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Thoughts

Short thoughts, notes, links, and musings by . RSS

Great piece on BlueSky and enshittification by Cory Doctorow . “I will never again devote my energies to building up an audience on a platform whose management can sever my relationship to that audience at will.” I also really appreciate his point that it’s not the blockchain venture capital that leads to enshittification, it’s the venture capital.

Cory is a fellow POSSE-er (and major inspiration to me when I adopted the practice), and has opted not to use Bluesky. Personally, I’ve gone the route of using the platforms that interest me, even the enshittification-prone ones like Bluesky and Threads, but hedging my bets by plugging them into my POSSE system where they can just as easily be unplugged if need be.

"Bluesky and enshittification".
Cory Doctorow in Pluralistic.
I'm not on Bluesky and I don't have any plans to join it anytime soon. I wrote about this in 2023: I will never again devote my energies to building up an audience on a platform whose management can sever my relationship to that audience at will.

i’ve just noticed that at some point the absolute legends that hold the Fairshake.com domain updated their website. they’re the first google result for “fairshake”, above the website for the crypto-focused super PAC

Big text that reads “Big crypto should stop bullying lawmakers for the sake of profits”. Below it: “Surprise, we’re not the PAC” and a “Learn more” button.

“Plaintiff, through individual intelligence, entrepreneurship and human ingenuity, along with the aid of God, is in the professional business of servicing subprime auto loans”

Plaintiff, through individual intelligence, entrepreneurship and human ingenuity, along with the aid of God, is in the professional business of servicing subprime auto loans generated by an affiliated Car Dealership, alongside an internally-partnered, financial services institution ["Bank"].

As an active federal contractor, Coinbase is prohibited from making political contributions, including to super PACs. This makes $50 million that they have contributed in violation of pay-to-play laws for contractors.

Tweet by Brian Armstrong @brian_armstrong We get the U.S. election results in 6 days, and no matter how you slice it, it will be the most pro-crypto congress ever. But we're not slowing down post-election. Today I'm announcing that @coinbase has committed another $25M to support Fairshake PAC, which they will use leading up to the 2026 midterms to elect pro-crypto candidates. We're also supporting @standwithcrypto in their stretch goal to reach 4m advocates by the 2026 midterms. The crypto voter is already a force to be reckoned with, but it will continue to grow. We're going to keep showing up to protect our customer's rights and help get sensible legislation passed in major markets around the world.

See my reporting on their previous violation, which is being reviewed by the FEC: https://www.citationneeded.news/coinbase-campaign-finance-violation/

FTX’s Nishad Singh was sentenced to no jail time, and three years of supervised release. He had pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges, as well as a campaign finance charge, and cooperated with the prosecution.

That just leaves defendant Gary Wang left to be sentenced. I imagine he’s feeling some relief after hearing of Singh’s non-custodial sentence.

This also really underscores the sentencing benefit from cooperation. Ryan Salame, who pleaded guilty but did not cooperate, received 7 1/2 years for a campaign finance charge and a money transmitting charge.

A commenter at Citation Needed suggested I have not adequately explained why I support Kamala Harris, and why I believe it is absolutely critical that everyone who can vote comes out to vote for her. In case I have indeed not been clear, here is my response.

Please vote.

Although America is facing a choice between two imperfect candidates, the choice between imperfection and fascism is clear. Harris believes in democracy. Her policy positions on topics including strong protections around reproductive rights, increased accessibility to healthcare, and how taxes should be distributed across income classes more closely align with my own. We do not agree on everything — her support for Israel, her relatively weak statements on supporting the transgender community, some of her history when it comes to police and prison reform are just a few examples of where we diverge. However, I am a pragmatist, and Harris’s shortcomings pale in comparison to Trump’s. Once Harris is elected, I believe she is far more likely to listen to the people she serves than her opponent, and I think our chances of influencing her actions on the topics where we diverge are far higher than with Trump. The starting point is also vastly different — for example, where Harris has been weakly supportive of the trans community and needs to do more, Trump is actively dangerous towards and likely to continue pursuing policies that threaten the lives and wellbeing of trans people. Trump is a fascist who refused to accept the outcome of the previous democratic election and seems poised to do the same this time around. He has openly praised Adolf Hitler. He has threatened violence against his political opponents. His position on the genocide in Gaza is to have Israel “finish the job”. He has demonized those who pursue the truth, instead offering his own “alternative facts”. He supports a campaign of barbaric mass deportation based on racism and xenophobia. He has personally been violent and demeaning to women, and has even more blood on his hands when it comes to all of the people who have died and are dying thanks to the loss of rights and access to healthcare under his watch. For all the talk of individual liberties and personal freedom among Trump supporters, evidently women are not included in the list of people who should be allowed to make decisions for themselves. Even more blood is on his hands because of the crisis of mass shootings, which neither party has adequately addressed but which his running mate has limply accepted as “a fact of life”. His handling of a public health crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic was shameful, and more lives yet were lost thanks to his anti-vaccine rhetoric and the distrust he sowed in medical professionals. He’s cares more about the billionaires who lick his boots than the everyday people who need housing, food, healthcare, and basic necessities. The list truly goes on, but hopefully I have made my point.

it is nuts for someone who runs a crypto media outlet to write this, and even more nuts for Time magazine to publish it

By Laura ShinOctober 29, 2024 9:00 AM EDT Shin is the founder of the crypto news outlet, Unchained, host of the Unchained podcast, and the author of The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze As a journalist, I try not to reveal personal opinions. But I’m breaking that rule today, because as an American, there’s something I, a progressive Democrat and a journalist who has covered crypto for more than nine years, have to speak up about.

i respect laura shin’s work but suggesting she’s a neutral observer is about as bananas as suggesting i am

i will say it is brave of her to “come out” as a progressive in the crypto world, which is heavily pro-trump and prone to attacking anyone who isn’t. i’m sure that wasn’t an easy decision given her business.