BRICS 'Unit' digital currency concerns

Marty and Odell critique the BRICS Unit pilot and warn about authoritarian programmable digital currencies.

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Episode notes

- free samourai https://billandkeonne.org/

- jade vulnerability https://blog.blockstream.com/jade-security-disclosure/

- california strike loans https://x.com/strike/status/2001341268375568560

- Fold Becomes First Public Bitcoin Financial Services Company to Operate Nationwide Through BitGo’s Federally Chartered Trust Framework https://investor.foldapp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/fold-becomes-first-public-bitcoin-financial-services-company

- BRICS | Digital Currency Launched

The BRICS monetary bloc has launched a working prototype of a digital currency known as the “Unit,” backed by a basket of precious metals and BRICS national currencies. The first 100 Units were issued in a pilot led by Russia’s Institute for Economic Strategies. The BRICS bloc includes many authoritarian or hybrid authoritarian regimes that use capital controls, censorship, and financial surveillance to manage dissent. A state-designed, programmable digital currency rail used across multiple authoritarian states could harden those powers. FinancialFreedomReport.org

- BTCPay Server 2.3 https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqsr6f4jmfefqjfqhhp0xnn8wk3qdth8zcunj7074vzr0dmaw5u734g38fq45

- pear pass https://x.com/tether_to/status/2001269408296058890

- sats buddy https://github.com/reez/SatsBuddy

- venezuela oil blockade https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-orders-blockade-sanctioned-oil-tankers-leaving-entering-venezuela-2025-12-16/

- director of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center was shot to death https://apnews.com/article/mit-shooting-nuno-fg-loureiro-portugal-f310824e354180816c33c9f40c0c5195

3:59 – Opening riff

23:04 – Dahsboard

24:24 – China ban

28:09 – Free Samourai

35:19 – Jade disclosure

39:34 – Strike CA loans

43:24 – Fold