0xCharles

Full-time chauffeur. Part-time crypto trader. Occasional purveyor of bad jokes.

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@hosseeb @ns @balajis not a big fan of MOUs. haven't we learnt anything from US-Iran? 🤷‍♂️ if you want NS to be a safe space for builders to build, just pay the premium and relocate to Singapore. If it's that important, don't cut costs or corners.

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@wassielawyer it's ok, things have a way of sorting themselves out once they get older. Just raise them well and avoid screen time. ;)

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

https://t.co/05MxYJISVh

The Strait of Hormuz is open. Source: Trust me, bro.

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@mujifren Pretty sure it's not because she's over 30, but the fact that she's screaming her head off in public might indicate a difficult personality and nobody wants to deal with that sh*t.

[Jaynit @jaynitx]

>be Lee Kuan Yew
>born 1923 in Singapore
>British colony
>fourth-generation Chinese
>family is wealthy, English-speaking
>top of every class

1942:
>Japanese invasion
>Singapore falls in 7 days
>the British surrender
>"impregnable fortress" — a joke
>you're 18
>watch your colonial masters kneel
>learn something
>white men are not gods
>power is earned, not inherited

occupation:
>survive under Japanese rule
>learn Japanese, work as a translator
>see brutality, corruption, chaos
>nearly get executed in a random roundup
>luck saves you
>or destiny
>you don't forget what powerlessness feels like

1946:
>war ends
>go to Cambridge
>study law
>graduate with double starred first
>top of your class
>marry Kwa Geok Choo
>she graduates top of hers too
>power couple before the term exists

1950:
>return to Singapore
>become a lawyer
>defend unions, fight the British
>anti-colonial firebrand
>the communists want you
>you use them
>they think they're using you
>they're wrong

1954:
>found the People's Action Party
>coalition of English-educated moderates and Chinese communists
>you need their grassroots
>they need your respectability
>temporary alliance
>you both know it

1959:
>PAP wins elections
>you become Prime Minister
>age 35
>Singapore is still British
>poor, dirty, overcrowded
>no resources, no industry
>malaria in the swamps
>you: "we'll fix this"

1963:
>join Malaysia
>Singapore becomes part of the federation
>finally independent from Britain
>but the marriage is bad from day one
>race riots, political clashes
>Malay leaders don't want a Chinese-majority city
>threatening their power

August 9, 1965:
>kicked out of Malaysia
>not independence, expulsion
>you announce it on television
>you cry
>the only time anyone sees you cry
>"for me, it is a moment of anguish"
>you're now leader of a country nobody wanted
>no army, no water, no hinterland
>just a swamp and 2 million people
>survival is not guaranteed

the problem:
>no natural resources
>not even fresh water
>surrounded by hostile neighbors
>communists infiltrating
>racial tensions everywhere
>how do you build a nation from nothing?

the solution:
>human capital
>if you have nothing, invest in people
>education, discipline, meritocracy
>English as the common language
>no corruption, zero tolerance
>pay officials well so they don't steal
>punish harshly when they do
>caning, hanging, no exceptions
>rule of law or rule of the jungle
>you choose law

the economics:
>invite multinationals
>make Singapore the easiest place to do business
>low taxes, stable government, no bullshit
>build infrastructure relentlessly
>airport, port, housing
>public housing for everyone
>home ownership creates stability
>people don't riot when they own property

the authoritarianism:
>no free press
>defamation suits against critics
>opponents bankrupted, jailed, exiled
>chewing gum banned
>long hair on men, suspicious
>you run a tight ship
>too tight, critics say
>but the ship doesn't sink

1970s-80s:
>Singapore transforms
>from third world to first
>GDP per capita explodes
>skyline rises
>slums become towers
>swamp becomes financial hub
>everyone wants to know the secret
>the secret is you

1990:
>step down as Prime Minister
>after 31 years
>but you don't leave
>become Senior Minister
>then Minister Mentor
>shadow over everything
>until you die

the results:
>GDP per capita: higher than the US, UK, Japan
>one of the least corrupt countries on earth
>best airport, best airline, best port
>from fishing village to global city
>in one generation
>your generation

the criticism:
>authoritarian
>no real democracy
>freedom of speech, limited
>you respond: "I'm not interested in being loved. I'm interested in being effective."
>Singapore proves you right
>or proves nothing matters except results

March 23, 2015:
>die at 91
>a million people line the streets
>in the rain
>to watch your funeral procession
>the father of a nation

from Japanese occupation
>to British colonialism
>to Malaysian expulsion
>to building a nation from scratch

Lee Kuan Yew.
the man who turned a swamp into a superpower.

Singapore exists because you refused to let it fail.

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@0xteaaa @TroveMarkets legit qn: how much is 10,000 Trove points worth anyway?

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@TroveMarkets are testnet deposits working? i tried it out, but nothing's come back.

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@TroveMarkets guys, i think the deposit function might be broken. sent 1 USDC via Arbitrum to the address 0x5D979E7475bB3B5722f794E6737873cAfc08c692 for Trove testnet USDC but not getting anything back.

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

imho, @gdog97_ & the rest of the Ethena team are the only ones doing this synthetic stablecoin thing 'correctly'.

USDE has a setup which gives it an unfair advantage, i.e. off-exchange settled accounts, but more crucially, ADL-proof agreements.

Both of these have been battle-tested in 2025:

1) Bybit experienced a mini-bank run in February after the $1.5bn Lazarus hack. Ethena's funds were safu, at no point were they at risk.

2) the 10 Oct ~$20bn liquidation cascade where market makers and whales got rekt because of positions getting auto-deleveraged (ADL). Ethena, despite making up something like 10% of OI (or more?), never suffered any ADL, and in fact profited from unwinding their arbs as perps dislocated vs spot.

this is only possible because of Ethena's size & the masterful dealmaking Guy has been able to execute with exchanges. nobody else has the ability or the right to demand such terms.

it's like how high-rollers negotiate special terms with casinos to give themselves the best edge (google Phil Ivey & Borgata if you're interested, the guy won $10m).

do synthetic stablecoins carry risks? yes, of course. but it's a marathon, not a sprint, and if you're going to bet on a horse, Ethena's USDE is the only one that will finish, imo.

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@Jesse_orbit @TroveMarkets T89CRDD

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@0xbitleo @TroveMarkets FTFUZW7

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@ubbypetatas @TroveMarkets T9QXMTK

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@ClausBaeSangHo @TroveMarkets LDSCMXS

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@greensaltybread @TroveMarkets WB59DWJ

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@TroveMarkets T89CRDD
FTFUZW7
T9QXMTK
LDSCMXS
WB59DWJ

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@TroveMarkets give me an invite code please!

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@JustinCBram is Tom Lee back? resume ETH up only please?

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@zhusu Ethereum.

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

@neelanism @BillAckman @realDonaldTrump Obviously, you don't appreciate the fine art of sarcasm.

[0xCharles @steadylad5]

just finished reading Bill Perkins' book: Die With Zero

the tldr for those of you who can't be bothered is simple:

BUY ETH

#Ethereum #MakeETHGreatAgain #MEGA