This empty lot in Timor-Leste, a small poor country in Southeast Asia, was meant to be the site of a luxury "blockchain theme resort" that was being promoted last year by a new, politically connected crypto network called AB.
Turns out the majority owner of the project's local company was sanctioned by the US last October for alleged ties to the world's largest #CryptoScam syndicate, the Prince Group.
A month after the sanctioning, AB announced another bit of news: a collaboration with the Trump/Witkoff families' World Liberty Financial
(Read on for more details. There's no suggestion WLFI had any direct connection to the resort or Prince Group)
New huge investigation from me & partners @OCCRP and @GuardianAus.
This picture, which has never been seen before, shows Donald Trump Jr. and Zach Witkoff, the son of Trump's "peace envoy" meeting in Singapore last October with Jacky Sui (in glasses), one of the main people behind AB, a new blockchain network.
AB and the Trump+Witkoff family's World Liberty Financial partnered last year to integrate WLFI's stablecoin, USD1, on AB's blockchain.
The agreement came just months after AB announced another unrelated "flagship project": a crypto-themed resort in Southeast Asia.
It turns out that that the resort, in the tiny, impoverished country of Timor-Leste, involved people sanctioned by the U.S. for alleged ties to the world's biggest cyber fraud and human trafficking syndicate, the Prince Group.
One point I wish was made. Even though “Marcus” may well turn out to have gotten lots of details wrong (I await the Royal Commission), he clearly got one very big thing right.
This anti-semitic mass murder by two Islamic State supporters is the worst terrorist attack in Australia’s modern history, but the political responses are only indirectly about Islamic State or terrorism.
INDIA, INTERNET, INTERNATIONAL
If you're Indian, don't move to America.
Because the US left hates technocapitalists.
And the US right wants no more immigrants.
Moreover, as the sovereign debt crisis worsens...
It only gets worse. Possibly murderously worse.
So: Indian immigrant technocapitalists need alternatives. And there are three options: India, Internet, and International.
1. India
India itself is the world's fastest growing economy, with the #1 growth rate in the world over the last 10 years. Every major company is investing in India. So you can do well in the Indian economy:
2. Internet
The Internet is taking over from a fading NYSE/NASDAQ as the world's largest capital market. The decline of Delaware and NYC accelerate this; everyone from Elon to Elad Gil to a16z to Dropbox have moved out of Delaware for incorporation, and Mamdani is catalyzing a capital exodus to Miami.
So: the US is no longer a stable place for capital formation. And Solana and Ethereum already put Indians on a level playing field with the entire world, with digital rule-of-law. No one can discriminate against you in a smart contract simply for being Indian, so you can do well in the Internet economy:
3. International
Finally, at the exact moment that the US has stopped recruiting tech talent while India is generating enormous amounts of it, the rest of the world is opening their doors to digital nomads.
Dozens of places from the UAE to Singapore have created many different kinds of talent visas. And so Indian technologists have begun rerouting there, especially to Dubai and Singapore. So that's the third option: the International economy:
In short: do not expect the US to suddenly become more friendly towards immigrant capitalists. The long-term financial outlook is not good, so America is unfortunately no longer a good place to build a stable life and a career. Which is why Americans themselves are in a zero-sum mentality.
You can't fix that.
Instead, if you're an Indian technologist, rely only on TCP/IP rather than H-1B. And build yourself up in India, on the Internet, or internationally.
Let's Not Bring Back The Internet and Social Media Gatekeepers: Instead, try to refute what you think is wrong & persuade those who disagree with you. Shocking suggestion by philosopher Dan Williams @danwilliamsphil. https://t.co/EzZdcrSY9M