I walked past this monument every day for two years while I worked in the Senate.
The monument was boarded up with plywood and the area was overrun with drug addicts that would constantly accost congressional staffers on their way to work.
In 2024, it became so bad that on several occasions I saw staffers attacked and had their bags ripped away from them. We reported this to Capitol Police but they legally couldn’t go beyond the congressional buildings to secure the area.
Every day it felt like I was walking among ruins of a once great people.
The change today is undeniable. The area is safer than it has been in years and our statues have been brought back to life.
Decline is a choice. Civilization is a choice. It’s great to see this change.
For reference, here’s a photo of it I took after work in 2024. Notice the plants growing out from behind Columbus. Quite an improvement today!
Decline is a choice. Decay is a choice. But thanks to @POTUS, America is choosing renewal over resignation, restoration over deterioration and beauty over blight.
Today, Columbus Circle once again reflects the pride, strength and promise of the United States of America.
"If China wins the AI race, I can guarantee you that the information layer of the global economy will be anything but free, open, and uncensored."
@SamLyman33 joined @blockspace to describe the stakes in America winning the AI race.
@BitcoinOllie@bitcoinpolicyuk@freddienew Good question. We’re in touch and comparing notes.
Generally speaking, education is not zero sum. In the U.S. we work alongside great groups like Coin Center and the same is true for efforts abroad.
Same mission from different angles.
Last week BPI had our inaugural trip to the UK to launch our international efforts. 🇬🇧
Below is a quick summary on the state of Bitcoin Policy from London.
We had a whirlwind week, meeting with members of Parliament, briefing the House of Lords, discussing Bitcoin with the City of London, reviewing policy ideas with the Reform party, and meeting lots of local Bitcoiners.
From these meetings, a few themes emerged:
1) There’s a surprising amount of energy.
Everyone we spoke to, regardless of party affiliation, was paying close attention to the U.S. developments and was concerned about the UK falling behind. I consistently heard the phrase that the UK wants to be a “fast follow” and there seems to be a sudden burst of energy to get something done.
Most recently, the Bank of England rescinded their guidance limiting ownership of stablecoins and this seems to be the start of a new trend in the right direction.
Policymakers in the UK recognize that financial innovation cemented their position on the world stage and they don’t want to be left behind as this industry grows.
2) There is still a wide gap in understanding of the different types of networks.
Many of the conversations started with a focus on“blockchain technology.” In some ways it felt like I had been transported back to 2018 when everyone was excited about “blockchain not Bitcoin.”
But over the course of our discussions, I could feel the lightbulb going off when we discussed that the killer app for blockchain was actually already here. It’s called Bitcoin.
Through discussions about what sets Bitcoin apart as a neutral, open network without insiders, I found lawmakers were surprisingly receptive. Many of their concerns were focused on how crypto schemes dump tokens on unsuspecting retail investors. We shared those concerns and offered ideas to help them combat crypto grift.
It was also interesting that many officials had been following the recent testimony by ADM Paparo about bitcoin as a positive tool for the U.S. national security interests. Seems to be a clear indicator that success in the US has knock on effects overseas.
Overall, this was an exploratory first trip and we came away with a strong sense of optimism for the UK making more progress in the coming months.
Everyone was keen to learn from our work in the U.S. and eager to get input on how the UK can improve.
We look forward to providing you more updates as the work continues.
And a big thank you to @Joeyg_poh and @xapobankapp for making this trip possible with their generous support. And thank s to @AntidoteBTC for hosting a great community event.
Correction: I’m hearing there was some last minute FOMO for signing onto ARMA.
They are now up to 21 original cosponsors for today’s bipartisan introduction!
Fantastic showing for Bitcoin.
Just in from DC! 🇺🇸
Today, Rep. Begich introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act with an incredible amount of support — 16 original cosponsors!
ARMA creates a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to secure America’s Bitcoin for 20 years and explores a range of budget neutral acquisition strategies.
This is a major step forward for a lasting framework for holding Bitcoin for our future generations. Begich has been working hard for months to push this forward.
It’s time for a Digital Fort Knox! We’re excited to see this move through the legislative process and will keep you all posted with updates.
There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin.
While governments can print unlimited amounts of money, Bitcoin’s supply is permanently fixed.
That’s why I’m proud to support @RepNickBegich’s ARMA Act, legislation that recognizes the strategic importance of Bitcoin and helps secure America’s role as the Crypto Capital of the World 🇺🇸
Another very important thing to flag here: ARMA is being Co-lead by Rep. Golden (D-ME), a member of the Armed Services Committee.
We can now officially say that the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is bipartisan with leaders on both sides of the aisle recognizing bitcoin's importance.
Thank you for your leadership @RepGolden!
Just in from DC! 🇺🇸
Today, Rep. Begich introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act with an incredible amount of support — 16 original cosponsors!
ARMA creates a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to secure America’s Bitcoin for 20 years and explores a range of budget neutral acquisition strategies.
This is a major step forward for a lasting framework for holding Bitcoin for our future generations. Begich has been working hard for months to push this forward.
It’s time for a Digital Fort Knox! We’re excited to see this move through the legislative process and will keep you all posted with updates.
Just in from DC! 🇺🇸
Today, Rep. Begich introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act with an incredible amount of support — 16 original cosponsors!
ARMA creates a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to secure America’s Bitcoin for 20 years and explores a range of budget neutral acquisition strategies.
This is a major step forward for a lasting framework for holding Bitcoin for our future generations. Begich has been working hard for months to push this forward.
It’s time for a Digital Fort Knox! We’re excited to see this move through the legislative process and will keep you all posted with updates.
America’s reserves balance sheet is a critical component of our nation’s insurance policy, bolstering our currency and providing assurance during times of uncertainty. Over time, the prevailing sentiment as to what constitutes a durable store of value can shift, and as such it is important for us to recognize this fact and provide the flexibility needed to broaden America’s portfolio of reserve assets.
The American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA) ensures digital assets in the possession of the federal government will be consolidated across government and protected as a reserve asset for future generations, protecting these assets from the whims of Congress or future administrations.
An important article on Bitcoin’s importance for grand strategy by Rep. Gooden, a sitting member of the House Armed Services Committee.
He is quickly emerging as a leader that recognizes how important Bitcoin will be for our national security.
Bitcoin is not just a commodity. It is a national security asset, a tool of power projection, and a critical front in the competition with the CCP.
More in my @CoinDesk op-ed:
https://t.co/J4MDbQr3Bw
Alex is spot on. I fear that we are on the verge of the Intelligence Wars — a sequel to the Crypto Wars of the 90s — where policymakers try to severely limit access to advanced open-source AI.
I can already see an unholy alliance forming between industry and hawkish officials that the average person shouldn’t have access to advanced AI on local devices.
This already happens behind closed doors every day in DC and there is a tsunami of money still to come.
It is now more important than ever to support open-source development. Not only at the software level, but at the education and policy level as well.
A future where we can only access closed-source proprietary models are the perfect conditions for abuse, censorship and authoritarianism.
Open source AI serves as a check against undue influence from major labs and abusive regimes around the world.
Will this wave of philanthropy support open-source, open-weight, sovereign AI?
Or will it try to enforce “AI safety” and work with governments to control what people can use?
Probably one of the most important questions of our time
Sadly I think the latter
BPI has uncovered some disturbing connections between the recent push to shutdown AI and foreign interest groups.
See below for the full breakdown in our latest research report.
NEW RESEARCH from @SamLyman33: China is interfering with US data center development in a campaign to slow the American AI buildout.
In this groundbreaking report, we document 3 vectors of foreign influence: Chinese state media, the Singham network, and foreign billionaires.
The sovereign buying of BTC continues. In a filing today, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala reported owning $566 million of IBIT (14,721,917 shares) as of March 31.
That's a 16% increase in shares from 12,702,323 reported for the previous quarter.
This is an important one.
Filing:
https://t.co/haurS0lfW1
The prior administration was using all available means to wage an *existential* fight against all aspects of the industry —software development, Bitcoin mining, and all forms of entrepreneurship.
Yet Brendon chooses to ignore all that context and frame a landmark bipartisan legislative moment as “piracy” by an “insurgent” industry using “loopholes”?
Which loopholes exactly?
This is has been a bipartisan and public deliberative process spanning 4 years of work and education. The product has been debated and reviewed by both chambers and 4 separate committees at this point—with still more work to go.
In fact, I believe Brendon has this exactly backwards. This process has been the most rigorous I have seen in years.
Our Congress routinely passes 1000+ page Omnibus bills, strewn with *billions* of dollars in literal industry handouts, in the dead of night…before Christmas.
This is the opposite—a style of governing that is almost dead—robust public debate and scrutiny at every step of the way.
I’ve read @PunchbowlNews almost every day since I started working in the senate — but writing like this calls into question any chance of honest reporting and, frankly, the integrity of your publication as a whole.
Crypto is on the verge of accomplishing an unprecedented act of legislative piracy — writing its own legal framework in an otherwise stalled out Congress with sweeping implications for all of American finance.
I wrote about the money that brought us here and what it means:
I was fortunate enough to be able to spend some time with both @xapobankapp and @bitcoinpolicy over the last 3 days at events in London.
Their joint initiative is going to be very important for Bitcoin in the UK.
Tremendous effort @Joeyg_poh@BitcoinConner@DavidZell_ and look forward to how @BitcoinColl and the Business network can support your efforts in the UK moving forwards.