Hamas crypto funding, the WSJ, and the Warren Letter | Medium
We've had 90 submissions to my WSJ fact-checking bounty. 30 have been paid out. Based on all the evidence so far, here's what we know:
https://t.co/ttl6D36C38
Bitcoin: A Misunderstood Revolution
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Most people do not appreciate the computer science breakthrough that Bitcoin was.
Before Bitcoin, we did not think decentralized digital scarcity was possible. Everything that has come before, and pretty much everything that has come since was either physical, centralized or not scarce.
Bitcoin brought all three together and even exceeded the scarcity of what came before. It was, to be sure, not just a computer science breakthrough, but a monetary breakthrough.
Yet, even after 15 years, most people don't get the significance of this new thing that was created. But as Bitcoin enters adulthood, it'll get much more respect, because it'll have proven its properties over time.
And it's that true adoption, by people that understand its use as unconfiscatable savings that will transform not just the holders, but civilization itself. Brace yourselves, because the real show is about to begin.
Can crypto-twitter OSINT outperform the WSJ’s chain analysis?
** Announcing $500 in BTC bounty for the 21 best open source analyses of the facts surrounding the WSJ/Warren letter. Rules and submission link below **
On October 10, following the attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians, Angus Berwick and Ian Talley of the WSJ published the article “Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto”. The WSJ followed up with “Why Hamas Uses Crypto to Raise Money” and then published an op-ed from Sen. Elizabeth Warren entitled “Cryptocurrency Feeds Hamas’s Terrorism”. Sen. Warren then wrote a letter to the White House and Treasury signed by over 100 members of Congress, reliant entirely on the WSJ claim that Hamas and affiliates had raised “over $130m in crypto” to fund their operations since 2021. Warren is now leading a campaign to aggressively marginalize the crypto industry in the US based on her provocative claim. Yet – subsequent evidence thrown cast her entire empirical basis into question. The WSJ has thus far refused to update or retract their story.
Since the WSJ article, both Chainalysis and Elliptic have cast the reporting into doubt.
Starting with the resources listed in the google form, and any other information you can gather, replicate the work done by Elliptic and BitOK, and critically evaluate either the WSJ reporting or the Warren letter. Use chain analysis tools and conventional reporting techniques. Focus on knowable ground truths. Your reporting can focus on debunking a specific detail of the story, creating an independent, more fact-based account of the events, creating a data visualization, or simply creating a meme or graphic depicting the events or the WSJs reporting.
Can Bitcoin Twitter come up with a better tally than Talley?
In one week from today (i.e., on Thursday, 11/02/23), 21 of the best, qualifying submissions will each receive $500 in Bitcoin.
Contest rules, full context, and submission here: https://t.co/PbgDqjBvg3
Munger vs @saylor on #Bitcoin
I’ll let you decide who makes the better argument…
“I'm not entitled to have an opinion on this subject unless I can state the arguments against my position better than the people who are supporting it.” — Charlie Munger
The @Strike Sending API Documentation is now public!
Businesses and developers can now use the Strike API to send US Dollars over the Lightning Network
Cheaper, faster, global, superior payment experiences on the world's open monetary network
#Bitcoin
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The only way to know you hold Bitcoin is to send BTC to an address controlled by private keys you hold and verify you received that BTC using a Bitcoin full node you run.
Otherwise you are holding hot air.
BREAKING: @Pfizer Exploring "Mutating" COVID-19 Virus For New Vaccines
"Don't tell anyone this...There is a risk...have to be very controlled to make sure this virus you mutate doesn't create something...the way that the virus started in Wuhan, to be honest."
#DirectedEvolution
https://t.co/xpcvzCmtMd Hi everyone, this is Fran Finney, wife of Hal Finney, an early pioneer of Bitcoin. I want to let you know about a special event I'm organizing in honor of my husband. Thank you for all your interest in Hal and your support... he would love it! 1/5
There have been countless articles and books written about bitcoin, but I don't think anyone has managed to describe the concept better than Nakamoto himself did back in February 2009:
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Who will conquer the Appologium and claim the grand prize?
Read full details below!
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