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The Unchained Web #108

Alexandros Dolgov CBA? (Study/Bitcoin)

发布日期: 2023年7月30日

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Monero Wallet Address:

42EkgN23XZoLJXrgMJjrRM7jYpmirk1WvWUWc2SDF6kZAXVzHMGy5XB8JM8Vce3iHGKh9H8ACWF9J6ErrfKCP48mL2yeWcw

Bitcoin Wallet Address: bc1q4283c60tv2p7exfeu2ql7dk2n7utswgl43n2fk

ETH & ERC-20 Address: 0xD16429e3F253f50CfF306B2bE8966ce935332116

BNB & BRC-20 Address: 0xD16429e3F253f50CfF306B2bE8966ce935332116

Reclaim (some) Privacy Webinar Series: Intro to SearXNG & other privacy engines

In April, I am planning my first webinar in a series focused on privacy. The specific webinar will be focused on why Google may not be the best search engine to use and the SearXNG meta search engine and how it can be used to enhance privacy when using a search engine to research or find something to one's interest.

If you are interested in the topic, feel free to click "attend" on the link to the event below: https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/7167975601373458433/about/

Human Rights Foundation Backs Bug Bounty With Bitcoin

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has launched a bug bounty challenge to enhance Bitcoin for activists, offering a 20 Bitcoin reward (worth over half a million dollars) to support open-source development on the Bitcoin protocol. The challenge focuses on ten improvements to the Bitcoin user experience, particularly for mobile wallets. Each bounty is worth 2 BTC (around $60,000), with six of them aimed at improving mobile wallets. The challenges cover various aspects, including open-source design components, support for the Nostr social network, and the ability to generate and memorize seed phrases for border-crossing use. The HRF's Bitcoin Development Fund sponsors these bounties, seeking to promote financial freedom for human rights activists and dissidents. The bounties will be available throughout the year and until the end of 2024. If successful, this approach may inspire other organizations to adopt similar strategies. Click here for more.

US Department of Justice Doubles Effort to Incarcerate FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is urging the court to revoke the bail granted to Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX, due to concerns about potential witness intimidation. The DOJ claims that SBF leaked the private journals of his former partner, Caroline Ellison, who is a key witness in the case against him. The prosecution alleges that SBF's actions were an attempt to intimidate Ellison and potentially influence other trial witnesses. The DOJ points to SBF's extensive interactions with the media, including over a hundred emails and conversations with journalists, as evidence of a pattern of behavior. SBF's defense team argues that he was simply defending his reputation, but the DOJ argues that this approach is not legitimate and could affect the trial's fairness. Click here for more.

Jameson Lopp defends Lightning against 'inelegant pile of hacks' criticism

Casa CTO Jameson Lopp defended the Bitcoin Lightning Network, stating that while it has faced criticism for complexity and reliance on custodial solutions, it remains a promising scaling solution for Bitcoin. The Lightning Network aims to address Bitcoin's scalability issues through fast and cost-effective payment channels on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. Lopp acknowledged that the complexity has led to some users opting for custodial solutions but emphasized that the Lightning Network is still actively developing, and engineers are working to abstract away complexities. He also discussed Bitcoin's role as a medium of exchange versus a store of value and highlighted the growing popularity of stablecoins due to their convenience and fast transaction times. Lopp mentioned that Casa, a provider of crypto asset security solutions, has expanded its support to include Ethereum, and stablecoins could be the next asset to find support on their platform. The interview also covered recent unusual Bitcoin activity related to a potential hack of a crypto payments processor, as well as the debate over inscriptions and NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain. Lopp saw NFTs as more likely to have broad-scale adoption on other blockchains that are cheaper and faster, while inscriptions on Bitcoin might remain more niche and expensive. Click here for more.

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GitHub, Hugging Face, urge EU to relax open-source AI rules

Several tech firms, including GitHub, Hugging Face, and Creative Commons, have written an open letter urging the European Union to ease upcoming rules for open-source artificial intelligence (AI) models. They argue that treating open-source AI projects as commercial products or deployed AI systems would hinder open-source development practices and negatively impact individual developers and non-profit research organizations. The letter provides five suggestions to ensure that the AI Act supports open-source models, including clear definitions of AI components, exemptions for collaborative development, limited real-world testing exceptions for researchers, and proportional requirements for "foundation models." The European Parliament passed the AI Act in June, and it will become law after further negotiations with the European Council representing member states to finalize the details. The letter states that while the act sets a global precedent in AI regulation to address risks and encourage innovation, it should promote transparency and collaboration among diverse stakeholders to achieve these goals. Click here for more.

Hester Pierce strikes back against SEC crypto warning to accounting firms

Commissioner Hester Pierce of the SEC has expressed concerns about the agency's recent statement advising accounting firms against taking on non-audit work for crypto firms. Pierce challenged the "all-or-nothing" approach proposed by the SEC's chief accountant, arguing that it might discourage crypto firms from being transparent. She questioned why accounting firms should be cautious of providing assurance work to crypto firms and believes good-faith efforts to provide more transparency should be encouraged. The chief accountant, Paul Munter, had raised concerns that partial engagements might lead to crypto firms selectively presenting only certain aspects of their business as a full audit. Munter suggested that if accounting firms discover misleading statements from clients about non-audit work, they should consider making a "noisy withdrawal" by publicly disassociating from the client or reporting them to the SEC. A professor of auditing and accounting ethics raised the issue of auditors being obligated by confidentiality, making it difficult to make public statements as suggested by Munter. The issue of some accounting firms aligning with crypto expertise to boost their reputation but becoming unresponsive when problems arise was also highlighted. Click here for more.

German regulator raised concerns about Binance CEO prior to license application withdrawal

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) reportedly advised Binance, a major cryptocurrency exchange, to withdraw its licensing application due to concerns with CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and the company's structure. BaFin cited doubts about CZ passing a "fit and proper" test under their regulatory guidelines and raised issues with the company's structure hindering regulatory supervision. Binance announced the withdrawal of its application in Germany on July 26, stating it was focusing on becoming compliant with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. In the United States, Binance is facing legal actions from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for alleged violations of securities laws and trading guidelines. Reports suggest the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is investigating Binance for violating U.S. sanctions on Russian entities. Binance has no physical headquarters, and CZ reportedly resides in Dubai since 2021. Click here for more.