I don't know anything, but I was convinced by this: At best raising too many flags for the Samourai people is a distraction from much more worthwhile causes each person could be focusing on, like Roman Sterlingov or whatever (I also don't know about this case either, but it's just an example). Probably even spending 5 minutes talking to your local fruit dealer about accepting Bitcoin has a much better effect in the world than donating money to Samourai at this point.
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When I was falsely charged with computer crimes for lawfully accessing a public API on a webserver, I received around $14,000 in community help to bridge the gap. I went to trial and went to prison, and then won on appeal and established precedent that helps everyone on the Internet. My reward for this was to be blacklisted from banks in exchanges within a couple months of my release in 2014, to be further impoverished (I’d already been bankrupted by 13 years of harassment by the federal government) and to be exiled from the country by continuous direct harassment from federal agents. Keonne and Bill raised millions of dollars under the direct claim that everyone’s rights were under assault and they were going to fight at trial. They knew this was a lie at the time. They had no plan to fight at trial, and they just wanted a payout. They got more than any computer crimes defendant in history, for doing absolutely nothing for the community, *not even showing up*. In the meantime, Roman Sterlingov went to trial, received an absolutely monstrous sentence, and is actually fighting an appeal on a case that has a lot of hope for actually scoring points against the law (much more than Keonne and Bill). He got virtually no support. I am generally sympathetic to prisoners, but Keonne and Bill rugpulled the whole community on the way out. They defrauded everybody. They received a gigantic multiple of what it takes to fight a federal criminal case and then *didn’t even spend it on legal defense*. In doing so they not only stole from everyone, but far more unforgivably, they soaked up the resources that were necessary to finance the cases that would actually decide the law. For this, Fuck Samourai. I don’t support their imprisonment, but they are liars, cheats, and cowards. There are other prisoners that deserve care and support more than them.
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weev 3 weeks ago
> ike Roman Sterlingov or whatever (I also don't know about this case either, but it's just an example). Sterlingov is also alleged to provide Bitcoin mixing infrastructure, but all potential arguments are preserved in the motions. The issues that will be decided in his appeal are a multitude, but the key issue for freedom will be, is mixing solely for the purpose of providing privacy illegal? Is using a mixer for your own privacy illegal? This is the case that is likely going to decide this for everyone. And if his case is found illegal on appeal, I don’t see how Lightning’s privacy features aren’t also illegal. He’s also fighting whether Chainanalysis, ChainArgos, etc are sufficiently qualified as sources of expert testimony given their documented history of mistakes they made in regards to cluster analysis of CoinJoins. Finally, he is also confronting the issue of the government’s claimed infinite jurisdiction over Bitcoin. Jurisdiction is a Constitutional issue and they, to my understanding of the law, failed to adequately establish venue at trial. These are all very important issues for Bitcoiners. This is the case that is actually deciding the law. It has received 0.02 BTC. Sterlingov’s representation is having trouble keeping his doors open due to the burdensome costs of this appeal.
You don't fight the state by using its legal system that is eternally rugged against you. Yes, if every active Nostr npub would sign up 3 merchants per year that would be a signal nobody could ignore. It's also much cheaper than any funding of state lawyers. You need to extract as much energy and money from the system.
I agree with your stance. You can only hold the territory you can indeed defend. Monero is in a much better losiitiom to be defended. Combine it with Reticulum and you created something outside the reach of states.