-08\/oth_20210819_Aux_Cayes_Fintech_Co_Ltd.pdf\"><i>statement of allegations<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Van Eck and ProShares have both abruptly withdrawn their applications to run Ethereum futures ETFs. I wonder what they\u2019ve seen, or if perhaps the SEC discussed the matter with them. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/vaneck-proshares-abruptly-withdraw-ether-futures-etf-proposals\"><i>CoinDesk<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Good news for Bitcoin \u2014 Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, puts crypto adoption for legitimate use cases at up to <i>five percent!<\/i> Well, he said crypto was \u201c95% fraud, hype, noise and confusion.\u201d But close enough. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/story\/crypto-is-95-fraud-hype-noise-and-confusion-says-feds-neel-kashkari-11629236416\"><i>MarketWatch<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>I fought the law<\/h3>\n<p>Monero developer Riccardo \u201cFluffyPony\u201d Spagni will be staying in custody in the US pending his <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/08\/12\/news-the-senate-hates-bitcoin-tether-and-usdc-attestations-defi-money-market-and-poloniex-settle-with-sec-poly-network-hack\/\">extradition hearing to face fraud charges in South Africa.<\/a> \u201cThe judge ruled that he had not proven that he was not a flight risk, given that he had travelled to the US when he was expected to appear in court in Cape Town. At the time, he had seemingly not informed his own SA lawyer of the decision.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/fin24\/companies\/just-in-sa-crypto-developer-riccardo-fluffypony-spagni-denied-bail-by-us-court-20210819\"><i>News24<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Ken Kurson, the publisher of crypto news site Modern Consensus, has been arrested once more for cyberstalking, this time by the state of New York. President Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/01\/27\/news-craig-wright-copyright-claims-grayscale-mt-gox-reddit-on-ethereum-the-french-bitcoin-neo-nazi\/\">pardoned Kurson<\/a> over <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/11\/04\/news-filecoin-coindesk-money-laundering-busts-libra-barred-until-2023-bitmex-and-rokos-basilisk\/\">this charge<\/a> federally \u2014 but the charge has been brought again at state level. \u201cWe will not accept presidential pardons as get-out-of-jail-free cards for the well-connected in New York,\u201d said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/ken-kurson-kushner-friend-charged-trump-pardon\/2021\/08\/18\/d670ef70-ffac-11eb-a664-4f6de3e17ff0_story.html\"><i>Washington Post<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>(Modern Consensus doesn\u2019t seem to have put up any new articles since March 2021. Editor Leo Jakobson has listed himself on LinkedIn as &#8220;freelance&#8221; since April 2021, and was most recently spotted writing on CoinMarketCap, owned by Binance.) [<i><a href=\"https:\/\/modernconsensus.com\/\">Modern Consensus<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/leo-jakobson-402b043\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Greater Manchester Police seized \u00a316 million (about $22.5 million) in ETH from scammers running a fake savings and trading service in early August. Said one victim: \u201cI&#8217;m an experienced blockchain professional, I&#8217;d done all the research with friends who work in programming development to make sure it was safe. The hack really surprised us at first.\u201d The first clue should have been that the investment scheme involved crypto. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmp.police.uk\/news\/greater-manchester\/news\/news\/2021\/august\/millions-waiting-to-be-claimed-by-rightful-owners-as-gmp-rumble-international-crypto-currency-scam\"><i>GMP<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Everybody still hates Binance<\/h3>\n<p>After pressure from regulators worldwide, Binance is now requiring KYC for all customers. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.binance.com\/en\/support\/announcement\/51bf294e26324211a4731ca998e110ca\"><i>Binance<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>After closing their local subsidiary in December 2020, Binance has closed all remaining operations touching South Korea even tangentially \u2014 they&#8217;re removing all Korean Won (KRW) trading pairs, all KRW payment options, peer-to-peer trading in KRW, and even Korean language support on the website. \u201cPlease also note that we are not operating any official Telegram or other online communication channels in Korean.\u201d This is absolutely in the service of &#8220;a sustainable ecosystem around blockchain technology and digital assets,&#8221; and not just because Binance would have had to register with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit and report actual data to the regulators. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.binance.com\/en\/support\/announcement\/fc0d84c3b19d4069aceb6a7e47262242\"><i>Binance<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The Netherlands hates Binance too. &#8220;De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) announces that Binance is providing crypto services in the Netherlands without the required legal registration with DNB. This means Binance is not in compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act, and is illegally offering services for the exchange between virtual and fiduciary currencies and it is illegally offering custodian wallets.&#8221; Binance says it will be seeking registration. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dnb.nl\/en\/actueel\/dnb\/news-2021\/dnb-warns-against-binance\/\"><i>DNB<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblockcrypto.com\/linked\/114942\/binance-says-it-will-seek-registration-in-the-netherlands-as-countrys-central-bank-issues-warning\"><i>The Block<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Binance Appoints Former US Treasury Enforcer Greg Monahan to Anti-Money Laundering Role. So, more or less than three months, you think? [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/binance-appoints-former-us-treasury-enforcer-to-anti-money-laundering-role\"><i>CoinDesk<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>El Salvador<\/h3>\n<p>The government of El Salvador is gearing up to pay public employees in Bitcoin \u2014 or \u201cdollars\u201d on Chivo, or something. Postal service workers report having training that includes promises that they\u2019ll be paid more if they accept bitcoins. Temporary workers in hospitals may also be paid in bitcoins or Chivo &#8220;dollars&#8221;; they may accept this, because their pay in dollars has been delayed previously.<\/p>\n<p>Murder? BItcoin fixes this! Salvadoran finance minister Alejandro Zelaya reassures us that there will be no sanctions for businesses that don\u2019t accept bitcoin. So why not change Article 7 of the Bitcoin Law that makes it mandatory? \u201cWhy change it? If we start doing everything the opposition says, this country is going to be the same as it was before, and I don&#8217;t think everyone wants us to have twenty-three murders again.&#8221; I am defeated by his logic and reason. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.laprensagrafica.com\/economia\/Ministro-de-Hacienda-dice-que-no-sancionaran-a-empresas-que-se-nieguen-al-bitcoin-pero-defiende-articulo-7-de-ley-20210817-0013.html\"><i>La Prensa Grafica<\/i><\/a><i>, in Spanish<\/i>]<\/p>\n<h3>Lie dream of a casino soul<\/h3>\n<p>Robinhood has announced its Q2 2021 earnings: 60% of user accounts had crypto in them, 62% of crypto trading revenue was on dogecoin, and 41% of total Robinhood revenue was attributable to crypto. This would be because Robinhood charges commission on cryptos, and not on stocks.<\/p>\n<p>So HOOD is functionally a synthetic crypto stock that\u2019s a dogecoin exchange for a living \u2014 Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said in the earnings call that \u201cthis is the first quarter where we saw a larger share of new customers place their first trade in crypto rather than in equities.\u201d I&#8217;m amazed there&#8217;s so much interest and revenue in a walled garden that\u2019s functionally a bucket shop \u2014 they\u2019re still working on \u201cthe ability to deposit and withdraw your crypto.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globenewswire.com\/news-release\/2021\/08\/18\/2283084\/0\/en\/Robinhood-Reports-Second-Quarter-2021-Results.html\"><i>press release<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/seekingalpha.com\/article\/4450521-robinhood-markets-hood-ceo-vlad-tenev-on-q2-2021-results-earnings-call-transcript\"><i>Seeking Alpha<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Coinbase announces board approval to spend $500 million on cryptos, and invest 10% of profits in \u201ca diverse portfolio of crypto assets.\u201d This means illiquid <i>minor altcoins<\/i> funded by Andreesen Horowitz \u2014 \u201cProof of Stake assets, DeFi tokens, and many other crypto assets supported for trading on our platform\u201d \u2014 as well as bitcoins and ether. This is a way of issuing a dividend to their large investors without issuing a dividend, in a more targeted way than a simple stock buyback. [<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.coinbase.com\/coinbase-updates-investment-policy-to-increase-investments-in-crypto-assets-a68c752ea786\"><i>Coinbase Blog<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>The Tether expanded universe<\/h3>\n<p>Over two-thirds of all tethers ever printed were sent to two buyers: FTX and DRW Cumberland. [<a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/tether-minted-usdt-stablecoin-crypto-two-alameda-cumberland\/\"><i>Protos<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The Tether response to this report appears to be to claim it\u2019s questionable because the article doesn\u2019t have a byline \u2014 and specifically not to address any claim in the article. (If it\u2019s in Protos and it\u2019s about Tether, Cas Piancey wrote it, and every performative Tether shill claiming the lack of a byline means anything knows this perfectly well.)<\/p>\n<p>DRW Cumberland has been one of the huge traders setting the Bitcoin price for a few years now. [<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@ExkrementKoin\/has-drws-cumberland-cornered-the-bitcoin-market-b17440333cbf\"><i>Medium<\/i><\/a>] Though DRW scrubbed all mention of Tether from their website in May 2019, just after the New York Attorney General started its action against Tether \u2014 and a pile of senior staff jumped ship. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Bitfinexed\/status\/1427089807998607362\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Bitfinexed\/status\/1427862294491504645\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Tether also personally issued at least $200 million in USDT to Justin Sun of TRON. [<a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/tether-tron-justin-sun-personally-issued-200-million-usdt-clique\/\"><i>Protos<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Tether is printing again \u2014 three billion tethers in the past two weeks. Good to see there&#8217;s <i>institutional investors<\/i> confident enough in Tether&#8217;s bona fides to send them billions of dollars just as <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/07\/29\/tether-criminally-investigated-by-justice-department-when-the-music-stops-podcast\/\">the Justice Department is lining up charges against its executives.<\/a> That&#8217;s certainly what I look for in a company I&#8217;m sending billions of dollars to.<\/p>\n<h3>Things happen<\/h3>\n<p>Users worry that central bank digital currencies will collect all your financial data just in the process of using them, in a way cash just doesn\u2019t. The Bank of Jamaica says that its CBDC will not use tracking information without a court order. Though this implies they\u2019ll still be collecting it. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamaicaobserver.com\/business-observer\/court-order-required-for-tracking-digital-transactions_229005\"><i>Jamaica Observer<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/05\/14\/telegram-gives-up-on-the-telegram-open-network\/\">Free TON,<\/a> the remaining users of Telegram&#8217;s TON blockchain software, propose starting \u201cFreecyclopedia,\u201d a Wikipedia fork with expert supervision \u2014 so <a href=\"https:\/\/rationalwiki.org\/wiki\/Citizendium\">Citizendium<\/a>, but on the blockchain. [<a href=\"https:\/\/gov.freeton.org\/proposal?proposalAddress=0%3A0aa7058000f407c75c95cfb887e7655a3aa11f0159436fae2fea2060025c3ac3\"><i>Free TON<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The specific motivation is so they can shill crypto on Wikipedia \u2014 or a Wikipedia \u2014 without <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/01\/27\/wikipedia-signpost-crypto-and-bitcoins-and-blockchains-oh-no\/\">me personally dousing the party<\/a>. I\u2019m named in the proposal. Citizendium ended up getting taken over by cranks too, but such mere tawdry historical knowledge obviously doesn\u2019t apply. [<a href=\"https:\/\/firebasestorage.googleapis.com\/v0\/b\/ton-labs.appspot.com\/o\/documents%2Fapplication%2Fpdf%2F6pim64tbzunkqglexqm-Freecyclopedia%20contest%20Stage%201_%20Wikipedia%20Decentralized%20%26%20Partitioned%20Governance%20Specification.pdf?alt=media&amp;token=09ebd833-75af-4cf7-bb47-552bf87618f6\"><i>Free TON<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210715163215\/https:\/\/firebasestorage.googleapis.com\/v0\/b\/ton-labs.appspot.com\/o\/documents%2Fapplication%2Fpdf%2F6pim64tbzunkqglexqm-Freecyclopedia%20contest%20Stage%201_%20Wikipedia%20Decentralized%20%26%20Partitioned%20Governance%20Specification.pdf?alt=media&amp;token=09ebd833-75af-4cf7-bb47-552bf87618f6\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>David G. W. Birch: Payments In Chaos \u2014 do we need cash in case of disasters? [<a href=\"https:\/\/forbes.com\/sites\/davidbirch\/2021\/08\/18\/payments-in-chaos\/\"><i>Forbes<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Bloomberg: This is what happens when you take the crypto pill \u2014 with nocoiner representation from me and Amy Castor. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/features\/2021-08-18\/from-doge-soldiers-to-bitcoinists-a-field-guide-to-the-crypto-faithful\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Though I didn\u2019t end up being quoted, I was interviewed for an article on Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s Metaverse \u2014 which turned out to be a virtual-reality office meeting that should have been a Zoom call \u2014 in Lib\u00e9ration, 14 August. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.liberation.fr\/idees-et-debats\/metaverse-un-monde-virtuel-mais-des-inegalites-reelles-20210814_R3T46NQHKJBKDJBIYGKLSTPG6I\/\"><i>Lib\u00e9ration<\/i><\/a><i>, paywalled<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">People who think their favorite altcoin is going to have a marketcap of $2T this cycle are exit liquidity, so let&#39;s be nice to them \ud83d\ude05<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intocryptoverse\/status\/1425996775316463618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 13, 2021<\/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 &quot;actually this is good for bitcoin&quot; tweets are reaching levels never thought possible <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6u8bw36nUM\">pic.twitter.com\/6u8bw36nUM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1426397851937083392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 14, 2021<\/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\">Never been so crushed to see a tweet deleted <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JGy9FbM1zc\">pic.twitter.com\/JGy9FbM1zc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; dudes rock paper scissors (@tresdessert) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tresdessert\/status\/1427228530551791621?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 16, 2021<\/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\">It is not an exaggeration to say that after almost every tweet I&#39;ve posted about Afghanistan&#39;s economic situation someone replies w\/ something to the effect of, &quot;Have they tried adopting Bitcoin?&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JStein_WaPo\/status\/1428462132950151173?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 19, 2021<\/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\">Big crypto ads at London Bridge &#8211; with a warning in small print visible for less than a second <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0LnaFA3hn8\">pic.twitter.com\/0LnaFA3hn8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ruskin147\/status\/1429045529116348417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 21, 2021<\/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\">in hindsight coming up with something to use the technology for other than gambling, crime, million dollar jpegs, and securities fraud in the last 12 years probably would have been a good idea. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SY4Wi6Ru9R\">pic.twitter.com\/SY4Wi6Ru9R<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1423908605774946306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 7, 2021<\/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>&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>The Diem Association is \u201ceffectively a zombie organization.\u201d Ya think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20269,"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":[2405,612,472,568,21,1512,951,661,1474,288,2413,413,1346,708,1552,2085,632,2415,2305,1047,444,1515,1804,1769,2409,1798,2414,2398,2032,1328,6,2418,1592,2412,417,1805,653,2343,1391,1903,2411,2416,2403,1343,33,1545,2296,2362,119,2410,1669,457,403,1865,1045,2417,1287,209],"class_list":["post-20267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-alejandro-zelaya","tag-andreessen-horowitz","tag-atari","tag-binance","tag-bitcoin","tag-calibra","tag-canada","tag-cas-piancey","tag-cbdc","tag-coinbase","tag-cyrus-r-vance","tag-david-birch","tag-david-marcus","tag-de-nederlandsche-bank","tag-defi","tag-diem","tag-dogecoin","tag-drw-cumberland","tag-el-salvador","tag-etf","tag-facebook","tag-federal-reserve","tag-flipside-crypto","tag-free-ton","tag-ftc","tag-ftx","tag-greg-monahan","tag-jamaica","tag-ken-kurson","tag-libra","tag-links","tag-metaverse","tag-modern-consensus","tag-neel-kashkari","tag-netherlands","tag-novi","tag-okex","tag-ontario","tag-osc","tag-paxos","tag-proshares","tag-protos","tag-riccardo-spagni","tag-robinhood","tag-sec","tag-silvergate-bank","tag-soulja-boy","tag-south-africa","tag-south-korea","tag-tally","tag-uniswap","tag-united-kingdom","tag-us-treasury","tag-usdc","tag-van-eck","tag-vlad-tenev","tag-whatsapp","tag-wikipedia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/crypto-aktion.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20267","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=20267"}],"version-history":[{"count":58,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20890,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20267\/revisions\/20890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}