₿rMoon
BrMoon@primal.net
npub10m00...gyne
Husband, father, and technology enthusiast.
The top 15 banks control 75% of deposits in the US. Percentage of Deposits Controlled by US Banks:
1. JP Morgan: 16.1%
2. Bank of America: 14.8%
3. Wells Fargo: 10.9%
4. Citibank: 5.8%
5. US Bank: 3.4%
6. Truist: 3.4%
7. PNC Bank: 3.3%
8. TD Bank: 2.9%
9. Charles Schwab: 2.7%
10. Capital One: 2.6%
Meanwhile, JP Morgan and Bank of America are potential bidders for First Republic Bank which is failing. Shares of First Republic were in free-fall all week. The stock price, which peaked in early February at $147, began the week around $14 and closed Friday at $3.51.
It’s a steep fall for First Republic, which was well regarded in the banking industry and enjoyed rapid growth in recent years. Over the past four years, its total assets more than doubled to $212 billion, and its workforce grew to more than 7,200 employees from around 4,500.
The U.S. central government and the Federal Reserve have repeatedly illustrated that massive financial corporations can engage in wild risk-taking while avoiding any downside. Politicians and Federal Reserve officials have given life to the “too big to fail” idea by repeatedly bailing out financial institutions that engage in risky behavior. The bailout rationale is always the same: we are so big, so intertwined in the global economy, so systemically interconnected into every facet of financial life, that not forcing taxpayers to pay for our mistakes will result in economic calamity and pain for not just us, but also for all the responsible people who did not take risks and who never stood to gain a penny from our recklessness.
Ammous, Saifedean. The Fiat Standard: The Debt Slavery Alternative to Human Civilization
I wanna say something. I’m gonna put this out there: if you like it, you can take it. If you don’t, send it right back...
Is it Friday yet??
Preston Pysh had chat #GPT4 produce a summary of the Jason Lowery book #SOFTWAR written in the voice of a celebrity (in this case Kevin Hart), then fed it through a Kevin Hart voice synthesizer AI. This is the result.
Vocaroo | Online voice recorder
Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs.
The IRS wants to purchase an internet monitoring tool from a company that has sold products to sections of the U.S. military and the FBI, according to public procurement records. The company, called Team Cymru, provides access to “netflow” data, which can show activity on the wider internet, such as which server communicated with another. This is information that may ordinarily only be available to the company hosting the server or the internet service provider carrying the traffic.
VICE
IRS Wants to Buy Internet Mass Monitoring Tool
The U.S. military and FBI have previously bought access to netflow data from a company called Team Cymru. Now the IRS wants to buy products from th...
GhatGPT, write a letter to my United States Congressional representative about the benefits of bitcoin.
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State, ZIP Code]
[Email Address]
[Phone Number]
[Date]
The Honorable [Representative's Full Name]]
[Office Address]
[City, State, ZIP Code]
Subject: The Benefits of Bitcoin and the Importance of Supporting Bitcoin-Friendly Legislation
Dear [Representative's Last Name],
I am writing to you as a concerned constituent and a strong advocate for the adoption and support of Bitcoin. Over the past few years, Bitcoin has played an increasingly significant role in our economy, transforming the way we conduct business and manage our finances. I believe that it is vital for our government to recognize the potential benefits of Bitcoin and create a regulatory environment that fosters innovation while ensuring consumer protection and financial stability.
There are several benefits to embracing Bitcoin:
1. Financial Inclusion: One of the most significant benefits of Bitcoin is its potential to increase financial inclusion, particularly for the unbanked population within the United States. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) report in 2019, approximately 5.4% of U.S. households, or 7.1 million households, were unbanked, and an additional 18.7% of U.S. households (24.2 million) were underbanked. These individuals often lack access to traditional financial services due to geographical, economic, or social barriers. Bitcoin offers a decentralized, borderless financial system that can help provide access to financial services for those who have been excluded from traditional systems. By embracing Bitcoin, the United States can work towards reducing the number of unbanked and underbanked citizens, thereby promoting greater financial inclusion and economic opportunities for all.
2. Lower Transaction Costs: Bitcoin can help reduce transaction costs and expedite processing times for payments between financial institutions, as well as between individuals. By leveraging the decentralized nature of Bitcoin, financial institutions can achieve greater efficiency and cost savings in comparison to traditional payment systems. Additionally, individuals can make payments directly to others without the need for a traditional bank or credit union, which can result in lower fees and faster transactions for both parties. This streamlined payment process has the potential to revolutionize the way we conduct business and manage our finances.
3. Transparency and Accountability: Bitcoin uses an open ledger, known as the blockchain, which provides full transparency for all transactions. This feature ensures that every transaction is traceable, verifiable, and cannot be altered, promoting accountability and reducing opportunities for fraud and corruption. The transparent nature of the blockchain can also help governments and regulators more effectively track and monitor financial activity.
4. Facilitating a Digital Economy: Bitcoin plays a pivotal role in fostering a digital economy, enabling faster, more secure, and more efficient transactions. As we continue to move towards an increasingly digital and interconnected global economy, the United States must establish a clear regulatory framework for Bitcoin to maintain its competitiveness on the world stage and attract businesses and innovators.
5. Unique Security: The Bitcoin network boasts a uniquely high level of security, owing to the stability of its open-source software code, and the robustness of the underlying blockchain technology, and the increasing hashpower of bitcoin miners. The decentralized nature of the network, and its growing hashpower, provides strong protection against cyberattacks. It is worth noting that, since its inception, the Bitcoin network has never been successfully compromised to steal or counterfeit funds. This exceptional level of security offers users confidence in the integrity and reliability of the Bitcoin network, making it a trusted choice for digital transactions.
To maximize these benefits, I urge you to consider the following actions:
1. Support legislation that promotes a clear and consistent regulatory framework for Bitcoin, making it easier for businesses and individuals to adopt and use the technology. This will help the United States maintain its competitive edge in the global digital economy.
2. Advocate for the creation of educational resources and programs to help citizens better understand Bitcoin and its potential benefits.
3. Encourage collaboration between government agencies, academia, and the private sector to explore new and innovative uses for Bitcoin.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope you will recognize the potential benefits of Bitcoin and take action to support its growth and adoption in our country. I look forward to hearing about your stance on this issue and any steps you plan to take.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
gm #[0]
Jerome - Pawn Star 
Loving the "Single Click Zaps" feature in Nostrgram.
Its just money; its made up. Pieces of paper with pictures on it so we don't have to kill each other just to get something to eat. It's not wrong. And it's certainly no different today than its ever been.... It's all just the same thing over and over; we can't help ourselves. And you and I can't control it, or stop it, or even slow it. Or even ever-so-slightly alter it. We just react. And we make a lot money if we get it right. And we get left by the side of the side of the road if we get it wrong. And there have always been and there always will be the same percentage of winners and losers. Happy foxes and sad sacks. Fat cats and starving dogs in this world. Yeah, there may be more of us today than there's ever been. But the percentages-they stay exactly the same.
Under a fiat monetary system, banks issue loans and create deposits for clients many times their cash reserves. This system is spectacularly profitable for banks since it allows them to keep their money in one place while lending in another location, the fiat version of a bitcoin double-spend transaction. A bank can operate on fractional reserves perfectly fine unless and until a critical mass of its customers all come calling for their holdings... Should the fractional reserve house of cards begin to collapse, as it inevitably will, the banks know that the government will simply conjure credit out of thin air to bail them out.
Ammous, Saifedean. The Fiat Standard: The Debt Slavery Alternative to Human Civilization
Trying to get your NIP-05 identity self hosted?
If your domain has a Wordpress site, try this technique to enable CORS. Modify the .htaccess file (using ssh or ftp) by adding these lines to the top of the file:
# Set CORS
<FilesMatch nostr.json>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
# Set CORS
#[0], the john madden of bitcoin, sharing wise words on ordinals. Its stupid AND its good for bitcoin.
Truth depends on where you are standing. 
Bitcoin is an embodiment of the idea of antifragility, which is understood as gaining from adversity and disorder. Bitcoin is not just robust to attack, but it can be said to be antifragile on both a technical and economic level. While attempts to kill bitcoin have so far failed, many of them have made it stronger by ending up allowing coders to identify weaknesses and patch them up. Further, every thwarted attack on the network is a notch on its belt, another testament and advertisement to participants and outsiders of the security of the network.
Ammous, Saifedean. The Bitcoin Standard