Thank you to Ankish at Crypto News for letting me share my two cents here. Individual Democrats have done well to try to keep crypto policy bipartisan. However, if Vice President Harris is going to step out of the shadow of Operation Choke Point 2.0 and Senator Warren’s anti-crypto army, she needs to take an official policy stance herself. Until then, there’s little reason to think the Harris-Walz administration will be any different from the Biden-Harris administration.

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Harris dips a toe in the crypto waters — is it enough?

How sincere is the Harris campaign's turn to crypto? We unpack the Democratic candidate's latest stance on the industry

What’s going on in the world of CBDCs? Since July, I've made updates to 31 different regions in the @npub17xvf...c9as CBDC Tracker. Let's walk through some of the highlights. 1. The Bahamas Facing lackluster adoption rates, Central Bank of The Bahamas governor John Rolle said commercial banks would soon be forced to distribute the CBDC. 2. Colombia The Banco de la República de Colombia published a report that found “there are not sufficient reasons for the issuance of [a CBDC] (retail or wholesale) in Colombia.” 3. India CBDC usage fell from 1,000,000 transactions per day in December to just 100,000 transactions per day. Given that 1M was only reached through a big push from the central bank, it seems there has been a struggle to generate organic demand. 4. Israel Despite pushing a pilot forward, Bank of Israel deputy governor Andrew Abir said, “We’re all waiting for the first western central bank to pull the trigger... And then you may see a rush of countries going forward with it.” 5. Peru The Central Reserve Bank of Peru announced it had signed its first contract with the company Viettel Peru to begin work on a CBDC pilot. Want to learn more about what’s going on in the world with the rise of CBDCs? Check out the fully interactive HRF CBDC Tracker below!

CBDC Tracker

A CBDC is a digital national currency. In the case of the United States, a CBDC would be a digital form of the U.S. dollar whereas, in Nigeria, the...

Now that I've gotten my bearings on here, who are some folks that I should be following?

Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced on July 15 that the government would give out 10,000 baht through digital wallets. Today, Prime Minister Thavisin was removed from office for violating the constitution (albeit, unrelated to the wallet). https://www.cato.org/blog/thailand-uses-digital-wallet-10000-baht-handout

This is a thing?

I’ve been reading the documentation for the digital wallet/CBDC rollout going on in Thailand and I couldn’t help but notice the logo on the coins on the left... I’m not saying someone snuck the Bitcoin logo in the app, but I’ve rarely seen the baht symbol written with two lines.

A big shout out to the legend @Frank Corva for taking the time to feature my book in Forbes. If you're on the fence about the book, Frank provides a great walk through of what it offers. https://www.forbes.com/sites/frankcorva/2024/08/05/the-world-doesnt-need-central-bank-digital-currencies-cbdcs/

What a week. Today I had the opportunity to speak before the Senate and yesterday I spoke before the House to share my book and discuss the rise of CBDCs. Major thanks goes out to Senator Lummis, the Bitcoin Policy Institute, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute for making these events happen.

"As long as the final decision on the digital euro has not been taken, it makes little sense for the Eurosystem to launch a large-scale public awareness drive." - Deutsche Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel I could not disagree more. People should know what their governments are doing. The need for this transparency is precisely why I have been working with the Human Rights Foundation on the @npub17xvf...c9as CBDC Tracker to document CBDC development around the world. Furthermore, the need for transparency is also why I wrote my book to provide everything you need to get up to speed on CBDCs. From the myths to the risks, this book will help you decode what "CBDC" means for the future of money.

CBDC Tracker

A CBDC is a digital national currency. In the case of the United States, a CBDC would be a digital form of the U.S. dollar whereas, in Nigeria, the...

During @npub17xvf...c9as's Dissidents and Dictators podcast, Elisha Maldonado asked a great question: How do CBDCs and Bitcoin compare and contrast? As luck would have it, I addressed this very question on the second page of my book. In short, a CBDC is the opposite of Bitcoin.

I decided to check in on Lebanon's CBDC development. I remembered the central bank was planning to launch one in 2021, but it never came out. Lo and behold, I now see what caused the delay: Banque du Liban governor Riad Salameh left his post and has been sanctioned for running an international corruption scheme. Salameh was the one leading the charge on CBDCs.

Last data from the HRF CBDC Tracker shows 11 countries and the 8 islands that compose the ECCU have launched CBDCs; 39 countries, the Eurozone, and Hong Kong have CBDC pilot programs; and 65 countries, 2 currency unions, and Macao are researching CBDCs.

CBDC Tracker

A CBDC is a digital national currency. In the case of the United States, a CBDC would be a digital form of the U.S. dollar whereas, in Nigeria, the...

If you have friends who curious about nostr, Roger Huang's guide is definitely a great introduction and guide. https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/07/17/your-guide-to-nostr-the-decentralized-network-for-everything/

Out to Freddie New for making the case against CBDCs at the Crypto Revolution Conference!

People aren't using the CBDC in The Bahamas so now the central bank is planning to force banks to distribute it. Unfortunately, this is far from surprising.

There's certainly good reason to celebrate the news of Julian Assange's release. However, it's important to not lose sight of just what has taken place over the years. As Patrick Eddington notes, "The US government’s successful multi-year pursuit of Assange was meant to send a message to any others considering exposing federal government wrongdoing in the national security arena: we will make the story about you, not our crimes, and we will get you, one way or another." So while the news was indeed welcome, there is still much to be done. https://www.cato.org/blog/assange-process-was-punishment

"Do I trust central banks!? God, no! I have lived through 50 years of inflation. Why would the hell would I trust central banks?" If anyone knows who this is, please let him know I'd happily send him a copy of my book on me.