NBTV: Your Money, Your Data, Your Life

We have a newly minted US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen. She is the US political establishment’s insider’s insider, and the crypto ecosystem is now grappling with what her appointment to Treasury will mean.I go over the history of Treasury Secretaries throughout Bitcoin’s lifespan, and what we can expect from a Yellen Treasury.From C. Edward Kelso and Naomi BrockwellSupport the show

Janet Yellen was just unanimously approved by The U.S. Senate Finance Committee for Treasury secretary. She’s taking over from Mnuchin, and is so far not off to a good start regarding cryptocurrency. Earlier this week she said that cryptocurrencies are “a particular concern” when it comes to criminal activity and terrorist financing.“I think many [cryptocurrencies] are used, at least in a transaction sense, mainly for illicit financing."Forbes contributor Hailey Lennon noted in a recent article that Yellen is just plain incorrect. The money laundering tool of choice is still the good old US Treasury.Including archival footage of me on the Stossel Show in 2014 talking about BitcoinFollow Hailey here:https://twitter.com/HaileyLennonBTCTo make a tax-deductible (in the US) donation to NBTV, visit https://www.nbtv.media/supportSign up for the free CryptoBeat newsletter here:https://cryptobeat.substack.com/Support the show

The request for extradition to the United States of Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, was denied by a UK judge.This is fantastic news, because the US wants to put Assange on trial basically for being an investigative journalist. The indictment from the DOJ against Assange is one of the single biggest threats to freedom of the press of the last decade. I explain in detail what it all means.But the judge didn’t deny the extradition request based on freedom of the press, it was based on Assange's mental condition. The danger of journalists being persecuted for challenging power is greater than ever. What happens to us when no dissent from the press against government is allowed anymore? Huge shout out to Glenn Greenwald, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and journalists like Richard Medhurst and Kevin Gosztola who have been  covering this case in detail and are staunch advocates of freedom of the press.Support the show

Recently Snowden was awarded the Thomas Szasz Award from the Center for Independent Thought, which was presented to him by my boss John Stossel. During the call I was able to ask Snowden about Bitcoin and the need for anonymous digital payments. Bitcoin played an important role in the 2013 Snowden leaks: the servers that Snowden used to transfer information to journalists were paid for using bitcoin, because he didn’t want those records connected to his name.Snowden explained to me that Bitcoin is superior to credit cards, because it's at least pseudonymous. But steps need to be taken to add privacy.He once tweeted: "Bitcoin is great, but "if it's not private, it's not safe,"” and he said that Zcash's privacy tech makes it the most interesting Bitcoin alternative. I asked him about all of this when we spoke.Watch Stossel's full interview with Snowden here:https://youtu.be/ZSu4rCizyUMSupport the show

According to The Daily Beast this week: "Trump Is Considering Clemency for Silk Road Founder: Two sources tell The Daily Beast that the president has expressed sympathy for the situation of Ross Ulbricht, who is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole."The attempt to get Ross’s case in front of Trump has been ongoing for the last 4 years. Ulbricht’s court appeals were denied, so the focus for those fighting for justice on his behalf switched to presidential pardon. A petition was started on change.org, which has since garnered 367 thousand signatures. By C. Edward Kelso and Naomi BrockwellIf you would like to sign the petition, visit: https://www.change.org/p/clemency-for-ross-ulbricht-condemned-to-die-in-prison-for-a-website?hpTo learn more about Ross's case, visit:https://freeross.org/case-overview/To make a tax-deductible (in the US) donation to NBTV, visit https://www.nbtv.media/supportSign up for the free CryptoBeat newsletter here:https://cryptobeat.substack.com/Beware of scammers, I will never give you a phone number or reach out to you with investment advice. I do not give investment advice.Visit the NBTV website:https://nbtv.mediaSupport the show

The inevitable war between government and crypto is getting started.German Finance Minister on Monday:“We must do everything possible to make sure the currency monopoly remains in the hands of states.”The G7 this week: "We want to regulate digital currencies."European Central Bank President: "Stablecoins threaten monetary sovereignty.”Between the STABLE Act, which would ensure that only banks could issue stablecoins and would make all others illegal, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s plan to go after crypto, and the French Finance Minister trying to fight anonymous crypto transactions, things are getting heated up. We’ll get to see if bitcoin and other decentralized innovation can hold their own in an arms race against the most powerful entities in the world.Support the show

Yesterday a disastrous new bill was introduced to congress:The STABLE Act, which stands for Stablecoin Tethering and Bank Licensing Enforcement.Under the guise of "protecting people" it will require stablecoin issuers to obtain a banking charter. Meaning, only banks will be able to issue stablecoins.They said: “Digital currencies, whose value is permanently pegged to or stabilized against a conventional currency like the dollar, pose new regulatory challenges while also represent a growing source of the market, liquidity, and credit risk.”Indeed it does seem highly suspicious that the act seems to further entrench the interests of juggernauts like JP Morgan Chase, a bank that already has its own stablecoin, to the detriment of those who are looking for alternatives to the banking system rather than forced participation in it.By C. Edward Kelso and Naomi BrockwellSupport the show

Many companies are forced to hand over customer data, or weaken their security, and they can’t tell you about it. The FBI has a thing called a National Security Letter, which is a request for information and gag orders rolled into one. Although judges have ruled them to be unconstitutional, they are more common than you realize, and each branch and agency in the US government has something similar.Recipients of the letter are forced to comply with requests, whether they be weakening security or handing over data, and companies face serious criminal sanctions if they publicly discuss what is being done to their company. You can’t even tell anyone you received a National Security Letter.The letter from the FBI is signed by an attorney, and you can’t even tell a lawyer about it. How many platforms that we use, which we think are secure and private, are under gag orders? Probably a lot more than we think. One tool that privacy platforms use to warn people if their site has been compromised is a “warrant canary”. They’re not ideal, because they rely on people knowing about them, noticing when they’re taken down, and drawing the right conclusions from that, but they’re still probably the best tool we have. Let me know of any sites you’ve found that still have warren canaries, or any that have been used effectively. Support the show

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin plans to rush out new regulation regarding self-hosted crypto wallets before the end of his term.Apparently the proposed regulation would  “require financial institutions like Coinbase to verify the recipient/owner of the self-hosted wallet, collecting identifying information on that party, before a withdrawal could be sent to that self-hosted wallet” according to Coinbase CEO Brian ArmstrongSo what would this ruling mean? Don’t want to have to KYC a store before buying groceries? Want to participate in DeFi? Then move your money out of financial institutions and into non-custodial wallets. Remember: not your keys, not your coins.Happy thanksgiving everyone!Reporting by C. Edward Kelso and Naomi BrockwellSupport the show

Last week, $1 billion of bitcoin was seized by the DOJ, money that a hacker allegedly stole from the Silk Road in 2012. The hacker's lawyer calls him a "modern-day Robin Hood".But a couple of things to keep in mind:1) The Hacker was most likely coerced to hand over the keys under heavy duress2) The money was given to the DOJ so that they can continue their war on p̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶ drugs, sending non-violent people to jail. Possibly the least noble use of the money I can think of.And I still have a LOT of questions about what actually took place. Petition for Trump to pardon Ross:https://www.change.org/p/clemency-for-ross-ulbricht-condemned-to-die-in-prison-for-a-website?hpLearn more about the Ross Ulbricht case:https://freeross.org/false-allegations/Watch on LBRY:https://open.lbry.com/@NaomiBrockwell:4/1-billion-Bitcoin-seized-by-DOJSupport the show