May 2023 - cypherpunks@lists.ogf.org

Cryptocurrency: WHO KILLED BITCOIN?!?! Another Fork Is Coming!
by grarpamp 25 May '23

25 May '23

Everyone knows that Bitcoin Scaling and Privacy was killed. But few these days know by who. And Saylor is head in sand. And nobody has started a nextgen no-features p2p private hi-txrate pure cash, they're all still trying to startup every feature for everyone, that won't win. And yet another fork of Bitcoin-BTC is coming, which is unlikely to become a minimalistic winner as such. So a nextgen-cash winner will still take them all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eafzIW52Rgc Docu: WHO KILLED BITCOIN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq9bCuM0YQ8 Docu: QUIEN MATO BITCOIN https://medium.com/@laeternavigilancia/qui%C3%A9n-mat%C3%B3-a-bitcoin-fuent… https://twitter.com/ShortSqueeze20k/status/1658691055271968775 Bitcoin today is nothing like it was before price exploded. People are buying into a system that doesn't resemble the reason it became valuable in the first place. The Emperor has no clothes and people are starting to realize. https://twitter.com/ColinTCrypto/status/1658174448262955009 BITCOIN DEVELOPERS ARE EITHER INCOMPETENT OR COMPROMISED. WHICH IS IT? In response to the below post (which went somewhat viral) about Bitcoin’s failure to scale being due to it being compromised, there were some individuals (mostly diehard maximalists) which made defensive,… https://twitter.com/ColinTCrypto/status/1656500956136189952 After years of asking myself why BTC was systemically incapable of evolving in a positive way, and observing the evidence, the most likely answer I came up with is… (this will be a hard pill to swallow)… that Bitcoin was co-opted by banks to be slow, expensive, not scale and… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BZoKH-hX_o Who Destroyed Bitcoin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGrUOLsC9cw Why Lightning Does Not Scale https://twitter.com/ColinTCrypto/status/1656742113000714253 Bonus... https://twitter.com/ColinTCrypto/status/1658172706515214348 https://cbbi.info/ In response to this post (which went somewhat viral) about Bitcoin’s failure to scale due to it being compromised, there were some individuals (mostly diehard maximalists) which made defensive, retaliatory and attacking comments. Here’s how I can prove my statement and it’s up…

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Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin_Cash-BCH Still Growing Adoption, CashFusion Style Privacy, OnChain TxRate
by grarpamp 25 May '23

25 May '23

Bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy https://whybitcoincash.com/ https://twitter.com/be_cashy/status/1656037981365436416 Free the market, free the world. Hong Kong Luna Joined August 2020 Tweets 31,390 Following 2,705 Followers 6,713 Likes 71,915 6,965 Photos and videos Tweets Tweets & Replies Media Search Pinned Tweet bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy Feb 21 #bitcoin it wasn't always like this bitcoin was always meant to bcash 7 35 3 83 4,832 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted Kallisti.cash 🍏 @kzKallisti 4h It will never stop being funny to me how many people need to very loudly tell me that they don't care about BCH and that it's supposedly a "dead coin" Y'all see the irony there, right? Cope harder 😊 6 3 30 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy May 9 It's 2026, you're enjoying a stroll around your new plot of land on #StKitts. Back in 2023, you aped into #BitcoinCash 💸 just as the cracks in the #BTCLN narrative started to show again. Life is good. 2 7 31 324 Show this thread bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy 6h 🤣 Jeremy Kauffman 🦔 @jeremykauffman 7h Replying to @jeremykauffman a few years ago I temporarily spiked the price of a Berenstain Bear book to over $1,000 Show this thread bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted emergent_reasons#100🌵 @EmergentReasons 6h By the way, I did get the laptop paid in #BCH from @starlabsltd and it's great. Especially lots of options for high RAM and large SSDs. Their support has also been responsive and helpful. Everything smooth since upgrading BIOS and firmware due to some connectivity issues. emergent_reasons#100🌵 @EmergentReasons 22 Dec 2021 Boom. @starlabsltd added #BCH when I asked. Thank you! #BitcoinCash ecosystem... found some new laptops for you. Show this thread 3 17 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy 8h Replying to @ColinTCrypto @rogerkver bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy Apr 17 #Blockstream was aptly named. #bitcoin #bitcoincash 💸 1 2 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted Kim Dotcom @KimDotcom 6h WhyBitcoinCash.com Why Bitcoin Cash? Join the digital money revolution A fast, secure, worldwide peer to peer electronic cash system with low processing fees whybitcoincash.com Bitcoin Fees @BitcoinFeesCash 6h Updated Bitcoin transaction fees: BCH Next Block: $0.0006 BCH Weekly Median: $0.0011 BTC Next Block: $5.27 BTC Weekly Median: $1.97 41 38 3 188 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted Justin Bons @Justin_Bons 6h I agree with the majority of what bitcoiners say As I agree with the goals of Bitcoin; the devil is in the details Because, in reality; BTC is technically incapable of achieving its own goals I rather achieve Bitcoin's vision than dwell on a fantasy of a BTC that can never be 43 16 4 139 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy 7h Replying to @alanamez @KimDotcom 🤣 omg, if I had a sat for every time that question has been lobbed at me… Yeah, FFS, we have heard of LN. Have you used it in an attempt to perform a permissionless p2p transaction that doesn’t involve both parties locking their coins up in a digital abacus? Oh wait… 1 3 bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy 7h Marius Kjærstad (marius.eth) 🐬🦇🔊 4 8 1,925 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted Max H. @MaxH1987 May 24 Replying to @coldhardsats @KimDotcom 2 1 14 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted Kim Dotcom @KimDotcom May 24 Bitcoin was always meant to be bcash bitcoin was always meant to bcash 101 130 15 595 51,538 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy 9h Replying to @TheVladCostea Toxicity is a sign of insecurity. 🤣 1 2 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted Kallisti.cash 🍏 @kzKallisti 19h Some people I'd love to see on @TheBCHPodcast: - @ercwl and @udiWertheimer of course - @Justin_Bons - @rogerkver - @KimDotcom - @SamouraiDev - @stack_wallet (rehar) - @HodlRev - @thecyphercat 4 3 34 bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy 9h ‘member #coloredcoins? bitcoincashautist @bchautist 9h Replying to @brucefenton In the meantime, the sibling BCH chain got proper native UTXO tokens that can integrate with ScriptVM covenants and make DeFi magic on Bitcoin-tech possible. Ethereum has problems not because it has tokens but because it has EVM. The world is yet to see proper UTXO-based DeFi. 2 1 4 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted The Bitcoin Cash Podcast @TheBCHPodcast 9h There will be much more impotent wailing & gnashing of teeth about "bcash/ers" from obsolete #Bitcoin forks, but the game is over. Anyone can see it. Thanks for your time & attention with this lengthy thread! Join us in the bright #BitcoinCash future: The Bitcoin Cash Podcast @TheBCHPodcast Mar 31 Replying to @TheBCHPodcast Oh, you thought #BCH was right the whole time but still stuck griping about the past? Nope. We've been busy, leaving alternatives in the dust. 🧵Documenting industry leading innovations, development, adoption & culture on #Bitcoin #BCH. Show this thread 3 10 Show this thread bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted Sal the Agorist @SallyMayweather 20h 5 15 128 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted 🤦‍♂️ @Reason_Blog May 21 Replying to @jamesob @ercwl @TheBlueMatt “Hey, don’t touch that stove it’s hot and will burn you” “Shut up bcasher!” *6-8 yrs later* “Hey guys, lately I’ve noticed that touching the stove occasionally results in burns. Discuss…” 🤦‍♂️ 1 1 6 bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy 10h Question of the day: patricio zavala @patozava May 22 Replying to @danheld Was Satoshi a bcasher?? 5 bitcoin was always meant to bcash retweeted The Bitcoin Cash Podcast @TheBCHPodcast 10h The meta has shifted, we're past the tipping point. Previously, #BTC discussion was primary, #BCH supporters reacting. Now #BCH is the primary discussion, with unprompted #BTC reactionary takes. This thread will soon slow/stop. Narratively, we've won. Parman ⚡ 13% ⚡Bitcoin Private Key Whisperer #810 @parman_the 20h What Satoshi "would have wanted" is equally irrelevant to what the inventor of the wheel "would have wanted". Don't be a BCasher with this dumb logic. #Bitcoin only. 1 2 11 Show this thread bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy 10h "bitcoiner" logic: bitcoin was always meant to bcash @be_cashy 10h Replying to @Lorinaura 🤣 "We have this amazing tool rhat will obsolete fiat. Let's use it as little as possible..." 🤡 2 Load more

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Cryptocurrency: Parodies All Wannabe Monetary and Econ Systems aka Fiat, CBDC, Pol Bankster Economics
by grarpamp 25 May '23

25 May '23

https://twitter.com/alifarhat79 Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 Not associated with the Federal Reserve. Financial Parody and sarcasm, control of the world’s liquidity. Not investment advice. DM for promos linktr.ee/notjeromepowell Joined January 2010 Tweets 55,554 Following 464 Followers 299,358 Likes 98,568 12,470 Photos and videos Tweets Tweets & Replies Media Search Pinned Tweet Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 Apr 29 Click the subscribe button in my profile to know my trades in real time, exclusive only subscribers content, Q&A sessions and much more. What are you waiting subscribe now, you won’t be disappointed, I promise 94 43 1 297 Show this thread Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 4m Buy everything 36 51 4 380 Not Jerome Powell retweeted Not Elon Musk @ParodyofElon 5h I’m seriously considering running as an independent #2024PresidentialElection 259 170 35 2,290 Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 21h The stocks in your portfolio waiting the government to announce a default 122 492 32 3,524 Not Jerome Powell retweeted Chairman @WSBChairman 22h Buying the dip while the US Government is about to default for the first time ever, major banks are blowing up, and the world is on the brink of World War 3. 137 496 32 3,519 Show this thread Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 23h 88 320 26 2,002 Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 May 23 The U.S. government has given around $75 billion to Ukraine, has spent $1.6 trillion on the war in Irak and $2.3 trillion in Afghanistan but can’t raise the debt ceiling so they don’t default. Insane 194 336 24 2,066 Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 May 22 58 339 27 2,442 Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 May 22 Never deleting this app 91 454 5 4,685 Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 May 22 Hit the subscribe button in my bio to enjoy the gains like the ones my subs are having today. In addition to all other perks and only subs material. Subscribe now 16 7 55 Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 May 22 46 86 4 860 Not Jerome Powell retweeted Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 May 21 201 4,700 95 27,791 Show this thread Not Jerome Powell @alifarhat79 May 21 If you like the stock market and want to know what I’m trading hit that subscribe button in my bio. Also get access to exclusive memes, Q&A sessions, giveaways and much more. What are you waiting for? Subscribe now 15 4 35 Show this thread Load more

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Cryptocurrency: Liberland Opens US Office, Dollar Donation Club, Brock Pierce, BTC Foundation
by grarpamp 25 May '23

25 May '23

Brock Pierce retweeted David Begnaud @DavidBegnaud May 24 BREAKING: The CEO of @Hertz wrote a letter to Puerto Rico‘s representative in Congress stating that Hertz has rewritten its policy to make it abundantly clear that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory - not a foreign country - & because of that Puerto Rico driver’s licenses are not… 1,647 14,256 1,118 56,641 Show this thread Brock Pierce @brockpierce 23h PayPal’s @venmo introduces crypto trading up to $50K/year, tapping into surging trend of digital currency. Users will soon be able to transfer #BTC #Ethereum #Litecoin + #BitcoinCash milestone for mainstream crypto adoption. newsroom.paypal-corp.com/202… PayPal Launches "Checkout with Crypto" PayPal customers with cryptocurrency holdings in the U.S. will be able to choose to check out with crypto seamlessly within PayPal at checkout. newsroom.paypal-corp.com 5 3 19 Brock Pierce retweeted LiberlandTV @TV_Liberland May 24 #liberland #liberty #WashingtonDC Free Republic of Liberland Representative Office Grand Opening - May 23 | 5:30 - 11:30 pm | Pierce School Lofts 1375 #Maryland Ave NE | #Washington , DC 20002 #Washington #freedom #liberty #libertarian @Liberland_org @LiberlandAid @brockpierce 1 4 14 Brock Pierce retweeted Morris Oiring @OiringGroup May 23 I’m excited to announce that my hotel in Albany will now be accepting cryptocurrency! I’m grateful to @brockpierce for his friendship and being a driving force behind this idea, and to @NYCMayor Adams for encouraging New Yorkers to take advantage of crypto opportunities. This is… 7 5 1 26 Brock Pierce retweeted LiberlandTV @TV_Liberland May 16 #liberland #liberty #WashingtonDC Free Republic of Liberland Representative Office Grand Opening - May 23 | 5:30 - 11:30 pm | Pierce School Lofts 1375 #Maryland Ave NE | #Washington , DC 20002 liberland.org/en/news/439-gr… @Liberland_org @LiberlandAid @brockpierce 1 5 28 Show this thread Brock Pierce @brockpierce May 23 Do you give a buck? ⚡️ Donate $1 a month with my referral link to adress Humanity’s Checklist starting with removing plastic from oceans 🌊, planting trees 🌳 and many other social impact projects ⬇️. Theddc.co/Brock Dollar Donation Club The World’s First Collective Super-philanthropist dollardonationclub.com 9 5 1 13 Brock Pierce retweeted Bitcoin Magazine @BitcoinMagazine May 19 JUST IN - 🇺🇸 U.S. Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr: "As president, I will make sure that your right to hold and use #Bitcoin is inviolable." "You should be able to own your own private keys the same as you own the keys to your car or own your wallet." 246 1,089 85 4,886 Show this thread Brock Pierce retweeted Documenting ₿itcoin 📄 @DocumentingBTC May 19 ₿𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Presidential candidate @RobertKennedyJr says, “Everybody is so passionate about #bitcoin not just because it’s a currency, but because it’s an exercise in democracy." Cory Bates 341 999 87 4,506 118,555 Brock Pierce retweeted Bitcoin Magazine @BitcoinMagazine May 19 JUST IN - 🇺🇸 U.S. Senator: "#Bitcoin is so consistent with American values that we need to make sure it is protected, nurtured and allowed to prosper in the United States." 👏 195 772 28 3,731 Brock Pierce @brockpierce May 19 Here’s my full @fox5dc on Governor Glenn Youngkin’s video that suggested at a potential Presidential run 🇺🇸. #2024GeneralElections #US #elections2024 nitter.pw/i/web/status/165… 27 3 26 545 Brock Pierce retweeted Tom Emmer @GOPMajorityWhip May 18 Today, I introduced the Securities Clarity Act with @RepDarrenSoto. This bill clarifies the regulatory classification of digital assets and provides market certainty for innovators and clear jurisdictional boundaries for regulators. 260 1,133 124 4,085 Show this thread Brock Pierce retweeted Bitcoin Magazine @BitcoinMagazine May 18 JUST IN - 🇲🇽 Mexican corporate conglomerate Grupo Salinas to allow its millions of customers to pay their internet bill with #Bitcoin over Lightning 🙌 164 485 17 2,187 Brock Pierce retweeted Morris Oiring @OiringGroup May 18 Thank you for everyone who came and supported the event and tribute to American Jewry! Lets continue to celebrate this month and Jewish American Heritage forever 💙✡️ !! #americanjew #jewish #congress @CoryBooker @DWStweets @RepTroyCarter @RepSchneider @jewishwash @Chabad… nitter.pw/i/web/status/165… 2 4 3 18 728 Brock Pierce @brockpierce May 18 Delighted to announce the opening of Vieques’ new boxing ring 🇵🇷! Hope everyone can join the celebration! — ¡Encantado de anunciar la apertura del nuevo ring de boxeo de Vieques 🇵🇷! ¡Espero que todos puedan unirse a la celebración! #PuertoRico #Vieques 4 2 1 9 Brock Pierce @brockpierce May 18 More behind the scenes footage of @fox5dc on Governor Glenn Youngkin’s video today that suggests or hints at a potential Presidential run! ⚡️ #2024Election 1 2 10 496 Brock Pierce @brockpierce May 18 Integro Restart Week West in Mayaguez and Rincon 5 years ago today! 🇵🇷 @IntegroPR 3 1 11 Brock Pierce retweeted Kim Dotcom @KimDotcom May 17 My dad was an alcoholic I have never been drunk My dad was violent It gave me empathy My dad scared me as a child It made me fearless My dad was selfish and rude I am generous and kind My dad made nothing of his life I made my dreams come true Darkness can create light 😘 690 932 79 9,536 Brock Pierce retweeted Neil Cavuto @TeamCavuto May 15 Bitcoin Foundation Chairman @brockpierce joins Neil next on Fox Business 3 4 19 Load more

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Why the Middle East Is Calling the Shots on Big Deals
by Gunnar Larson 25 May '23

25 May '23

University Bank ---- With In the City hosts David Merritt and Francine Lacqua in Doha for the annual Qatar Economic Forum, this week’s podcast focuses on the growing influence of the Middle East—and whether it will come at the expense of Western financial hubs. Indeed, reporter Dinesh Nair says the Middle East is currently the only region that can “call the shots on big transactions.” Why the Middle East Is Calling the Shots on Big Deals https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-25/podcast-why-the-middle-e…

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First Republic’s $35 Million Banker Outearned JPMorgan’s Dimon Before Bust
by Gunnar Larson 25 May '23

25 May '23

First Republic Bank (FRCB) made its name catering to wealthy clients across California and New York, reeling in many with unusually sweet mortgages that eventually doomed the firm. First Republic’s $35 Million Banker Outearned JPMorgan’s Dimon Before Bust https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-25/first-republic-s-35-mill…

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Re: Potential SpaceX Interlocking Directors’ Intent to Manipulate Markets
by Gunnar Larson 25 May '23

25 May '23

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lv9Wt6y1ld4bNap0z3epIxttEGiP_oVpfxH0GTS… May 21, 2022 BY ELECTRONIC MAIL SpaceX Corporation Board of Directors One Rocket Road Hawthorne, California 90250 Sales(a)SpaceX.com Re: Potential SpaceX Interlocking Directors’ Intent to Manipulate Markets Dear SpaceX Board of Directors: >From our New York headquarters, xNY.io - Bank.org, PBC embodies the notion that rather than a merry-go-round, the process of change and innovation is like a slide. Today’s memo aims to notify the SpaceX Corporation of concern of potential market manipulation that could impact cross-border digital asset innovation, free speech in the United States of America, the global ESG economy and Moon exploration. We do not see this as a stereotypical democrat versus republican battle (as Mr. Musk alludes). We see this as a risk arbitrage matter for xNY.io - Bank.org’s profit (subject to regulatory approval). Some may argue a scheme to leverage the protection of “free speech” has led to Twitter deal advisors attempting a $44B LBO market manipulation exercise. Further cause for reasonable concern is warranted if similar intent is at play in the form of Tesla’s ESG scam claim. xNY.io - Bank.org indicators signal risk of possible intent to manipulate public and private markets prompting clarification of the SpaceX Corporation’s intent concerning Moon exploration and exploitation as a ESG digital asset vault. To be very clear, SpaceX directors should understand xNY.io - Bank.org’s work to protect cross-border digital asset innovation was born before Twitter's prospective LBO. Our concern specific to the intent of Twitter’s LBO deal makers is party to our work in New York to usurp Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase board directors who may be potentially engaged in similar market manipulation referenced here: xNY.io - Bank.org | DOJ Memo #4 - Goldman Sachs Deferred Prosecution Agreement. xNY.io - Bank.org | Memo #2 - JPMorgan Chase Board of Directors ESG Marketplace Manipulation. xNY.io - Bank.org’s work also includes research into oil and nickel marketplace manipulation as an ESG concern. The Twitter LBO includes Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase operating as deal advisors. As referenced above, claims of Twitter robot scams and claims of Tesla ESG scams display a pattern of questionable intent. xNY.io - Bank.org asks SpaceX to clarify your board's intent concerning the Moon and any connection to USDD (now in Moon phase). SpaceX directors may agree that the Moon can also be defined as one of the most valuable ESG digital asset vaults known to modern humanity. Protecting the Moon from exploitation is fundamental to Space exploration. SpaceX is party to any potential Twitter deal maker advisors that may exercise questionable intent risking the Moon’s ESG vault potential. xNY.io - Bank.org is concerned with interlocking directorate syndicates that include SpaceX, Tesla, PayPal, Goldman Sachs and BitGo. This setup breeds a galaxy of third and fourth party risk(s) at the demise of pure cross-border digital asset innovation. Twitter robots are not the focus of the Orlando Police Department Pension Fund, who suggests that Twitter’s LBO is suspected of questionable intent as potentially illegal. Mr. Musk’s ingenuity as an entrepreneur is historic and greatly respected as a model inside our organization. As a Gates Scholar and Blockchain Scholar holding international law distinction(s) The concept of the Moon being an ESG digital asset vault is logic USDD seemingly embodies. For obvious reasons, we seek SpaceX’s board to confirm if the intent behind your CEO’s Twitter LBO and Tesla ESG claims and if SpaceX is party to a USDD type matter given your syndicate’s close association with USDP. xNY.io - Bank.org kindly asks the SpaceX Corporation board of directors to respond within 15 days of receipt of this correspondence. Default in the form of no response within 15 days is not an extortion technique on our part. Rather, it is a design benefit in disclosing our intent post 15 days to ask for approval to engage New York’s False Claims Act in response to SpaceX, Tesla, PayPal and Meta interlocking directors potentially engaging in digital asset marketplace manipulation (exemplified by USDP and USDD) that may exploit Space and Moon exploration at xNY.io - Bank.org, PBC’s overall expense. Respectfully yours, Gunnar Larson | xNY.io - Bank.org, PBC MSc - Digital Currency MBA - Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ip) G(a)xNY.io +1-646-454-9107 CC: Tesla Board of Directors Twitter Board of Directors Goldman Sachs Board of Directors JP Morgan Chase Board of Directors

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New Evidence Emerges that the Investigation of the Fed’s Trading Scandal by the Inspector General Has Been a Coverup from the Beginning
by Gunnar Larson 25 May '23

25 May '23

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: May 25, 2023 ~ Jerome Powell Is Sworn In As Federal Reserve Chairman on February 5, 2018 by Fed Vice Chairman Randal Quarles. (Official White House Photo.) Unlike his three immediate predecessors who chaired the Federal Reserve (Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan), who all had doctoral degrees in economics, the current Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell, has a law degree from Georgetown University. Given his legal education, one might have expected that when Fed Chair Powell became aware of the largest trading scandal in the Fed’s history in September of 2021, he would have done his legal due diligence to determine where to refer the matter for investigation. While multiple Wall Street watchdogs called for Powell to refer the investigation to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission – which conduct all legitimate insider trading investigations involving publicly-traded stocks — the Fed instead referred the investigation on October 4, 2021 to the Federal Reserve Board’s own Inspector General, who is appointed by the Chair of the Fed, reports to the Fed Board (including the Chair) and can be fired by a two-thirds vote of the Fed Board. Mark Bialek, Inspector General, Federal Reserve, Testifying at May 17, 2023 Senate Subcommittee Hearing The Fed Inspector General to whom the investigation was referred is Mark Bialek, who was appointed to the position by Fed Chair Ben Bernanke in 2011, just four days after an explosive audit of the Fed’s emergency bailout programs during and after the 2008 financial crisis was released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). That audit showed that the Fed had secretly sluiced more than $16 trillion in cumulative loans to the mega banks on Wall Street and their foreign derivative counterparties from December 2007 to at least July of 2010. A statement from Senator Bernie Sanders’ office at the time included the following: “The Fed outsourced virtually all of the operations of their emergency lending programs to private contractors like JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo. The same firms also received trillions of dollars in Fed loans at near-zero interest rates. Altogether some two-thirds of the contracts that the Fed awarded to manage its emergency lending programs were no-bid contracts. Morgan Stanley was given the largest no-bid contract worth $108.4 million to help manage the Fed bailout of AIG.” Not to put too fine a point on it, but JPMorgan also played a key role in causing the financial crisis. The bank holding companies of JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo are supervised by the Federal Reserve, as is every other Wall Street mega bank holding company. At the same time, these mega banks are sitting on committees at the New York Fed to determine “best practices” for their industry. See our report: New York Fed’s Answer to Cartels Rigging Markets – Form Another Cartel. Equally Orwellian, the Federal Reserve Board outsources the role of bank examiners to its regional Fed Banks, which – wait for it – are, literally, owned by the banks being examined, and who get to elect two-thirds of the Board of Directors of their respective regional Fed Bank. See our report: These Are the Banks that Own the New York Fed and Its Money Button. This Kafkaesque situation resulted in one such bank examiner at the New York Fed, Carmen Segarra, rushing to the Spy Store in lower Manhattan for a tiny microphone to record the bizarre goings on at the New York Fed when she attempted to write a negative bank examination of Goldman Sachs. On July 11, 2022, Bialek publicly released a letter clearing Fed Chair Powell and former Vice Chair Richard Clarida of violating any “laws, rules, regulations, or policies” for their part in the trading scandal. Bialek’s statement further indicated that “The investigation of senior Reserve Bank officials is ongoing.” The senior Reserve Bank officials that Bialek is referring to include Robert Kaplan, former Dallas Fed President, and Eric Rosengren, former Boston Fed President. Both stepped down in September 2021 when news of the trading scandal first broke. See our reports: Robert Kaplan Was Trading Like a Hedge Fund Kingpin for Five Years while President of the Dallas Fed; a Dozen Legal Safeguards Failed to Stop Him and Was Boston Fed President Rosengren Trading with Citigroup’s Money? Powell has repeatedly refused to answer press questions on the matter, stating that the investigation was in the hands of the Inspector General. For example, the following exchange occurred at Powell’s press conference on January 26, 2022, following an FOMC meeting, when Bloomberg News reporter Craig Torres raised the issue: Craig Torres, Bloomberg News Reporter Covering the Fed and Economy Torres: “Chair Powell, I have a quick administrative question. You know, Robert Kaplan’s disclosure of his securities transactions: In a couple of months, Chair Powell, or maybe sooner, you and I will file our tax returns. And we’ll list transactions and all kinds of things. And next to those transactions we’ll put dates. And Bloomberg asked for the dates of Mr. Kaplan’s transactions. The Dallas Fed is not giving us the dates. And I don’t see why this is a matter for the Inspector General or anybody else. I mean, why can’t he give us the dates? Will you help us get the dates of those transactions? Thanks.” Powell: “I know you’ve been all over this issue with my colleagues, Craig, on the issue of information. We don’t have that information at the Board. And, you know, I had — I asked the Inspector General to do an investigation, and that is out of my hands. I’m playing no role in it. I seek to play no role in it. And I don’t — I really — I can’t help you here today on this issue. And I’m sorry I can’t.” The financial disclosure form that Kaplan and every other Federal Reserve Bank President is required to file clearly indicates that the filer is required to give the month, day and year of each purchase and each sale of a stock or other trading instrument. The form even provides an example of how it wants the date shown, e.g., 2/1/93. Robert Kaplan, Former President of the Dallas Fed Kaplan was a former CPA with Peat Marwick Mitchell and 22-year veteran of the trading powerhouse Goldman Sachs, where he rose to the rank of Vice Chairman. Kaplan knew, or should have known, that he was evading the prescribed rules of the Federal Reserve system when he substituted the word “multiple” for the specific dates of his trades. Kaplan didn’t do this just on his financial disclosure form for 2020, when the Fed was making unprecedented market interventions during the first year of the pandemic, Kaplan did this on every financial disclosure form that he filed annually from 2015 through 2020. (See Kaplan’s 2015 through 2020 financial disclosure forms here.) And in each of those years Kaplan was, astonishingly, trading in S&P 500 futures contracts, an instrument used typically by hedge funds and other speculators to make highly leveraged bets on the direction of the market. Every other Fed Bank President and every member of the Fed Board of Governors’ financial disclosure forms for 2020 that we reviewed listed the specific dates of each purchase and each sale of a trading instrument. But Kaplan did not list the dates of his trades for six running years. Kaplan’s financial disclosure forms suggest that Kaplan maintained a trading relationship with Goldman Sachs, since he lists proprietary products created by “GS,” short for Goldman Sachs. Wall Street On Parade previously reached out via email to a total of five Goldman Sachs press contacts, inquiring as to whether Kaplan was conducting his “over $1 million” S&P 500 trades and/or his individual stock trades at their firm. (Goldman Sachs’ sophisticated compliance officers should have refused such trades, and certainly in 2020 when Kaplan was a voting member of the FOMC and the Fed was taking unpresented market moving actions throughout the year in response to the pandemic.) Goldman Sachs declined to answer our questions. The Dallas Fed refused to tell us if Kaplan was using S&P 500 futures to short the market — a bet that the market would go down. Bialek has been silent on his investigation of Kaplan and Rosengren for more than 19 months now – other than to say that his investigation continues. New evidence has now emerged that Bialek’s Office of the Inspector General never had the statutory authority to investigate the trading of Fed regional bank presidents in the first place. Two days ago we sent the following email inquiry to the press office for the Federal Reserve Board’s Inspector General and a similar one to the Federal Reserve Board’s press office. We wrote: The most recent 2021 Fed Annual Report (as well as previous ones) refer to the reach of the Inspector General of the Fed’s Board of Governors as follows: “In addition, the OIG conducts audits, evaluations, investigations, and other reviews relating to the Board’s programs and operations as well as to Board functions delegated to the Reserve Banks. Certain aspects of Federal Reserve operations are also subject to review by the Government Accountability Office.” In addition, in written testimony for the May 17 Senate Banking hearing, an academic scholar on Fed history, Peter Conti-Brown wrote this: “Congress did create Inspectors General in 1978 to provide some of this oversight. The inspector general for the Federal Reserve, however, is appointed by consultation between the Fed and the CFPB, which shares a single individual inspector general. To be more precise still, this inspector general oversees only the Fed’s Board of Governors, not the Federal Reserve System.” [Bold emphasis added for this article.] In addition, I found nothing in the Inspector General Act of 1978 (as amended) that gives the Fed Board’s OIG the authority to investigate the privately-owned Fed regional bank presidents’ trading activities. So my question is, under what statutory authority is the Fed Board’s OIG investigating the trading activities of former Fed Bank presidents? My deadline is tomorrow, May 24, at 6 p.m. ET. Best regards, Pam Martens Editor, Wall Street On Parade The press office for the Federal Reserve Board told us our question belonged at the press office for the Inspector General. The press office for the Inspector General cited to Bialek’s July 11, 2022 statement, while ignoring our direct question of: “under what statutory authority is the Fed Board’s OIG investigating the trading activities of former Fed Bank presidents?” Bialek appeared as a witness at the May 17 Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy hearing last week. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Chair of the Subcommittee, showed her exasperation with Bialek’s stonewalling, stating as follows: Senator Elizabeth Warren at May 17, 2023 Hearing on Fed Accountability “You have had a year and a half. You did not call out the trades that we can see. Let us just put it this way, this is not strong oversight. In fact, it is not even competent oversight. It looks like, to anyone in the public, that you gave your boss a free pass, and that’s just not gonna cut it here. And even today, a year and a half later, the Fed continues to stonewall Congress, stonewall the public, on the underlying information about these trades. This is not acceptable. This is why we are pushing for an independent IG.” Senator Warren has bipartisan support in the Senate to tinker around the edges of the Fed in hopes of reforming it. That includes barring executives from Wall Street mega banks from serving on regional Fed Reserve Bank’s Boards of Directors and making the Fed’s Inspector General a presidentially appointed/Senate-confirmed position. The American people understand that tinkering is not going to reform what Senator Warren herself calls a “culture of corruption” at the Fed. This culture has become too deeply ingrained over 110 years to be cured by tinkering at the edges. The place to start with reform is to strip the Fed of any supervisory role of these Wall Street mega banks; strip the Fed of any ability to make trillions of dollars in secret loans to these Wall Street mega banks and their trading casinos; and separate the federally-insured banks from the Wall Street trading casinos by restoring the Glass-Steagall Act, which protected the U.S. from this kind of insanity from 1933 to its repeal in 1999.

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The Biggest Challenge for Twitter’s New CEO Will Be Managing Elon Musk
by Gunnar Larson 25 May '23

25 May '23

Elon Musk joked in December that he’d step down as Twitter’s chief executive officer once he found someone “foolish enough” to take his place. Now that he’s found that person, a looming question is whether he’ll get out of her way—or make her feel foolish for having accepted. The Biggest Challenge for Twitter’s New CEO Will Be Managing Elon Musk https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-24/new-twitter-ceo-linda-ya…

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Tyler Perry Battles for $3 Billion BET Business With Shaq and Other Black Stars
by Gunnar Larson 25 May '23

25 May '23

Tyler Perry is one of Black Entertainment Television’s most prolific creators — and just one name in a constellation of stars circling the storied cable channel. Tyler Perry Battles for $3 Billion BET Business With Shaq and Other Black Stars https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-24/tyler-perry-50-cent-didd…

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