{"id":20576,"date":"2021-09-21T22:17:26","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T22:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=20576"},"modified":"2021-09-22T18:45:13","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T18:45:13","slug":"news-bitcoin-miners-cant-sell-their-bitcoins-sushiswap-theft-coinbase-lend-crypto-seasteading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/09\/21\/news-bitcoin-miners-cant-sell-their-bitcoins-sushiswap-theft-coinbase-lend-crypto-seasteading\/","title":{"rendered":"News: Bitcoin miners can&#8217;t sell their bitcoins, SushiSwap theft, Coinbase Lend, crypto seasteading"},"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 books are in stock,<\/a> with a free sticker while they last! I just got some more in. \u00a325 the pair, plus post\/pack\/track \u00a36 UK, \u00a310 Europe, \u00a312 rest of the world.<\/li>\n<li>If you like what I do, sign up for the Patreon \u2014 your $5 or $20 a month really does help. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/davidgerard\"><i>Patreon<\/i><\/a>]<\/li>\n<li>If you\u2019re new here, don\u2019t forget to subscribe to get every new post by email! [<a href=\"#byemail\"><i>scroll down, or click here<\/i><\/a>]<\/li>\n<li>This post was very long as it was, so El Salvador news will be next time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Said the guy who has been living in El Salvador for several years, barely talks any spanish and writes english-only tweets where impersonates a social-project lead by salvadorans. \ud83c\udf7f\ud83e\udd2d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9R15A0eIrJ\">https:\/\/t.co\/9R15A0eIrJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; mxgxw.\u03b1 (@mxgxw_alpha) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mxgxw_alpha\/status\/1440004213560512523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 20, 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>\u2019Twas on the good ship \u2019Toshi, by Craig you should have seen us, it was a little squashy and the end result was &#8220;penis&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p>Chad Elwartowski is a man who won\u2019t give up. In 2019, he set up a <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/04\/18\/news-craig-wright-sues-to-be-called-satoshi-kleiman-deposition-satoshis-treasure-quadriga-eos\/\">floating coffin,<\/a> twelve nautical miles off the coast of Thailand, and declared himself a sovereign country, independent of your statist oppression! Local authorities noted that intent to impact the sovereignty or deteriorate the independence of the state carried the <i>death penalty<\/i>. Elwartowski demurred.<\/p>\n<p>Unfazed, Elwartowski decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/11\/10\/news-bitcoin-goes-up-reggie-fowlers-lawyers-quit-pokemon-ancaps-buy-a-plague-ship\/\">buy an old cruise ship<\/a> in 2020, on sale cheap during the pandemic \u2014 Regal Princess, renamed Pacific Dawn, and then renamed Satoshi, because #notacult \u2014 and sell rooms to <s>gullible idiots<\/s> his fellow captains of industry.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, Elwartowski\u2019s plans to run an anarcho-capitalist plague ship <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/12\/24\/news-kodakcoin-is-dead-xrp-rip-us-on-stablecoins-seasteading-fails-again\/\">fell afoul of the statist jackboot of maritime regulation<\/a> \u2014 he couldn\u2019t get insurance for this idiot scheme.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie Elmhirst has written a heartwarming story in the Guardian about the disastrous voyage of Satoshi, the world\u2019s first cryptocurrency cruise ship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year, three cryptocurrency enthusiasts bought a cruise ship. They named it the Satoshi, and dreamed of starting a floating libertarian utopia. It didn\u2019t work out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For one thing, \u201cThe high seas, while appearing borderless and free, are, in fact, some of the most tightly regulated places on Earth. The cruise ship industry in particular is bound by intricate rules.\u201d It turns out that potentially deadly environments have <em>a lot of rules<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>For another, owning a boat is very like standing fully clothed under a cold shower while tearing up $100 notes. Seasteading is rapidly disproven by knowing anything about boats.<\/p>\n<p>This article is comedy plutonium, and is best savoured sitting back with a large cool drink. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2021\/sep\/07\/disastrous-voyage-satoshi-cryptocurrency-cruise-ship-seassteading\"><i>Guardian<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>You may also enjoy this Twitter thread, in which Samira Nadkarni, a journalist and academic who happens to be an expert on maritime law, live-tweets the article. &#8220;This is a lifetime original movie about a bunch of rich people dying at sea just waiting to happen.&#8221; [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SamiraNadkarni\/status\/1435615431147016195\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><i>(section title by SnoweCat7 on Reddit \/r\/buttcoin)<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I remember Patri&#39;s first seasteading institute website, which included his personal step-by-step process for creating a new libertarian nation on the ocean.<\/p>\n<p>Step 1 was &quot;Learn about sailing.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nick Disband the Police Mamatas \ud83e\udd3c\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\ud83c\udff4 (@NMamatas) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NMamatas\/status\/1435146494542110720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 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<h3>De&#8217;d in the Fi by my own DeFi<\/h3>\n<p>Let\u2019s pay someone we have no idea who they are to work on our financial system, and give them the keys to all our stuff! That will surely work out well. Sushiswap hired an anonymous contractor, and the contractor put a \u2018sploit into the code of MISO, Sushi\u2019s token platform, and hacked an NFT auction for 864.8 ETH.<\/p>\n<p>Sushiswap CTO Joseph DeLong explains: \u201cThe attacker inserted their own wallet address to replace the auctionWallet at the auction creation.\u201d DeLong called it a \u201csupply chain attack\u201d \u2014 though \u201cpull request: give me all the money\u201d isn\u2019t really a supply chain attack. At least DeLong didn\u2019t call it a \u201cbad hack thingy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The project is seeking Know-Your-Customer information on the attacker from Binance and FTX. In the finest libertarian tradition, they\u2019re threatening the exchanges with the FBI if they don\u2019t cough up. Binance are helping, but FTX may not have collected KYC at all.<\/p>\n<p>As I was quoted by Information Security Media Group: &#8220;DeFi apps are correctly viewed as a pi\u00f1ata written in Solidity.&#8221; [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bankinfosecurity.com\/hacker-makes-off-12-million-in-latest-defi-breach-a-17580\"><i>Bank Info Security<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Look, theft is bad, stop giggling. [<i>Twitter thread, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/7U3gO\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?attachment_id=\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20581\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-20581\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/shutterstock-hacker.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"510\" height=\"315\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Baby\u2019s on fire, but the market isn\u2019t<\/h3>\n<p>North American Bitcoin miners are seeing record months \u2014 as they \u201cstockpile\u201d 18,000 BTC! [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblockcrypto.com\/post\/117053\/north-american-bitcoin-miners-see-record-months-as-they-stockpile-18000-btc\"><i>The Block<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Not selling freshly-mined coins as soon as possible is unheard-of from crypto miners in the past ten years. Sometimes miners might keep some coins back if they know a pump is coming \u2014 but not most of a billion dollars\u2019 \u201cworth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The only reason I can think of for \u201cstockpiling\u201d coins is that &#8230; the liquidity doesn\u2019t exist to sell the BTC for actual dollars without crashing the price. The suckers have gone home.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m reminded of Bitmain\u2019s disastrous attempt to push Bitcoin Cash instead of BTC \u2014 and how they ended up with \u201cinventory\u201d of <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/08\/18\/news-bitmain-ipo-bitcoin-and-tether-terpin-v-att-nvidia-hates-crypto-vietman-blocks-mining-rigs-playboy-v-gbt-ethereum-ponzis-bitcoin-bail-maersk-v-shipping-industry\/\">1 million BCH<\/a> that nobody wanted to buy.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe there\u2019s a fabulously clever business move here other than &#8220;selling all the coins we&#8217;re mining would crash the price&#8221; \u2014 but every alternative reason I\u2019ve heard suggested is a more complicated variant of this.<\/p>\n<p>I doubt miners see BTC $1 million on the horizon either. Miners suddenly turning into moon boys for the first time in ten years is implausible.<\/p>\n<p>One \/r\/buttcoin poster suggested: \u201cTake the money from the investors to pay yourself and your bills while on paper your mining company continues to gain huge paper gains that you can then leverage to get more dollars, leaving your investors and the company&#8217;s creditors in ruins when your assets lose their value overnight.\u201d But again, this is hypothetical \u2014 we don\u2019t know of evidence they\u2019re doing this. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Buttcoin\/comments\/pl7wmb\/north_american_bitcoin_miners_see_record_months\/\"><i>Reddit<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Maybe they just love Bitcoin so much they just want to hug it all to themselves. Yeah, that must be it.<\/p>\n<p>New from Alex de Vries (Digiconomist) and Christian Stoll (MIT): &#8220;Bitcoin\u2019s growing e-waste problem&#8221; \u2014 Bitcoin mining produces 30.7 metric kilotons of electronic waste annually, equivalent to the Netherlands. That\u2019s half an iPad of e-waste average <i>per transaction<\/i>. The average Bitcoin mining rig lasts 1.29 years \u2014 and is likely never to mine a block in its existence. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0921344921005103?dgcid=author\"><i>Science Direct<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Crypto miner Luxxfolio has signed up to the Crypto Climate Accord \u201ccommitting\u201d them to power all their mining with 100% renewable electricity. How are they implementing this? By buying 15 megawatts of coal-fired power from the Navajo Nation! They\u2019re paying less than a tenth what other Navajo pay for their power \u2014 and 14,000 Navajo don\u2019t have <i>any<\/i> access to electricity. The local Navajo are not happy. [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.tmx.com\/en\/quote\/LUXX:CHI\/news\/5718111260601144\/LUXXFOLIO_signs_Crypto_Climate_Accord_reflecting_commitment_to_green_cryptocurrency_mining_and_exchange\"><i>press release<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NezLizer2018\/posts\/2840976859501172\"><i>Facebook<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Who says Bitcoin can&#8217;t compete with upstarts like Chia? The Guardian also quoted me on Chia\u2019s sterling work in the field of generating e-waste. (This was from a chat with Alex Hern a few months ago, but it\u2019s still valid and applicable.) [<i>Guardian, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/orc4g\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I&#39;m not saying you shouldn&#39;t do hard drugs, but maybe stop before you get to the point of thinking entropy is a left-wing conspiracy.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Jrn5wJjSO8\">https:\/\/t.co\/Jrn5wJjSO8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tom Morris  \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@tommorris) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tommorris\/status\/1436220351806050313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 10, 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>Regulatory clarity<\/h3>\n<p>The Financial Stability Oversight Council \u2014 whose job is making sure the 2008 financial crisis doesn&#8217;t happen again \u2014 is looking at deeming stablecoins a systemic risk. Representatives and senators previously threatened Facebook\u2019s Libra stablecoin with FSOC in 2019. The US Treasury also plans to flag stablecoins as a serious risk, per a leaked treasury report. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/exclusive-us-treasury-financial-industry-discuss-cryptocurrency-stablecoins-2021-09-10\/\"><i>Reuters<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2021-09-16\/treasury-to-flag-stablecoin-perils-as-u-s-readies-clampdown\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The Treasury is turning up the sanctions regime to stop ransomware. <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/10\/10\/news-mcafee-and-bitmex-busted-dont-pay-your-ransomware-morgan-beller-leaves-libra-sec-beats-kik\/\">Treasury alluded to this in 2020,<\/a> under the previous administration, but now they\u2019re going to \u201cissue fresh guidance to businesses on the risks associated with facilitating ransomware payments, including fines and other penalties.\u201d That means the crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/u-s-to-target-crypto-ransomware-payments-with-sanctions-11631885336\"><i>WSJ<\/i><\/a><i>, paywalled<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>The first crypto exchange to be sanctioned in its entirety for facilitating ransomware is Suex, in Russia. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/policy\/2021\/09\/21\/us-sanctions-enforcer-blacklists-a-crypto-exchange-for-first-time\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=NODE%20SEPT%2021%202021&amp;utm_term=The%20Node\"><i>CoinDesk<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey and Texas have told DeFi lender Celsius to stop offering interest-bearing accounts. Alabama has told Celsius to show cause why it shouldn\u2019t do the same. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.njoag.gov\/new-jersey-bureau-of-securities-orders-cryptocurrency-firm-celsius-to-halt-the-offer-and-sale-of-unregistered-interest-bearing-investments\/\"><i>NJ OAG<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2021-09-17\/texas-moves-against-celsius-over-unregistered-securities\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The New York Times tells the story of crypto lender BlockFi. It\u2019s pretty sympathetic to poor BlockFi, confused by the evil regulators not giving them an excuse to play shadow bank, but the explanations for the Ponzi-like returns are clearly implausible handwaving. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/09\/05\/us\/politics\/cryptocurrency-banking-regulation.html\"><i>NYT<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">One time I was on a conference call with Jerome Powell and no one was answering him when he asked how everyone was doing, so I unmuted myself and told him \u201cI\u2019m good. I just finished eating a sandwich.\u201d I hope he never forgets me.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Stephanie (@stelifanie) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stelifanie\/status\/1433826278604517378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 3, 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>Lie dream of a casino soul<\/h3>\n<p>Encouraged by BlockFi and now Celsuis\u2019s <i>complete lack<\/i> of any issues with the authorities, popular crypto exchange Coinbase decided it would get into the crypto lending game too \u2014 with Coinbase Lend! Coinbase would make loans, and you could buy a share in the loans. [<i>Coinbase, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/EKRNc\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>As it happens, this is a type of security called a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bond_(finance)\">bond<\/a>\u201d, and it\u2019s listed in the first page of the Securities Act of 1933.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC sent Coinbase a Wells Notice \u2014 the letter they send before prosecuting. Coinbase haven\u2019t put the letter up, but they did say it was the SEC threatening them with prosecution if they went ahead with Lend.<\/p>\n<p>Coinbase\u2019s CEO, Brian Armstrong, posted a Twitter thread about the SEC\u2019s \u201creally sketchy behavior,\u201d and Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal blogged about how \u201cWe don\u2019t know why.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brian_armstrong\/status\/1435439291715358721\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.coinbase.com\/the-sec-has-told-us-it-wants-to-sue-us-over-lend-we-have-no-idea-why-a3a1b6507009\"><i>Medium<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The responses divided roughly into:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>crypto people: darn that SEC and their vicious lack of regulatory clarity!<\/li>\n<li>non-crypto people: it&#8217;s clearly a bond, Coinbase can&#8217;t possibly be this stupid in real life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The SEC tweeted a helpful thirty-second video explaining what a bond was. [<i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sec_investor_ed\/status\/1435606347807006728\">Twitter<\/a><\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Doomberg wondered how the Wells Notice could be about Lend, because it hadn\u2019t launched yet &mdash; &#8220;you don\u2019t get a Wells Notice for something you are considering doing, you get one for deeds you\u2019ve already done.&#8221; But Coinbase filed an 8-K about the Wells Notice, saying it was for Lend. [<i><a href=\"https:\/\/doomberg.substack.com\/p\/coinbase-gets-a-wells-notice\">Substack<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/ix?doc=\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/0001679788\/000167978821000048\/coin-20210901.htm\">SEC<\/a><\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Coinbase insiders dumped a pile of stock the day they received the Wells Notice. Coinbase pointed out that the sale was scheduled in the proper manner \u2014 but you\u2019d think a Wells Notice was a sufficiently material event to cancel such a dump. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Bitfinexed\/status\/1435736957284409344\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.coinbase.com\/fact-check-coinbase-executive-share-sales-b0c252030267\"><i>Medium<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, Coinbase realised that a public company blatantly violating the Securities Act after an SEC warning is probably not a winning move \u2014 even if it gets you clout on crypto Twitter. Lend is no longer being offered. The company plans to still argue the point, though. [<i><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.coinbase.com\/sign-up-to-earn-4-apy-on-usd-coin-with-coinbase-cdad79e5f5eb\">Coinbase<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/Ef5EW\">archive<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CGasparino\/status\/1440363029405712384\">Twitter<\/a><\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>The Thailand SEC is revoking permission for the Huobi crypto exchange to operate in the country. The SEC investigated Huobi in February and March, and issued a notice in April. Huobi failed to come into compliance despite multiple extensions. Huobi must return all assets to Thai customers within 3 months. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.or.th\/TH\/Pages\/News_Detail.aspx?SECID=9103\"><i>Thailand SEC<\/i><\/a><i>, in Thai<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>South Korean crypto exchanges are required to have real-name bank accounts for their customers. This regulatory regime is so unduly harsh that a pile of <i>minor altcoin<\/i> exchanges \u2014 the local euphemism is \u201ckimchi coins\u201d \u2014 are getting shut down. The \u201cinvestors\u201d are whining that their <i>minor altcoins<\/i> will be untradeable. Oh no! Perhaps they could use their names? No, no, unacceptable. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/dccac69e-9ebe-468a-b089-4f40d77d5a80\"><i>FT<\/i><\/a><i>, paywalled<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>The CFTC investigates Binance for insider trading. Shocked to think a completely unregulated exchange might trade against its own customers! [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2021-09-17\/u-s-s-binance-probe-expands-to-examine-possible-insider-trading\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">So, I\u2019m obviously not saying that correlation is causation, but&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FkYNo1be2m\">pic.twitter.com\/FkYNo1be2m<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Robin Wigglesworth (@RobinWigg) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RobinWigg\/status\/1383494089702662148?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 17, 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>Putta block<\/h3>\n<p>Enterprise blockchain hype is going around again. <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/03\/05\/news-india-crypto-ban-north-korea-bitmex-execs-to-appear-ibm-blockchain-dead-more-mcafee-charges\/\">IBM&#8217;s largely out of the game,<\/a> but that doesn&#8217;t stop the scammers.<\/p>\n<p>Blockchain hype reflects the price of Bitcoin: it&#8217;s a way to say &#8220;Bitcoin&#8221; without saying &#8220;Bitcoin&#8221;. Or \u201cDeFi\u201d or \u201cNFT\u201d or whatever.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re faced with blockchain hype, here\u2019s the concise version of the antidote:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>What is a blockchain? Just an append-only ledger.<\/li>\n<li>Why is a blockchain? Weird <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/the-conspiracist-gold-bug-economics-of-bitcoin\/\">Bitcoin libertarianism<\/a> that doesn&#8217;t work.<\/li>\n<li>The magical promises are marketing BS with &#8220;tech&#8221; as the excuse.<\/li>\n<li>Sell good enough promises, you never even have to deliver! And it doesn\u2019t.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If you want a nice video version of that for a non-techie audience, this is what you&#8217;re after: <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/11\/21\/newmr-what-is-blockchain-a-primer-for-market-researchers-tuesday-20-november-2018\/\">22 minutes for the what and why,<\/a> listenable at 1.25&times;. Here\u2019s the <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/10\/09\/blockchain-why-magic-probably-doesnt-happen-how-to-sell-a-hash-tree-as-a-tech-revolution-royal-holloway-thursday-4-october-2018\/\">more techy version.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Microsoft shut down Azure Blockchain on 10 September. There were apparently customers, who have been moved to Consensys\u2019 Quorum Blockchain Service.<\/p>\n<p>I haven\u2019t heard a peep about Azure Blockchain shutting down since <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/05\/22\/news-everybody-hates-chia-defi100-rugpull-china-versus-mining-china-versus-crypto\/\">the announcement in May.<\/a> I&#8217;d have thought someone would care, but I can&#8217;t find anything. You&#8217;d almost think enterprise blockchain had always been hot air.<\/p>\n<p>The Azure Blockchain page is still up, listing use cases! I&#8217;m sure the companies in question are all <i>delighted<\/i>. I can&#8217;t find much solid evidence of any that kept going past the original 2019 press releases, but press releases are job number one in enterprise blockchain. [<a href=\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/solutions\/blockchain\/\"><i>Microsoft<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/3Qbur\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>My favourite recent press release on the subject is from Fortune Business Insights\u2122, using Microsoft Blockchain as evidence of enterprise blockchain&#8217;s startling upward curve in popularity &#8230; four days after it shut down. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globenewswire.com\/news-release\/2021\/09\/14\/2296299\/0\/en\/Blockchain-as-a-Service-BaaS-Market-Worth-24-94-Bn-at-39-5-CAGR-Tech-Conglomerates-Such-as-Microsoft-and-Oracle-to-Focus-on-Expanding-Applicability-of-BaaS-Tools-Fortune-Business-I.html\"><i>press release<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/l2561\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>China&#8217;s e-CNY (aka DC\/EP) central bank digital currency is the work of the People\u2019s Bank of China Digital Research Institute. It was inspired by blockchains \u2014 but doesn\u2019t run on one. Two years in, they&#8217;re still looking into whether using a blockchain is a good idea. I\u2019m pretty sure the only reason they\u2019re even considering it is blockchain hype. [<a href=\"https:\/\/finance.sina.com.cn\/blockchain\/roll\/2021-09-13\/doc-iktzscyx3969921.shtml\"><i>Sina<\/i><\/a><i>, in Chinese<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Universal cryptocurrency law: It is difficult to get the community of a cryptocurrency to understand something when the existence of the cryptocurrency depends on not understanding it.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sarah Jamie Lewis (@SarahJamieLewis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SarahJamieLewis\/status\/1438934997021253632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 17, 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>I fought the law<\/h3>\n<p>Cryptocurrency investment innovator and captain of industry Stefan Qin has been jailed for 7\u00bd years for running a Ponzi scheme. The SEC<a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/12\/24\/news-kodakcoin-is-dead-xrp-rip-us-on-stablecoins-seasteading-fails-again\/\"> filed suit in December 2020<\/a>, alleging that Qin \u201cfabricated records, failed to redeem $3.5 million in investments and sought to withdraw $1.7 million in investor funds to pay off Chinese loan sharks.\u201d Qin claimed his remarkable investment returns were from \u201ccryptocurrency arbitrage.\u201d He <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/03\/05\/news-india-crypto-ban-north-korea-bitmex-execs-to-appear-ibm-blockchain-dead-more-mcafee-charges\/\">pleaded guilty<\/a> in April 2021. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/ex-cryptocurrency-fund-manager-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-11631736989\"><i>WSJ<\/i><\/a><i>, paywalled<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>The SEC has fined GTV Media Group, Saraca Media Group and Voice of Guo Media, run by Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, $539 million, and the New York Attorney General has fined them around $480 million, for raising nearly half a billion dollars in unregistered offerings of company stock and &#8220;a digital asset security referred to as either G-Coins or G-Dollars.&#8221; Steve Bannon, the US\u2019s former dollar-store Rasputin, is an associate of Guo\u2019s and a former director of GTV. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/news\/press-release\/2021-175\"><i>SEC press release<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/litigation\/admin\/2021\/33-10979.pdf\"><i>SEC order<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/ag.ny.gov\/press-release\/2021\/attorney-general-james-secures-nearly-half-billion-dollars-resolve-illegal-stock\"><i>NYAG press release<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Ghaleb Alaumary has been offered an eleven-year exclusive government contract for his expertise in facilitating the international flow of value in commerce! Including to North Korea. \u201cAlaumary and his coconspirators used business email compromise schemes, ATM cash-outs and bank cyber-heists to steal money from victims and then launder the money through bank accounts and digital currency. He previously pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Georgia in two money laundering cases.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/international-money-launderer-sentenced-more-11-years-prison-laundering-millions-dollars\"><i>Justice Department<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Local business entrepreneur Chase Hite buys bitcoins for $35,000 in cash from an undercover IRS agent who is using the name &#8220;Mr Coins&#8221; via US mail, then proceeds to detail the workings of his entire drug empire via WhatsApp messages. The \u201cProbable Cause\u201d section of the warrant is the comedy gold. [<a href=\"https:\/\/s3.documentcloud.org\/documents\/21053100\/irs-undercover-sting-on-localcryptos.pdf\"><i>IRS<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">we are starting to live in a world where a man cant sell 200 containers of WBP ( White Boy Piss) withtout having to sign some kind of paper<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; wint (@dril) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dril\/status\/1435201023635705863?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 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<h3>Sales receipt fan fiction<\/h3>\n<p>Nate Chastain, a staff member at NFT exchange OpenSea, got busted front-running their customers \u2014 he\u2019d buy NFTs that were about to hit the front page, profiting from a quick resale. How did he get busted? Someone spotted the evidence on the blockchain and tweeted about it. Worldwide press ensued.<\/p>\n<p>OpenSea is an asset exchange pretending to be an art dealer. I was quoted in the BBC: \u201cIt&#8217;s jawdropping that OpenSea is only now making a rule that staff shouldn&#8217;t trade against their own customers. This is a worked example of the need for regulation in the crypto world, and it should be phrased so as to include NFT markets. It also shows that if you&#8217;re going to do something that might be questionable, then it&#8217;s probably unwise to do it on a permanent public blockchain that shows all transactions.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-58585342\"><i>BBC<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">why would anyone even go to an art museum if they can stay home and put their name in a spreadsheet next to a hash corresponding to a picture of a shiba inu<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Parker Higgins (@xor) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/xor\/status\/1437906349325684743?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 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<h3>Things happen<\/h3>\n<p>Mastercard Acquires CipherTrace to Enhance Crypto Capabilities and get itself some in-house crypto anti-money-laundering capacity. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20210909005577\/en\/Mastercard-Acquires-CipherTrace-to-Enhance-Crypto-Capabilities\"><i>Press release<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Revolving door: Previous CFTC commissioner (2017 to 2020) Brian Quintenz is joining Andreesen Horowitz as an \u201cadvisory partner\u201d on their crypto team. Let\u2019s see if this one also turns out to be a waterslide into the abyss. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrianQuintenz\/status\/1435917165006315523\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Remember the <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/11\/23\/ico-of-the-day-cryogen-bringing-crypto-and-cryonics-back-together-once-more\/\">KrioRus ICO from 2017,<\/a> which took money to fund cryonics, <i>i.e.<\/i>, freeze the bodies of foolish rich people who thought this was the path to immortality? The couple running KrioRus split up, one stole the frozen bodies and brains of the wealthy Brits and Americans who\u2019d signed up for this possibly-dumber-than-crypto idea, and they\u2019re at loggerheads over who\u2019s the rightful owner of the firm. Yes, it\u2019s the Daily Mail, but goodness me. [<i>Daily Mail, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/fwEiI\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>How Bitcoin adoption works, and why the Kiwix project, which does offline downloadable versions of wiki-based encyclopedias, won\u2019t be accepting Bitcoin donations: \u201cAt this stage there have been more people who came out of nowhere in two days to downvote our decision not to accept Bitcoin out of environnmental concern than there have <i>ever<\/i> been offers to donate in crypto over the past 4 years.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/kiwix\/web\/issues\/111\"><i>GitHub<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ANTI-CRIME COMPUTER <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4sDWobX6X6\">pic.twitter.com\/4sDWobX6X6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Batman 66 Labels (@BatLabels) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BatLabels\/status\/1433399515927699459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 2, 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>Hot takes<\/h3>\n<p>Ben Munster writes about the comedic world of DAOs. \u201cWhen I put it to the founder that she would be making the same amount of money as her subordinates, instead of the generous executive salary she was used to, she spoke with a hint of dismay. \u2018Yes,\u2019 she ruminated. \u2018That is something we\u2019ll have to figure out.\u2019\u201d Oops, I tried to do a capitalism, but I did a worker&#8217;s co-op. [<a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/80612\/live-by-the-dao-dao-by-the-dao\"><i>Decrypt<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Dan Davies tells <i>you<\/i> \u2014 yes, you, the crypto industry insider looking desperately for an exit into clean fiat actual-money \u2014 how to break into the lucrative career of SEC whistleblower \u2014 \u201cthe last place in banking where the average lunk can make nine figure bonuses.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.efinancialcareers.co.uk\/news\/2021\/09\/whistleblowing-sec\"><i>eFinancialCareers<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>FT goes in hard: Inside the cult of crypto. Chris DeRose is alive and well (hi Chris!) and still has a number of opinions on Bitcoin. He also appeared on Aviv Milner&#8217;s podcast. [<i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/9e787670-6aa7-4479-934f-f4a9fedf4829\">FT<\/a>, paywalled; <a href=\"https:\/\/anchor.fm\/when-the-music-stops\/episodes\/Bitcoin-Uncensored-w-Chris-DeRose-Tribute-Episode-e17k5t7\">Anchor.fm<\/a><\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Naked Scientists podcast: Confused by cryptocurrency? This is substantially an interview with me. It\u2019s a followup to my <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/04\/20\/news-coinbase-goes-public-bitcoin-hashrate-goes-down-nfts-go-down-proof-of-space-trashes-hard-disk-market\/\">previous podcast with these guys<\/a>, in April. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenakedscientists.com\/podcasts\/naked-reflections\/confused-crytocurrency\"><i>Naked Scientists<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;Last day as a 19 year old, I read the Lean Startup on Blinkist and minted an NFT. Here&#39;s everything I&#39;ve learned about business (1\/40 \ud83e\uddf5)&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jason Knight (@onejasonknight) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/onejasonknight\/status\/1439216964598108167?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 18, 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<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>\u2019Twas on the good ship \u2019Toshi, by Craig you should have seen us, it was a little squashy and the end result was \u201cpenis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20630,"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":[2379,612,918,568,21,74,1795,2463,916,167,2054,2461,2225,2465,1917,288,2457,196,479,1978,1552,657,2458,2455,2460,2459,87,9,7,2464,261,6,2454,986,350,1717,2453,2462,1370,2020,858,2181,1510,33,119,1449,2112,2456,1992,551,1438],"class_list":["post-20576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-alabama","tag-andreessen-horowitz","tag-azure","tag-binance","tag-bitcoin","tag-blockchain","tag-blockfi","tag-brian-quintenz","tag-celsius","tag-cftc","tag-chad-elwartowski","tag-chase-hite","tag-chia","tag-chris-derose","tag-ciphertrace","tag-coinbase","tag-coinbase-lend","tag-consensys","tag-dao","tag-dcep","tag-defi","tag-digiconomist","tag-fortune-business-insights","tag-fsoc","tag-ghaleb-alaumary","tag-guo-wengui","tag-huobi","tag-ico","tag-irs","tag-kiwix","tag-kriorus","tag-links","tag-luxxfolio","tag-mastercard","tag-microsoft","tag-mining","tag-miso","tag-nate-chastain","tag-new-jersey","tag-nft","tag-north-korea","tag-opensea","tag-podcast","tag-sec","tag-south-korea","tag-stablecoin","tag-stefan-qin","tag-suex","tag-sushiswap","tag-texas","tag-thailand"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/shutterstock-hacker.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20576","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=20576"}],"version-history":[{"count":60,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20641,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20576\/revisions\/20641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}