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US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

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Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#541

Post by paxys »

chatmasta wrote: post #48

I met Virgil at an academic workshop back in 2014. We went out in Amsterdam. He was a weird guy, to say the least (he’d probably be the first to agree). He was generally quite affable and obviously highly intelligent. He’s an idiot for this fiasco. But it’s also sad to see him in jail; I don’t see how this benefits society in any way. Five years in prison seems like a disproportionate punishment for an arguably victi…

So, people shouldn't face consequences for criminal actions because they are nerdy and good with computers? That's not how the real world works. Aiding a dictatorship in evading sanctions is very far from "victimless".

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#542

Post by jwarden »

danielvf wrote: post #71

According to the original complaint, a few months after being interviewed by an FBI agent on returning from his trip to North Korea, Griffith had the following conversation over text messages: Griffith: I need to send 1 [REDACTED UNIT OF CRYPTOCURRENCY] between North and South Korea. Other Guy: "Isn't that in violations of sanctions?" Griffith: It is. A few day later, also in text messages to someone else: Someone: W…

I have learned to expect almost any mainstream media headline with the word “after” to be misleading. “After” does not literally mean “because”, so it’s not a lie. But people read it that way.

“Putin condemned by west after attending anti-Nazi rally.”

“Ted Bundy sentenced to life in prison after misogynistic comment.”

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#543

Post by sofixa »

randomhodler84 wrote: post #425
sofixa wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should look into MAD, and why the USSR and USA signed a treaty restricting anti-missile defenses. If any country was close to getting ironclad missile shields, it's adversaries would probably act preemptively.

Also look into Jason P Lowery, and Mutually Assured Preservation concept. PoW Cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin, will end all war. Modern war can only be perpetual with loose monetary policy. Fix the money, fix the world. Post MAD, the strategic battle was over post 70s. The tactical, hash warfare battle is the next phase we will have to live through. Eventually we realize we are all on the same Planet Earth tea…

I'm fairly certain that's some sort of elaborate joke I'm not getting. In case you're serious: *bullshit*. There have been wars before there was money, and before there was modern money. WWI is modern ( thatl's where all modern military tech bar drones came to be) and it was while countries were on the gold standard. And it was as "perpetual" as it gets in terms of wars.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#544

Post by KptMarchewa »

dmitrygr wrote: post #358
babypuncher wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sabotaging your own military's weapons still sounds an awful lot like treason

Sanctions have never ever in human history worked, so more like sabotaging one's placebos...

Sanctions have absolutely wrecked many hostile countries aconomy, crippling their ability to conduct war. There's a reason why North Korea's army is 50s technology held together by duct tape.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#545

Post by bonzini »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #451
bonzini wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the US refused ultimatums to stay out of Ukraine Which is just a pretense. On different days, the "special military operation" has been to avoid NATO bordering Russia (which it already does in the Baltic), "remove Nazis", "fix Lenin's mistake of separating Ukraine from Russia", "free Donbass and Luhansk" and probably others that I forgot. And anyway, US didn't do anything (this time). Ukraine has a right to join NA…

>Ukraine has a right to join NATO if they want, without asking uncle Vladimir beforehand by this standard, Cuba has the right to have Russian nukes pointed at Washington DC. But we all know that the US would wipe Cuba off the face of the earth and kill every civilian there before that happened. They are still under sanctions 70 years later for playing that game and assuming they have territorial autonomy.

Why would Ukraine or Finland be any different from the Baltic states with respect to joining NATO?

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#546

Post by randomhodler84 »

sofixa wrote: post #543
randomhodler84 wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also look into Jason P Lowery, and Mutually Assured Preservation concept. PoW Cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin, will end all war. Modern war can only be perpetual with loose monetary policy. Fix the money, fix the world. Post MAD, the strategic battle was over post 70s. The tactical, hash warfare battle is the next phase we will have to live through. Eventually we realize we are all on the same Planet Earth tea…

I'm fairly certain that's some sort of elaborate joke I'm not getting. In case you're serious: *bullshit*. There have been wars before there was money, and before there was modern money. WWI is modern ( thatl's where all modern military tech bar drones came to be) and it was while countries were on the gold standard. And it was as "perpetual" as it gets in terms of wars.

No joke. Until the invention of cryptocurrency, the ledger of ownership of all the things had to be enforced by a gun. Physical violence to protect property. People would give their lives to enforce a consensus of ownership. We now have a way that doesn’t need guns. It uses mathematics of cryptographic signatures for authentication and integrity, that is verifiable anywhere and without trusted third parties. This is as radical shift in societies power structures.

I think you are not getting it because you are still in the “silly criminal money” phase. Don’t worry, give it another 3 years and you will be wishing you bought sats today.

Ww1 ww2 all were funded by debasement. All parties did it. It’s a lesson as old as time, but no. Different this time!

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#547

Post by Epiphany21 »

mercutio2 wrote: post #521
Epiphany21 wrote: post #515

Earlier quoted context omitted.

North Korea isn't sanctioned because of human rights violations. The US doesn't even care for its own citizenry sufficiently. Why would American politicians care about the plight of hungry people half the world over? North Korea is sanctioned because they won't let Amazon, McDonald's, Netflix, BlackRock, Google, and a myriad of other highly destructive and financially motivated corporate entities run amok in their co…

So your saying being actively at war with close ally South Korea, with enormous amounts of artillery aimed at Seoul, and killing people who commit Lese Majeste, are not credible reasons for being a target of US ire?

The US suffered around 58k casualties during the Vietnam war. Nearly as many people domestically are dying each year from opioid overdoses. In 2017, that number was 47k. Now compare and contrast this with 9/11, which killed roughly 3k. If you believe the government's bald faced lies, that should be a great enough loss of life to spur them into action. Yet there's nothing substantial being done to fix this. Keep in mind here that 9/11 is supposedly what got us the Patriot Act and legalized sexual assault in airports.

So not only am I saying the US government doesn't care about civilian mistreatment, they actively encourage it by turning a blind eye to corporate greed. North Korea does bad things, but it doesn't matter because nobody talking about is actually willing to help those people. So they're just pawns for you to signal about. No policy is impacted it whatsoever.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#548

Post by sofixa »

randomhodler84 wrote: post #546
sofixa wrote: post #543

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fairly certain that's some sort of elaborate joke I'm not getting. In case you're serious: *bullshit*. There have been wars before there was money, and before there was modern money. WWI is modern ( thatl's where all modern military tech bar drones came to be) and it was while countries were on the gold standard. And it was as "perpetual" as it gets in terms of wars.

No joke. Until the invention of cryptocurrency, the ledger of ownership of all the things had to be enforced by a gun. Physical violence to protect property. People would give their lives to enforce a consensus of ownership. We now have a way that doesn’t need guns. It uses mathematics of cryptographic signatures for authentication and integrity, that is verifiable anywhere and without trusted third parties. This is…

You're delusional. At least your username is apt.

So. Your premise is flawed. Violence has been a part of humanity for as long as humanity has existed. Your blockchain doesn't solve shit against violence - if a foreign army attacks your country for resources, they can take it, including your crypto, by sheer violence (insert $10 wrench xkcd here). A government doesn't need to print money to finance a war. And even in your imaginary scenario where everything is on a blockchain, what exactly would stop a militia from creating their own separate currency to pay workers under their control for food and weapons? And then attacking everyone else for more resources? You're fundamentally misunderstanding how humans work.

> Ww1 ww2 all were funded by debasement.

No, they were funded by bonds and loans. That's why economies were crippled, even on the victorious side that didn't endure a blockade. Rationing was deflationary. Are you just making shit up as you go?

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#549

Post by sofixa »

kayamon wrote: post #157
sofixa wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wars are funded via inflation That's got to be one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. Inflation is a side effect of war, either due money printing to fund ( rare in non-failing countries, bond issues and loans are much more popular) or, more often, due to supply scarcity ( due to more limited trade, redirection of resources to the military, conscription of men for the army). Bitcoin does nothing for either sce…

And what happens if the people can trade without requiring the governments or their monetary policies?

They can't. Unless you limit trade to your immediate vicinity, you'd need government provided and managed infrastructure, customs and what not to trade.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#550

Post by thereddaikon »

Firmwarrior wrote: post #527
SkyMarshal wrote: post #452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better conditions and due process. Whataboutitists love to conveniently the latter.

Man oh man. You're right for a lot of cases, but in the USA if you're uneducated, poor, and in the wrong place at the wrong time, you can get railroaded by some crooked cops and a plea deal with a crooked DA, and it's going to be small comfort that things aren't usually as bad as in North Korea

Nobody is arguing that the system is perfect. Yes we know bad things happen and there are bad people in the system who prey on others. That's true everywhere and it should go without saying.

It doesn't change the fact that the US is very different from NK and not really at all comparable if we are being intellectually honest.

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