{"id":23750,"date":"2022-09-02T22:00:35","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T22:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=23750"},"modified":"2022-09-02T22:45:45","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T22:45:45","slug":"news-failed-football-sponsorships-hetzner-v-ethereum-saylors-dc-tax-crypto-com-forgets-aud10m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2022\/09\/02\/news-failed-football-sponsorships-hetzner-v-ethereum-saylors-dc-tax-crypto-com-forgets-aud10m\/","title":{"rendered":"News: Failed football sponsorships, Hetzner v. Ethereum, Saylor&#8217;s DC tax, Crypto.com forgets AUD$10m"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>For September only, <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/book\/\"><em>Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain<\/em><\/a> is discounted in India to INR 149 on Kindle! Tell everyone you know! [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.in\/Attack-50-Foot-Blockchain-Contracts-ebook\/dp\/B073CPP581\"><i>Amazon India<\/i><\/a>]<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019ll be speaking at the <strong>Crypto Policy Symposium<\/strong> on Monday 5 September, for sessions on \u201cIs Crypto the New Internet?\u201d (4:00pm) and \u201cCryptopia: Land of the promised\u201d (5:30pm). There are also lots of good sessions on Tuesday 6 September. We\u2019re doing it all by video, so tune into the streams! [<a href=\"https:\/\/crypto-policy.tech\/\"><i>Crypto Policy Symposium<\/i><\/a>]<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019ll be going to Nashville, Tennessee for the <strong>North American Security Administrators\u2019 Association (NASAA) Annual Meeting<\/strong>, 18\u201320 September. I\u2019m on the panel \u201cProtecting Investors and Consumers in the Age of Digital Assets\u201d on Monday 19 September at 1:45pm. [<a href=\"https:\/\/register.nasaa.org\/imis\/Events\/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=2022Fall\"><i>NASAA<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/learn.nasaa.org\/2022-nasaa-fall-annual-meeting-3\"><i>NASAA<\/i><\/a>]<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">This newsletter is funded by my Patreon \u2014 your $5 or $20 a month helps enormously.\u00a0 And patrons can get a couple of<a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/bitcoin-it-cant-be-that-stupid.png\"> \u201cBitcoin: It Can\u2019t Be That Stupid<\/a>\u201d stickers just by messaging me and asking. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/davidgerard\/overview\"><em>Patreon<\/em><\/a>]<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">I have<a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/11\/26\/get-signed-copies-of-libra-shrugged-and-attack-of-the-50-foot-blockchain\/\"> signed author copies of the books<\/a> for sale.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/#byemail\">Click here and enter your email address<\/a> for every new post I make as it goes up!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2022\/09\/02\/news-failed-football-sponsorships-hetzner-v-ethereum-saylors-dc-tax-crypto-com-forgets-aud10m\/clubdeportivoespano\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-23760\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-23760\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/clubdeportivoespano.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"510\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/clubdeportivoespano.jpg 680w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/clubdeportivoespano-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/clubdeportivoespano-348x215.jpg 348w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Jimmy Hill\u2019s satanic reign<\/h3>\n<p>Argentinian fraudster Leonardo Cositorto built a crypto-based Ponzi scheme, Zoe Cash, that promised to multiply investors\u2019 money three hundred times. Zoe Cash used failing football clubs as a marketing tool. Deportivo Espa\u00f1ol players were paid in Zoe Cash, and the company bribed police officers (in filthy fiat) to keep the authorities quiet. Cositorto was arrested in April. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ambito.com\/finanzas\/criptomonedas\/el-club-deportivo-espanol-le-pagara-sus-jugadores-n5278291\"><i>Ambito<\/i><\/a><i>, in Spanish, 2021; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mpfcordoba.gob.ar\/zoe-fue-detenido-leonardo-cositorto-en-republica-dominicana\/\"><i>Ministerio P\u00fablico Fiscal C\u00f3rdoba<\/i><\/a><i>, in Spanish<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Major Italian football team Inter Milan did a three-year sponsorship deal in January with Zytara Labs for their DigitalBits \u201cblockchain for brands,\u201d as did a few other Italian football clubs. DigitalBits wasn\u2019t so good at the bit where they&#8217;d give Inter their 20 million EUR in filthy fiat. Inter have removed DigitalBits\u2019 branding from their website and stadium in the meantime. AS Roma are also wondering about their 35 million EUR. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilsole24ore.com\/art\/digitalbits-quotazione-caduta-libera-e-ritardi-pagamenti-all-inter-AEUhLepB\"><i>Il Sole 24 Ore<\/i><\/a><i>, in Italian; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.com\/news\/football-heavyweight-inter-sweating-over-crypto-firms-non-payment-of-sponsorship-deal.htm\"><i>CryptoNews<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Crypto.com pulled the plug at the last moment on a $495 million sponsorship deal with the UEFA Championship League. Crypto.com pleaded \u201cregulatory concerns in the U.K., France and Italy\u201d \u2014 and not anything to do with their recent ill fortune and massive layoffs. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/business\/2022\/09\/01\/cryptocom-pulls-plug-on-495m-champions-league-sponsorship-deal-report\/\"><i>CoinDesk<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Richard Heart\u2019s Hex did a deal with League One (third division) Barnsley FC \u2014 whose usual sponsors are local businesses, and who started this season with a cancer charity logo on their shirts. The Hex deal puzzled fans, who started looking into this investment scheme claiming 38% returns, and got abusive and homophobic responses from Hex fans and promoters. \u201cBarnsley owe their fans an explanation of how they came to sign up to what is little more than a digital pyramid scheme with clear designs on their fans\u2019 wallets.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.com\/3519098\/2022\/08\/19\/barnsley-fans-cryptocurrency-sponsor\/\"><i>The Athletic<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Hetzner decentralises Ethereum<\/h3>\n<p>In 2021, German cloud hosting company <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/05\/22\/news-everybody-hates-chia-defi100-rugpull-china-versus-mining-china-versus-crypto\/\">Hetzner kicked the Chia proof-of-trashed-hard-disks cryptocurrency off the service.<\/a> Now they\u2019re telling Ethereum nodes to just bugger off: [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/hetzner\/comments\/wucxs4\/is_it_allowed_to_run_a_crypto_block_chain_node\/ilfoj8u\/?context=3\"><i>Reddit<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Using our products for any application related to mining, even remotely related, is not permitted. This includes Ethereum. It includes proof of stake and proof of work and related applications. It includes trading. It is true for all of our products, except colocation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The coiner tears in response to this Reddit comment have been glorious.<\/p>\n<p>About 16% of Ethereum nodes were on Hetzner. About 54% were on Amazon AWS. Decentralisation! [<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/hetzner-anti-crypto-policies-a-wake-up-call-for-ethereum-s-future\"><i>CoinTelegraph<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>This is all because Hetzner is in the pocket of Big Nocoin \u2014 the blog you\u2019re reading now is hosted there.<\/p>\n<h3>I fought the law<\/h3>\n<p>Michael Saylor of MicroStrategy has been sued for income tax evasion in Washington DC \u2014 the District alleges that he lived in DC most of the year, and put his residential address as Florida. Saylor appears to have been busted by a whistleblower, who will collect a tidy reward if the District wins. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AGKarlRacine\/status\/1565031380471382019\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/oag.dc.gov\/release\/ag-racine-sues-dc-based-billionaire-michael-saylor\"><i>OAGDC<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/oag.dc.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-08\/2022-08-22%20Complaint%20in%20Intervention_0.pdf\"><i>OAGDC<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>In May 2021, Crypto.com transferred AUD$10,474,143 to a Melbourne customer\u2019s account \u2014 instead of the $100 refund they were trying to send. You\u2019d almost think it was on the blockchain \u2014 it took them seven months to realise, and another six months to get the money back. The woman used AUD$1.35 million of the money to buy a fancy house in the meantime. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.heraldsun.com.au\/business\/cryptocom-unit-foris-gfs-transferred-107m-to-melbourne-woman-thevamanogari-manivel-by-mistake-court-hears\/news-story\/814911fc6f50d975ed9ea68c015d722d\"><i>Herald Sun<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heraldsun.com.au\/news\/victoria\/cryptocom-goes-to-court-to-recoup-105m-it-incorrectly-sent-to-melbourne-woman\/news-story\/1e2d91d007d1257593cf5d0d99f1477d\"><i>Herald Sun<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>South Korea is prosecuting the \u201ccrypto kimchi\u201d trade. Because of capital controls in South Korea, cryptos traded for higher prices in the country than outside, and individuals would buy cryptos outside for sale inside \u2014 thus evading the capital controls. The Customs Service prosecuted 16 individuals, some of whom were traders and some of whom were intermediaries. [<a href=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.com\/news\/16-arrested-in-south-korea-over-suspected-crypto-kimchi-premium-trading-violations.htm\"><i>CryptoNews<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/news.kbs.co.kr\/news\/view.do?ncd=5545270\"><i>KBS<\/i><\/a><i>, in Korean<\/i>]<\/p>\n<h3>Fol de rol<\/h3>\n<p>Remember that NFT thing? Wasn&#8217;t it dumb as hell. Anyway, trades on OpenSea are down 99% on three months ago. Meanwhile, Facebook has finally rolled out NFTs \u2014 sorry, \u201cdigital collectibles\u201d \u2014 in Instagram. [<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2022\/08\/29\/nfts-opensea-crypto-winter-bubble-blockchain-web3\/\"><i>Fortune<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/about.fb.com\/news\/2022\/05\/introducing-digital-collectibles-to-showcase-nfts-instagram\/\"><i>Facebook<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/29\/23327128\/nft-instagram-facebook-meta-blockchain-wallet-opensea\"><i>The Verge<\/i><\/a>]<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2022\/08\/29\/nfts-opensea-crypto-winter-bubble-blockchain-web3\/\">\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>As her husband \u2014 who is also famous \u2014 is in the media right now, former model Melania Trump continues to promote her NFT line. [<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2022\/08\/30\/politics\/melania-trump-mar-a-lago-search\/index.html\"><i>CNN<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Marc Andreesen, 2014: bitcoin is like the internet in 1994! [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/markets\/2014\/03\/25\/andreessen-at-coinsummit-bitcoin-today-is-the-internet-in-1994\/\"><i>CoinDesk<\/i><\/a>]<br \/>\nMarc Andreesen, 2022, eight years later: bitcoin is like the internet in 1995! [<a href=\"https:\/\/a16zcrypto.com\/state-of-crypto-report-a16z-2022\/\"><i>a16z<\/i><\/a>]<br \/>\nAndreesen must be counting in doge years.<\/p>\n<p>Bloomberg explains Web3: &#8220;The idea that they\u2019d want to get into a complicated financial transaction, with a nuanced risk\/reward calculus, to play a game or listen to a podcast, probably sounds fun to a few galaxy-brained VCs \u2014 and pretty much no one else.&#8221; [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-06-28\/web3-is-the-big-idea-customers-didn-t-ask-for\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Skarredghost writes an entirely accurate guide to how <i>you<\/i> can write an article about the metaverse in nine minutes. [<a href=\"https:\/\/skarredghost.com\/2022\/08\/18\/how-to-article-metaverse\/\"><i>blog post<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Magdalene analyses the \u201cwomen in crypto\u201d movement fronted by female celebrities as an affinity fraud \u2014 \u201cmere performative empowerment, as it only self-served the financially privileged (and in some cases, influential) women, while neglecting those who came from marginalized communities.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/magdalene.co\/story\/crypto-queen-or-girlboss-how-the-crypto-hype-empowers-privileged-women\"><i>Magdalene<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s me on CNN Business Nightcap on Thursday 1 September, talking about the collapse of the NFT market. The host particularly wanted to address actor Reese Witherspoon\u2019s promotion of NFTs specifically to women. [<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/videos\/business\/2022\/09\/01\/nightcap-inflation-nft-williams-full-orig.cnn\"><i>CNN<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Birmingham School of Business School<\/h3>\n<p>The past year of frantic crypto marketing didn\u2019t lure in a lot of fresh suckers. A Pew survey last September had 16% of Americans saying they\u2019d touched crypto; a recent survey also shows 16%. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/CRYPT-NFT-Methods-and-Topline-final.pdf\"><i>Pew Research<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2022\/08\/24\/cryptos-massive-marketing-efforts-have-drawn-few-new-investors\/\"><i>Washington Post<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>A June survey by DebtHammer showed a pile of American crypto gamblers \u2014 don\u2019t pretend they were \u201cinvestors\u201d \u2014 who borrowed money and didn\u2019t pay bills so they could <i>buy more crypto.<\/i> 21% took out a loan to buy crypto. 11% used a payday loan or title loan at around 400% APR. 19% missed bill payments because they were buying crypto. Elon Musk is one of the most trusted crypto investment advisors. [<a href=\"https:\/\/debthammer.org\/cryptocurrency-survey\/\"><i>DebtHammer<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Euronews spoke to some British crypto buyers who borrowed their way into trouble. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/next\/2022\/08\/29\/i-thought-taking-out-a-loan-to-invest-in-crypto-was-a-good-decision-then-i-lost-most-of-it\"><i>Euronews<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>David Rosenthal has done a literature survey on crypto market pumps and dumps. [<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.dshr.org\/2022\/07\/pump-and-dump-schemes.html\"><i>blog post<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>I left my head and heart on the dance floor<\/h3>\n<p>Telegram shut down their Telegram Open Network blockchain when they <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/05\/14\/telegram-gives-up-on-the-telegram-open-network\/\">gave up fighting the SEC in 2020.<\/a> A completely independent effort called Free TON took Telegram\u2019s software and started another blockchain \u2014 which is also called the Telegram Open Network, though it definitely has nothing to do with Telegram. Also, Telegram was looking last month to incorporate Free TON\u2019s Telegram Open Network cryptocurrency <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2022\/08\/17\/news-starbucks-nfts-reddit-karma-points-on-the-blockchain-saylor-fired-telegram-ico-slight-return\/\">into the Telegram application,<\/a> even as it definitely has nothing to do with them.<\/p>\n<p>Pavel Durov, Telegram\u2019s founder, is now floating the idea of Telegram running a new auction marketplace on Free TON\u2019s blockchain. Good thing it has nothing to do with Telegram, and they aren\u2019t violating the judge\u2019s orders in any way. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/post\/164883\/telegram-founder-floats-new-auction-marketplace\"><i>The Block<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Regulatory clarity<\/h3>\n<p>Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL08), chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, has written to US regulators and to the crypto exchanges Coinbase, FTX, Binance US, Kraken, and KuCoin to ask what they\u2019re doing \u201cto combat cryptocurrency-related fraud and scams.\u201d The Committee has asked the exchanges to produce \u201call documents\u201d on their efforts to combat crypto-related scams, their fraud-flagging processes, their policies on traders and cryptocurrencies, and any discussions of \u201cwhether to adopt more stringent policies.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/news\/press-releases\/chairman-krishnamoorthi-requests-information-from-federal-agencies-and-crypto\"><i>House.gov<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Bloomberg noted in June how crypto lobbyists were spending more money on lobbying than the US defense industry. Public Citizen posted in March a breakdown of who was spending money on lobbying, where the money was coming from, and the revolving door between regulators and the crypto industry. Note that this was before the bubble popped. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-06-02\/crypto-industry-eclipses-defense-big-pharma-in-political-giving\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.org\/article\/capitol-coin-cryptocurrency-lobbying-revolving-door-report\/\"><i>Public Citizen<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Singapore is looking at tightening what cryptos retail investors can buy and \u201cadding frictions,\u201d said Ravi Menon of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). There should be new rules up for comment in October 2022. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/finance\/singapore-mulls-tightening-cryptocurrency-trading-by-retail-investors-2022-08-29\/\"><i>Reuters<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Sopnendu Mohanty of MAS said in June that Singapore would be be \u201cbrutal and unrelentingly hard\u201d on bad behaviour from crypto promoters. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/aae591e1-b291-493c-94c6-6babcb682831\"><i>FT<\/i><\/a><i>, paywalled<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Lael Brainard of the Federal Reserve says that FedNow, the US\u2019s free instant 24\/7 payment system in the manner of the similar tremendously successful systems in civilised countries, is progressing nicely. It should be live by May or June 2023. What this means is: so much for a Fed CBDC. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/newsevents\/speech\/brainard20220829a.htm\"><i>Federal Reserve<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Alison Jimenez analyses three years of\u00a0 consumer complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about crypto companies. [<a href=\"https:\/\/securitiesanalytics.com\/cfpb-cryptocurrency-complaints\/\"><em>DSA<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Former CFTC Commissioner Jill Sommers has joined the board of FTX US Derivatives, which was known as LedgerX until FTX bought it last year. Sommers left the CFTC in 2013. That\u2019s a very slowly revolving door. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/former-cftc-commissioner-jill-sommers-joins-ftx-us-derivatives-board-301616429.html\"><i>press release<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>New facts emerge<\/h3>\n<p>The Mt Gox bankruptcy is proceeding with &#8230; something? The trustee has the great big pile of bitcoins ready to distribute to creditors, but this didn&#8217;t end up happening in August. The trustee appears to still be sorting out claims for distribution, and has asked creditors to stop selling their claims for a bit so that they can finalise the list of who needs to be paid. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mtgox.com\/img\/pdf\/20220831_announcement_en.pdf\"><i>Mt. Gox<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>The Wall Street Journal covers the Tether stablecoin again. You\u2019ll be shocked to hear that Tether\u2019s long-promised audit is \u201clikely months\u201d away. As Matt Levine says: \u201cThis article is from Saturday, though it could be from any time in the last five years.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/tether-says-audit-is-still-months-away-as-crypto-market-falters-11661568971\"><i>WSJ<\/i><\/a><i>, paywalled; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/opinion\/articles\/2022-08-29\/musk-tries-a-new-way-out-of-twitter\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Adam Neumann\u2019s company WeWork set several billion dollars of venture capital money on fire, renting out office space below cost price. Neumann was paid one billion dollars to go away \u2014 which is a pretty sweet deal, if you can swing it. Neumann\u2019s back with a new thing, Flow, which will \u201cWeWork-ify the residential real estate sector\u201d \u2014 whatever that means. Flow includes a crypto wallet, which you can use for everything except &#8230; paying Flow your rent. a16z has given Flow $350 million so far. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/davidjeans\/2022\/08\/17\/adam-neumanns-flow-a16z-crypto\/?sh=6adbcc5923a2\"><i>Forbes<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Shodan is a search engine used by hackers to find computers with known exploits that they can attack. Shodan has found that not even black-hat hackers try to use crypto as currency: \u201cIt&#8217;s clear that from our perspective crypto is still not widely used as a form of payment. We once again disabled it on the website and maybe we&#8217;ll try it again in another 10 years.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.shodan.io\/accepting-crypto-a-vendor-perspective\/\"><i>blog post<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Remember <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/libra\/\">that Libra thing that Facebook was working on<\/a> a few years ago? WhatsApp in India is getting closer to realising Facebook\u2019s, ambitions to be a WeChat-style \u201csuper app\u201d \u2014 you just live your life in it, and spend your money. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/29\/23326687\/whatsapp-jiomart-india-super-app-grocery-shopping\"><i>The Verge<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Why isn\u2019t the Wikipedia page on Tornado Cash indexed in Google? Is it being suppressed? Brady Dale from Axios investigates. (The answer is: the page is under 90 days old.) [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BradyDale\/status\/1562497991323176961\"><i>Twitter thread<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Guest informant<\/h3>\n<p>Molly White of Web 3 Is Going Great has a newsletter and a Patreon. You should subscribe to both. She\u2019s also starting as an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet &amp; Society at Harvard University. [<a href=\"https:\/\/newsletter.mollywhite.net\/issue-2\/\"><i>Whitespace<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/mollywhite\/\"><i>Patreon<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/cyber.harvard.edu\/people\/molly-white\"><i>Harvard<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Algorithmic stablecoins <i>cannot<\/i> be provably stable. Data Finnovation <i>et al.<\/i> sets out why. [<a href=\"https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4202600\"><i>SSRN<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>David Rosenthal: Are Blockchains Decentralized? Well, no. A post summarising a pile of work on this question. [<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.dshr.org\/2022\/06\/are-blockchains-decentralized.html\"><i>blog post<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Living on video<\/h3>\n<p>Me on the Rational Reminder podcast! Sound is not so great \u2014 Zoom was playing up, so I just did the whole thing shouting at my phone from a distance in an echoey room \u2014 but the content is excellent, and there\u2019s a transcript. This is one in a whole series of podcasts on the crypto world. [<a href=\"https:\/\/rationalreminder.ca\/podcast\/crypto12\"><i>Rational Reminder<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Bloomberg: Bitcoin price drop underscores crypto\u2019s overstated value \u2014 with quotes from me on why \u201cmarket cap\u201d is a virtual number that doesn\u2019t tell you anything useful. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-08-26\/bitcoin-price-drop-underscores-crypto-s-overstated-value\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Will crypto disappear? No, but that\u2019s a different question to how interesting it is as a financial instrument \u2014 with quotes from me. [<a href=\"https:\/\/currency.com\/can-crypto-disappear\"><i>Currency<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Associated Press: Bitcoin drops below $20,000 as crypto selloff quickens. With quotes from me. [<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cryptocurrency-technology-financial-markets-bitcoin-873a92a17402bf1510755e3ad4901869\"><i>AP<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Crypto crisis: how digital currencies went from boom to collapse. With quotes from me. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2022\/jun\/29\/crypto-crisis-digital-currencies-boom-collapse-bitcoin-terra\"><i>Guardian<\/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 obsessed, you&#39;re obsessed.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Crypto?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Crypto<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/bitcoin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#bitcoin<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ponzi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ponzi<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/blockchain?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blockchain<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dsquareddigest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@dsquareddigest<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidgerard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@davidgerard<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nRAZSnY8IO\">pic.twitter.com\/nRAZSnY8IO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CONCERNED CITIZENS OF NAVARRO COUNTY (@CCofNavarro) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CCofNavarro\/status\/1562170415241371650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 23, 2022<\/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\">I FOUND A BITCOIN ON THE GROUND AND ADDED IT TO MY WALLET. TURND OUT IT WAS LACED WITH FENTANYL!! ALL MY APES GONE!<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; jenny_tightpants\ud83e\ude91 (@halomancer1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/halomancer1\/status\/1548456836897984512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 16, 2022<\/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 only way to establish balance in the universe is for all the crypto bros to fight all the mlm women to the death like in a marvel movie<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Melissa Ong (@MelissaOng69420) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MelissaOng69420\/status\/1558678386507075585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 14, 2022<\/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&#39;S JUST A RECEIPT THAT &quot;PROVES&quot; YOU HAVE OWNERSHIP OF A THING, WHEN YOU DONT ACTUALLY OWN IT IN ANY LEGAL SENSE. YOU SEE THERES THIS GUY CALLED PETER THIEL, AND HES ACTUALLY A VAMPIRE WHO DRINKS THE BLOOD OF YOUNG PEOPLE TO LIVE LONGER, BUT ANYWAY BASICALLY HES TRYING TO BUILD <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WX3axZbQBj\">pic.twitter.com\/WX3axZbQBj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; m\u00fcnecat (@munecatmusic) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/munecatmusic\/status\/1560672403574837250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 19, 2022<\/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\">after we are done with sex we must redistribute that other must precious resource, Debate. hundreds of boys&#8211;known in their community as &quot;indebs&quot;&#8211;struggle online because girls will not debate them<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chris Mohney (@chrismohney) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chrismohney\/status\/993893266838966272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 8, 2018<\/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\">i love seeing the relief on managerial types&#39; faces when I tell them that it&#39;s not just them that doesn&#39;t get it and cr*ptoc*rr*ncy is in fact nonsense<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; the government man (@me_irl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/me_irl\/status\/1557769146926043140?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 11, 2022<\/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\">Dear venture capitalists,<\/p>\n<p>Please do some research before you invite me to invest in your startup. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Gu91Tkpv6i\">pic.twitter.com\/Gu91Tkpv6i<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Grady_Booch\/status\/1563252338952876032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 26, 2022<\/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\">1942. Flann O&#39;Brien invents the NFT. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aeTaIOMOk9\">pic.twitter.com\/aeTaIOMOk9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; P Nielsen Hayden (@pnh) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pnh\/status\/1564683350765236224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 30, 2022<\/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>Come and see me in Nashville!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[3220,2833,612,2317,3209,3213,1853,684,3215,3207,3210,82,444,1515,1538,2916,1769,1798,2263,1571,2821,3208,2035,3219,1514,1348,3205,6,1887,2752,2418,1929,2685,88,2020,2181,1499,1510,3216,3222,3217,3214,3221,117,3218,119,1449,1096,39,1796,3212,552,2602,1496,1287,209,3206,3211],"class_list":["post-23750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-adam-neumann","tag-alison-jimenez","tag-andreessen-horowitz","tag-argentina","tag-as-roma","tag-barnsley-fc","tag-crypto-com","tag-david-rosenthal","tag-debthammer","tag-deportivo-espanol","tag-digitalbits","tag-ethereum","tag-facebook","tag-federal-reserve","tag-fednow","tag-flow","tag-free-ton","tag-ftx","tag-hetzner","tag-hex","tag-instagram","tag-inter-milan","tag-italy","tag-jill-sommers","tag-lael-brainard","tag-ledgerx","tag-leonardo-cositorto","tag-links","tag-mas","tag-melania-trump","tag-metaverse","tag-michael-saylor","tag-molly-white","tag-mt-gox","tag-nft","tag-opensea","tag-pavel-durov","tag-podcast","tag-raja-krishnamoorthi","tag-rational-reminder","tag-ravi-menon","tag-reese-witherspoon","tag-shodan","tag-singapore","tag-sopnendu-mohanty","tag-south-korea","tag-stablecoin","tag-telegram","tag-tether","tag-tornadocash","tag-uefa","tag-washington","tag-web3","tag-wework","tag-whatsapp","tag-wikipedia","tag-zoe-cash","tag-zytara-labs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/clubdeportivoespano.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23750","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=23750"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23795,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23750\/revisions\/23795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}