{"id":5694,"date":"2018-03-20T23:09:20","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T23:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=5694"},"modified":"2018-03-20T23:39:33","modified_gmt":"2018-03-20T23:39:33","slug":"news-petro-and-russia-illegal-porn-on-the-blockchain-tether-mt-gox-twitter-bans-crypto-ads-nsa-scans-bitcoin-kodak-earnings-call-sierra-leone-election-not-on-the-blockchain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/03\/20\/news-petro-and-russia-illegal-porn-on-the-blockchain-tether-mt-gox-twitter-bans-crypto-ads-nsa-scans-bitcoin-kodak-earnings-call-sierra-leone-election-not-on-the-blockchain\/","title":{"rendered":"News: Petro and Russia, illegal porn on the blockchain, Tether, Mt. Gox, Twitter bans crypto ads, NSA scans Bitcoin, Kodak earnings call, Sierra Leone election not on the blockchain"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>The Venezuelan Petro, one of the more weirdly stupid cryptocurrency ideas of late, is apparently a <a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/5206835\/exclusive-russia-petro-venezuela-cryptocurrency\/\">Russian plot<\/a> to weaken US sanctions in general. Or so Time thinks. Apparently, Russia didn&#8217;t want to risk destabilising the actual ruble with a <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/10\/16\/the-russian-cryptoruble-story-whats-actually-happening-here\/\">cryptoruble,<\/a> so they tried the experiment on their good friend Venezuela, who had nothing to lose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>And President Trump has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2018-03-19\/trump-prohibits-u-s-purchases-of-venezuelan-cryptocurrency\">emphasised<\/a> that even touching this Petro thing is a sanctions violation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Yep, there&#8217;s probably\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.acolyer.org\/2018\/03\/19\/a-quantitive-analysis-of-the-impact-of-arbitrary-blockchain-content-on-bitcoin\/\">illegal pornography on the Bitcoin blockchain.<\/a> From the <a href=\"https:\/\/fc18.ifca.ai\/preproceedings\/6.pdf\">research paper:<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Illegal and Condemned Content.<\/strong> Bitcoin\u2019s blockchain contains at least eight files with sexual content. While five files only show, describe, or link to mildly pornographic content, we consider the remaining three instances objectionable for almost all jurisdictions: Two of them are backups of link lists to child pornography, containing 274 links to websites, 142 of which refer to Tor hidden services. The remaining instance is an image depicting mild nudity of a young woman. In an online forum this image is claimed to show child pornography, albeit this claim cannot be verified (due to ethical concerns we refrain from providing a citation). Notably, two of the explicit images were only detected by our suspicious-transaction detector, i.e., they were not inserted via known services.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Bitmex Research is pretty sure that Tether is indeed <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.bitmex.com\/tether-addendum-new-financial-data-released-from-puerto-rico\/\">doing its banking in Puerto Rico.<\/a> Was Nicholas Prouty <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/02\/17\/news-tether-in-the-netherlands-and-puerto-rico-coinhive-thefts-cftc-pump-and-dump-bounties-the-market-is-stupid\/\">right?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/eurtprinter\/status\/976171354952273921\">Return<\/a> of the Tether Printer! 300 million Tethers printed, each and every one presumably backed by a US dollar. Possibly held in Puerto Rico.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just printed $300000000 USDT! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BCgt3SmwG0\">https:\/\/t.co\/BCgt3SmwG0<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/USDT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#USDT<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Tether?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Tether<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Crypto?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Crypto<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Not Tether Backup Printer Go BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR (@eurtprinter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/eurtprinter\/status\/976171354952273921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 20, 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<ul>\n<li>Apparently the Mt. Gox bankruptcy trustee, Nobukai Kobayashi, did not liquidate the Bitcoins by selling them to an exchange\u00a0\u2014 he <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/the-mt-gox-whale-explains-his-crypto-selling-strategy\/\">sold them privately.<\/a> It looks like it was that buyer that then <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/03\/09\/mt-gox-crashes-bitcoin-a-second-time-and-theres-more-to-come\/\">dumped them.<\/a> &#8220;Following consultation with cryptocurrency experts, I sold BTC and BCH, not by an ordinary sale through the BTC\/BCH exchange, but in a manner that would avoid affecting the market price, while ensuring the security of the transaction to the extent possible.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>First <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/business\/news\/new-ads-policy-improving-integrity-and-security-of-financial-product-and-services-ads\">Facebook,<\/a> then <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/03\/14\/google-bans-ads-for-dodgy-financial-products-including-cryptos\/\">Google<\/a> \u2014 now <a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/twitter-to-prohibit-range-of-cryptocurrency-ads-11293387\">Twitter is banning crypto ads.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Prosecution futures: according to documents <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2018\/03\/20\/the-nsa-worked-to-track-down-bitcoin-users-snowden-documents-reveal\/\">leaked<\/a> by Edward Snowden, the NSA worked to <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/document\/2018\/03\/20\/pages-from-oakstar-weekly-2013-03-08\">&#8220;track down senders and receivers of Bitcoins&#8221;<\/a> as of March 2013. They <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/document\/2018\/03\/20\/pages-from-oakstar-weekly-2013-03-29\/\">collected<\/a> password information, internet activity and your network card&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/MAC_address\">MAC address.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>New York to upstate Bitcoin mining operations: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.utilitydive.com\/news\/munis-to-charge-bitcoin-miners-higher-power-prices-in-new-york\/519275\/\">get knotted<\/a> \u2014 cities can charge a swingeing electricity tariff for local crypto miners. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www3.dps.ny.gov\/pscweb\/WebFileRoom.nsf\/Web\/52BF38680307E75E85258251006476F0\/$File\/pr18018.pdf?OpenElement\">Original document<\/a> from the New York Public Service Commission.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Kodak&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/seekingalpha.com\/article\/4156980-eastman-kodaks-kodk-ceo-jeff-clarke-q4-2017-results-earnings-call-transcript\">Q4 2017 earnings call<\/a> was on 15 March. Mentioned: <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/03\/08\/kodak-pt-5-kodakcoin-ico-light-paper-released\/\">KodakCoin.<\/a> Not mentioned: Kodak <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/01\/10\/kodak-pt-2-photographers-cant-sell-kodakcoin-and-the-kodak-kashminer-is-a-bitcoin-mining-scam\/\">KashMiner.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>CoinDesk on 8 March, believing everything it&#8217;s told by <a href=\"https:\/\/agora.vote\/\">a company<\/a> that&#8217;s about to run an ICO: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/sierra-leone-secretly-holds-first-blockchain-powered-presidential-vote\/\">Sierra Leone totally ran a blockchain-based election, guys!<\/a> (Note <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/TvAWh\">original headline.<\/a>) National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone, 19 March: &#8220;The NEC <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/03\/19\/sierra-leone-government-denies-the-role-of-blockchain-in-its-recent-election\/\">has not used and is not using<\/a> blockchain technology in any part of the electoral process.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8cLMVvQPkQ\">pic.twitter.com\/8cLMVvQPkQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (@NECsalone) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NECsalone\/status\/975773726703804419?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 19, 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<ul>\n<li>Scarlett Johansson\u2019s Picture Got My Postgres Database to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imperva.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/deep-dive-database-attacks-scarlett-johanssons-picture-used-for-crypto-mining-on-postgre-database\/\">Start Mining Monero<\/a> \u2014 a file containing both a JPEG image and an exploit binary, picked up by a database left open to the hostile Internet as a honeypot.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>What to do about accidents involving self-driving cars? <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/whos-to-blame-when-driverless-cars-have-an-accident-93132\">&#8220;The solution we propose uses permissioned blockchain,&#8221;<\/a> because of course it does. Also, it&#8217;s yet another proposal that everyone live in a total surveillance panopticon, but with blockchain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/2018\/03\/11\/why-blockchain-isnt-ready-for-primetime\/\">Why blockchain isn\u2019t ready for primetime.<\/a> Sometimes one has to patiently repeat what should be obvious.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The Internet Society is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/resources\/doc\/2018\/blockchain-identity\/\">not optimistic either.<\/a> &#8220;Despite early excitement about their general security properties, on closer inspection we find that the original public blockchains are generally not a good fit for Identity and Access Management.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaints against Coinbase <a href=\"https:\/\/www.valuepenguin.com\/cfpb-complaints-about-cryptocurrencies\">rise as the price goes down.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">whuh whuh what do you mean &quot;number go down&quot; THIS IS AN OUTRAGE <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iDv1fLczgP\">https:\/\/t.co\/iDv1fLczgP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/975785081146134530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 19, 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<ul>\n<li>For the first time in my life, I&#8217;m in the <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.is\/7ENLc\">Daily Express.<\/a> In the meantime, you should <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/03\/01\/get-a-signed-copy-of-attack-of-the-50-foot-blockchain\/\">buy a signed paperback<\/a> to go with your ebook:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Well, now <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FredinatorCat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FredinatorCat<\/a> is forewarned against falling for any TunaCoin\u2122 scams. Thanks, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidgerard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@davidgerard<\/a>! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iobUkijPYr\">pic.twitter.com\/iobUkijPYr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Galen Charlton (@gmcharlt@mastodon.social) (@gmcharlt) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gmcharlt\/status\/974722090778746880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 16, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Got my signed copy of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidgerard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@davidgerard<\/a>&#39;s book. It&#39;s brilliant. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9kKg6FVgpw\">pic.twitter.com\/9kKg6FVgpw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; buhrmi the simp (@buhrmidayo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/buhrmidayo\/status\/975909771827032064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 20, 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<ul>\n<li>And now, the weather.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Anyone who earnestly suggests &quot;put medical records on a blockchain&quot; deserves to be immediately and rapidly dropped into a tank of hungry piranhas without any trial or due process.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tom Morris  \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@tommorris) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tommorris\/status\/976049431253540864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 20, 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\">Alex is going to get a shock when he walks out of Facebook and finds only abandoned ruins in the outside world, with the word \u201cBLOCKCHAIN\u201d carved into a nearby tree.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Matthew Green (@matthew_d_green) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/matthew_d_green\/status\/975883706119479296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 19, 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\">How To Earn 22 million BTC. Yup, 22, not a typo.<\/p>\n<p>Actual conversation that happened. Be careful out there.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/v9jOdOQO14\">https:\/\/t.co\/v9jOdOQO14<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Emin G\u00fcn Sirer (@el33th4xor) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/el33th4xor\/status\/975819355673030663?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 19, 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 just wish we would have had some more clear signals the top was close. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FfOoUDoexE\">pic.twitter.com\/FfOoUDoexE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jebus.finance \ud83d\udc68\u200d\ud83c\udf3e (@jebus911) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jebus911\/status\/975040596997033984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 17, 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\">A thing I have been doing for fun lately is getting men to explain cryptocurrency to me and then being like \u201coh so it\u2019s like Tulip Mania\u201d and then explaining Tulip Mania to them until they regret ever talking about cryptocurrency to other humans in the first place<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Angela Serratore (@monodialogue) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/monodialogue\/status\/974469956686565376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 16, 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<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/kevinroose\/status\/973988660637876224<\/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>Is it illegal to download a copy of the Bitcoin blockchain? <i>Possibly.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[538,370,371,6,88,523,539,421,137,526,39,487,296],"class_list":["post-5694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-edward-snowden","tag-kodak","tag-kodakcoin","tag-links","tag-mt-gox","tag-nobukai-kobayashi","tag-nsa","tag-petro","tag-russia","tag-sierra-leone","tag-tether","tag-twitter","tag-venezuela"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5694","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=5694"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5733,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5694\/revisions\/5733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}