Digital Renaissance

There's a new term Renaissance Millennial and I think that there is some weight to it. If the renaissance was sparked through books and the invention of the mechanical typeset printing press then what might the internet do? Our cultural does seem to be moving to a new era, The renaissance however developed over a period of 200 years and the internet has only been here for around 25. The world is now covered in information transferring cables not to mention Google balloons. People have access to information from all parts of the world. Its clear that there must be a lot more change to come. With digital currency this Digital Renaissance that we are already seeing is amplified.

In developing countries closer connections will other parts of the world make a big difference. Recently starving protesters in the Ukraine where able to get aid, in the form of Bitcoin sent directly to them, simply by holding up printed pages with their bitcoin QR codes in front of international news cameras. Digital-currency also puts developing countries on an equal playing field with the rest of the world. This counts for economic stability and for financial infrastructure. With smart phones now more common than indoor plumbing, people in undeveloped places can use their phones as international eftpos machines. People who once couldn't get to a bank in a days walk are now able to set up for free and sell things all over the world, independently. This non-corporate international trade will reduce poverty and create a more financially balanced world.

This goes hand in hand with spreading education. People can educate themselves using the internet and now new occupations are appearing all over the world. Anything that can be done over the internet can now be paid for quickly and easily. Translating and editing blogs, computer programing, web design, recording and even commissioning of art. Just check out freelancer.com to see some of the possibilities.

The freelance, crowd fund and donation based economy has been on the rise for a while. This is in part due to necessity. Artistic copyrights have and been almost destroyed by the internet and in the wake of this companies like Spotify are further cutting the royalties that recording musicians are receiving. Artist that once were making a good living on record contracts are now finding that most of there air plays go through international corporations and that the fee's generated are much less than before. Google adsence payments for online content providers are also quite small. With Bitcoin, artists can easily get payed directly. Rock stars can even transparently show how rich and or poor they are so we can decide weather to support them or not. We just need to be proactive about who we support. In this way digital-currency is a catalyst for up and coming international artist and fair wealth distribution.

In our local real world amongst the birds and the tree, its also a great way to tip buskers and show appreciation. This all simply from the fact that there's no need to keep your account number secret. You no longer need to put a hat out and watch over it carefully. Easy micro payments make anything monetisable anywhere. you don't need to man a till. You just need to display a QR code. Bitcoin even works when away from the net and out of cell reception service by using bluetooth. These existing features allow large transactions to be made on the top of a mountain or simply whilst on the run. Because you don't need to carry a special hardware with you, it makes working much more mobile.

Few would deny the impact of the internet over the last few decades. With money specifically designed for the internet do we get a Digital Renaissance?  Digital money/Crypto-currency or whatever you like to call it very p[programmable and I feel we may find big developments in unexpected places. The Dogerain app for example , can 'make it rain' Dogecoin (digitally) on anyone who's in the room with you. Pretty fun and, it is intended to be satirical hip hop video application for nerdy crypto parties. But if you consider this in a different light it could perform completely different function.  An employer could simply run this app in their office to pay staff. Certainly reduces paper work and argument over hours. It would make a great model for an art collective or not for profit, with all earning simply going into the Dogerain reservoir. These are all seem like far out ideas now but there are people who are into that.

One click payments are big advantage offered by Bitcoin. I am so bored of entering my credit card details into machines and I don't think I'm alone. With Bitcoin it is even possible for purchasing payments to be made automatic. This could save a little time and mundane math and more importantly it could also enhance the buyer experience. Imagine being able to shop and entertain yourself without actually having to physically cue up and make transactions. All you would do was enable the app, set a limit and let blue tooth do the rest.

Simple tools fundamentally change the way we do things. But it's not only the new freedom of value that's provided by the tools, it's the vibe of it. Some people feel that money is evil. This view is prevalent with artist, musicians and authors. There is a sense of greed, corruption and a lack of transparency associated with the current value system. Bitcoin has had its ups and downs in the past, but Bitcoin allows total transparency. This in tern can help us repress greed and corruption much more effectively than before.

The current financial system also doesn't work well for artists because their appeal is less tangible than normal products and there audience can be more international or more dispersed. Efforts are often gouged by corporate intermediaries or are simply offered for free. I think our cultural icons deserve more.  In the future, with the right guidance our value system can be a more in touch with society. The internet helps people connect with information and can now even out wealth more effectively with digital currency. This allows us to create something new with the world. and change the way we do things.  This Digital Renaissance wont be just limited to Europe. It will be in India, South East Asia, China, Africa and South America. That's a whole lot of Lianardoes and Donatellos.

Digital Elections - The Crypto King and Queen

The last week of political debates in the UK where I night mare for a spectator. There is no surprise if you express concern to your neighbor about the fact that there is no one good to vote for, everyone feels the same. Its been like this for years but now its seems we are used to it and it's only getting worse.

The representatives have no sincerity and no real desire for problem solving. It seems all their positions are simply angling to buy votes from the general public. Its a disgrace. They read prepared line and take themselves so seriously. They couldn't listen to the population if they tried, they'd be thinking about making sure they looked as though they where listening as you spoke. They posture for strength and sensibility and Its clear all just a charade. I think even the teenage first time voters can see this. Look into there eyes it all blank their minds pickle from lives in the sick twisted politics arena. I can't hardly watch the stuff.

The New Zealand Election last year was much the same. it however had a new dash of excitement with Kim Dot com vying to turn his digital fame into political power  in an attempt to save himself from the prying arms of the FBI and to uplift the people with his modern ideology and slick we pages. And it was exciting, the media went mad.Kim went made. At Kim's rallies, Edward Snowden and Julian Assange cryticised the prime minister and the NZ government.Kim Dot com broke up with his wife, his house servants turned against him, and He cried on national TV. All before the election. then when he lost Dave Tamahere, the honorable Maori Mana party rebel rat bag didn't get the seat which everyone thought he was born for.

Hopefully we will get a spanner in the works in the UK, it would make good tv. but some how I think this place is a bit to big for that kind of impact. This year at least, however It does seem like a growing trend.i Certainly consider Julian Assange a more credible leader than any other public figure. I guess I'd donate to him on a yearly basis at the level he said was needed.

Certainly I'd rather do that than give the current government more money for policies like, giving teenagers cheap loans to help them move out of home!! I mean you don't have to think about that one long to figure out it bad on so many levels. I was 20 once i know what i would do with the extra cash, and I don't think the land lords really deserve any more government money available so they can raise there bond requirements. Total vote buying. Its a kind of democratic inversion.

internationally though we do have a new kind of leader emerging. Movie stars, musicians and big businessmen seem to have a greater part to play in the world. Names like Arnold Swartzenager, Richard branson, Bill gates. Edward Snowden, Bono, Joe Armstrong, Tom Gable, Lorde!? Could it be George and Amal Clooney, Brad and Angelina?

Russel Brand is even telling us not to vote. He fells the same about these pointless elections. Will they ever change? Our lives are no longer confined to one country. We have an international economy and now we have international currency with Bitcoin. Why not international elections? A Bitcoin president. Rubs against some of the anarchist tendencies of some underground crypto supporters, but maybe they'd change their minds if Henry Rollins could get a seat. i think a voluntary Bitcoin election could be a good thing. especially in light of the splitting of the Bitcoin foundation recently. Even if its influence was minimal at first it would certainly make a great marketing campaign.   

Could it be Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. Could it be Russel Brand? or is it that girl who does the bitcoin youtube videos? Either way would be much keener to participate in a Crypto Election than to the circus that we have now.

I say we make a new election for someone who we really like.

Mt Gox Silk Road Fiasco Extraordinaire

When you read the all news about Mt Gox today, scenes from The Blacklist and Breaking bad come to mind. As Redington might say the plot is "truly unfathomable and what happens next is anyone's guess". I have been watching the bankruptcy of Mt Gox closely. They have a good amount of my money so I have read every court order carefully and have a good understanding of the development of the company. The story sounds more like fiction than fact.

Mark Karples, a sweaty manga cartoon loving geek living with his parents in Japan buys Mt Gox off a friend and turns what was once a magic card web site it into a the worlds biggest Bitcoin exchange. Within a few years the company is making millions in profits and overseas close to a billion dollars in capitol. Mark has 20 employees and hammocks in the office and they even starts a Bitcoin cafe on the ground floor of the head office in Tokyo. Its a place of crazy money, computer games and Linux  The companies activities spread all over the world.

Another Bitcoin organisation was growing during the same period, but on the dark web and this is called the Silkroad. On this website anyone can buy anything especially if its illicit and the main currency used is Bitcoin. Inevitably the drug lords who made fortunes on SR platform have to use Mt Gox in order to exchange their funds for fiat money. The two organisations grow in parallel,  however Mark Karples claims that Mt Gox was never liked by the Silk Road Community.

Trading bots on Mt Gox earned the company extra cash and the price of Bitcoin went through the roof from less than 10 US cents when Mt Gox first started to over $1000 USD. Mark offered to help the US government with fraud investigations. they would provide suspected fake passport applicants and details of suspicious activities to the FBI. This is ongoing Mark builds up a relationship with two Agents Carl Ford and Shaun Bridges. At the time he becomes a suspect and primary lead in the governments hunt for Silk road

Mt Gox's liquidity comes under question by the online community. In order to prove the assets of the company Mark makes a transfer 424,242 Bitcoins between accounts in one public transaction. It is a tribute to Monty Pythons Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and proves that Mt Gox has at least $500 million in liquid assets at the time.
 
Silk Road is busted by joint FBI DEA operation. Though Bitcoin was used by Silkroad patrons for its perceived anonymity it turns out that through the course of the trail officials manage collect allot of funds from various people involved due to the traceable public ledger. The judge praises the bitcoin block chain for allowing this. The head villain "Dread Pirate Roberts" or Ross Ulbricht is detained and put on trial with many of his accomplices and Silk Road users. It is the biggest international drug bust ever and the US government collects all the funds.

At the the time of the Silk Road bust, Mt Gox is also put under FBI investigation by Shaun Bridges  

They have to freeze large parts of their business and all their bank accounts. In addition Mt Gox begins to experience a "bank run" and has liquidity issues and collapses. Its Bitcoin price dropped through the floor before the collapse. It's a disaster of unmatched proportions for the digital currency world.

Mt Gox's bankruptcy proceeding drags on. Mark Karples claiming hundreds of millions in looses due to theft through hackers using the Bitcoin malleability weakness. Bankruptcy claims by the public are still (to this day) not being accepted until the results of a proper investigations are complete. 200,000 bitcoins are found on a forgotten hard drive. In total there hundreds of millions in dollars and Bitcoin's sitting in the Mt Gox accounts and finding the reported theft as this money could potentially repay many of Mt Gox's dept. It's all become pretty hefty for a company named after some fantasy card thing. Mark Karples is publically shamed and has been removed from bankrupts process by the lawyer. He is very silent on the matters and hides from the public eye.

In January 2015 Newspapers announce that they believe that missing Bitcoins from Mt Gox where stolen by someone rather than hacked as Mark had claimed

"Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) told The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper on Thursday that no more than around 7,000 of the roughly 650,000 Bitcoins that vanished from Mt Gox could be attributed to cyber-attacks. " 

This news found at here went little noticed until the recent revelations of two government officials.

The latest DEA and FBI confessions shine a whole new light on this bazaar plot.

This news has come up through the Silk Road trail and the unsealing of this official document. The entire trial in contention. Two primary officials involved in investigations of Silk Road are accused of theft and extortion of millions of dollars from Silk Road, Mt Gox and other Bitcoin exchanges. It is an under cover investigation saga that quickly became twisted and out of control. 

DEA agent Carl Force and Secret Service Special Agent Shaun Bridges infiltrated into the illusive Silkroad through an inside informant Curtis Green, a 47 year old normal guy who didn't do drugs and worked for SR as a customer service rep. Carl Force first met Curtis when they busted him with a Kilo of cocaine in his letterbox. quite out of character but, he cooperated and opened up his logins for FBI use. Curtis's pseudonym was "flush" and worked with Carl who became "Nob" amongst others. At first they worked for DPR (Ross Ulbricht) doing admin for the Silk Road web site. All this information is logged by the investigation.

After some ongoing dramas and thefts, Ross Ulbrich noticed someone had stolen $350k from Silkroad petty cash using the "Slush" login. Dread Pirate Roberts got angry and after some online discussion ordered a hit to "terminate" Curtis. This was to be carried out by "Nob" (Carl Force) who has also become a hit man on the Silk road site. So Carl and Shaun faked the murder of Curtis, made proof of death photos, collected payment for themselves, let Curtis free and continued to infiltrate Silk Road.

Shaun and Carl continued on a takeover. Mt Gox provided information and were extorted for services, Carl Force became a Bitcoin Compliance Consultant on the side and acquired shares in rival exchanges whilst manipulating the market through regulatory powers. With so much Bitcoin on their hands, the two agents had to coax various Bitcoin and payments companies to help convert their ill-gotten gains into dollars. Mark Karples refused to do a laundering deal with Carl Force and that week gets a subpena for his US operation from Shaun Bridges. Carl Forced even tipped off Dread Pirate Roberts on the FBI Silk Road investigation. Shaun and Carl's corruption continues until eventually Silk Road gets busted. Shortly after they leave government service at the DEA and FBI.

So Ulbrich goes to trial in 2014 and accuses Mark Karples of being the real mastermind of Silk road.  It becomes evident that the former agents Carl and Shaun had been corrupt and they are put under investigated by the government for serious fraud and misconduct. A huge amount of evidence is withheld from the trial because it would hinder ongoing investigations of the government. The Department of Justice are now charging Shaun Bridges and Carl Force with fraud and it is expected that number will be in the millions.

So there it is in a nut shell (also see the Forbes article). You can't help to wonder if there is an illusive Redington or Berlin out there with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Mt Gox funds. The results from the  new trial will be very telling. Could Mark Karples be Heisenberg? are the 650,000 Bitcoins the Japanese police looking for possibly with the FBI? Ether way someone should make a manga cartoon on it, it is insane!

Mark Karple in his early Nija formations, just before he said "no way" to an FBI summons