The sanctioning of an open source tool has never happened and goes well beyond sanctioning specific addresses or individuals.
Freedom of Speech is the Frontline Defense for Bitcoin
The decentralized hive mind of the internet has proven the so-called experts wrong over the past two years.
Nevertheless, despite countless failures, they seek to head and establish disinformation boards and ministries of truth to stifle dissent and the free exchange of information to keep their power intact.
The Truth Ministry and Disinformation Board, sought after by the current regime, was put on ice due to backlash and to revisit its implications. Thank God for the First Amendment, right?
However, it is essential to ask and ponder how often these state-accredited fact-checkers have been wrong. How often have they de-platformed and silenced people for going against the official narrative?
Do not trust what the eyes and common sense see; follow the government bureaucrats.
They want the only sources of information to come from them and their appointed fact-checkers. The same official sources claimed:
"There is no inflation."
Then it was, "There is some inflation, but it is transitory."
Finally, "This inflation is brought on by Putin."
These same elite are redefining what a recession is, and these are the people we are supposed to trust.
The Fight for Free Speech is the Fight for Bitcoin
Though Alex Jones is a divisive person, and we do not agree with much of what he has to say, as Voltaire put it:
“I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
These are the principles of Bitcoin. One may not agree with someone else and how they transact, but that does not stop or censor their right to do so. Bitcoin is for enemies, which is why the fight for freedom of speech is a fight for Bitcoin.
Alex Jones has many viewers who desire to see his show and enjoy listening to what he says. Despite this, the prosecutor in the Alex Jones case seeks to take away Jones's ability to speak and share his thoughts.
“Take him out of this discourse, of this misinformation, of this pedaling of lies, and make sure he can’t do it again. That is punishment, that is deterrence.”
Things appear to be getting pretty dystopian. The Founding Fathers knew early on that it was essential for a free people and functioning government to have free speech. They knew the control of speech would be the tool of plunder for tyrants.
Deplatforming Jones and the language from the prosecutor is the equivalent of burning books, and it is a slippery slope.
Repeatedly the “Issuers of Allowable Truth” have been wrong and it has been right out in the open
No one, even one's worst enemy, should be de-platformed. Everyone should have the right to decide what is right. Let the free market of ideas determine what idea is good and what idea is terrible. No government agency or gang of bureaucrats does a better job disseminating information than millions upon millions of people coming to conclusions. Central planning always comes up short.
Legacy media is failing, and they are doing everything possible to stifle independent news sources. Of course, they will continue to push, but the truth is, like a beach ball underwater, it will pop up eventually.
Bitcoin works very similarly to the First Amendment. Anybody can use it; it is censorship resistant; and called the money of enemies. If the US government sanctions someone in Iran, it does not matter because they can use Bitcoin. If Iran sanctions an individual in the US, they can still use Bitcoin. How long until they sanction Bitcoin because it allows people the US government does not agree with to interact with the a global financial system? The fight for free speech is the fight for Bitcoin.
As a matter of national security, OFAC has prohibited Tornado Cash's usage by citizens of the United States since hackers from North Korea used the mixer to clean stolen crypto.
OFAC added Tornado Cash to its Specially Designated Nationals list Monday. This list is a running tally of individuals, entities, and cryptocurrency addresses prohibited from engaging in certain activities. Consequently, it forbids any person or entity based in the United States to engage with Tornado Cash or addresses associated with the protocol. Those who engage in such behavior may be subject to legal consequences.
It is vital to remember OFAC and the real ramifications of this First Amendment violation
Let us go back to May 2021 and Marathon's mining of an OFAC-compliant block. Marathon, one of the largest bitcoin mining firms in the US and Canada, mined the first OFAC-compliant Bitcoin block in the spring of 2021. Being compliant meant they only accepted transactions under the guidelines established by this government agency. Back then, it caused a stir and discussion on whether it was the beginning of censorship in the Bitcoin blockchain on a mining level.
They’re trying to make Bitcoin an extension of the current exclusionary and tyrannical system that we have today
The same system says that 50% of the world is unbankable because of where they happen to be born. The same system created so much red tape that people do not even feel like opening bank accounts. Bitcoin only requires someone to download a wallet.
The boogeyman used for this suppression of speech is the Ronin Bridge Hack. The hack was the biggest Defi hack in history, with roughly $625M lost in shitcoins and North Korea to push their agenda of control.
Money = speech
Money is speech based on the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case. In a 5-4 decision, the court sided with Citizens United. The majority opinion stated that limiting "independent political spending" violated First Amendment rights to free speech.
Bernstein v. Department of Justice made a landmark decision determining code as speech in 1996. The court concluded that encryption export regulations violated Bernstein's First Amendment rights by banning his constitutionally protected speech.
“This court can find no meaningful difference between computer language, particularly high-level languages as defined above, and German or French....Like music and mathematical equations, computer language is just that, language, and it communicates information either to a computer or to those who can read it.” -Judge Patel, April 15, 1996
Though Tornado Cash is a shitcoin service, it is essential not to miss the implications. How long until they say Bitcoin and its open source nature is dangerous because it facilitates transactions the US government does not approve? The blacklisting sets a dangerous precedent by labeling a privacy tool as dangerous. This same logic would say ban all scissors as someone could use them to shank somebody.
The ban is on technology, not a sanction against any person, yet another abuse of power by using fear and, in this case, North Korea, as a tool for their desired effect.
The US government is trying to make Bitcoin an extension of its politicized financial system. The US has weaponized and used the US dollar to control other countries. With Bitcoin, they lose a lot of that power. How long until they come for Bitcoin? "Well, Russia uses it, cannot have that," or" Iran uses it, we cannot have that."
The move by the OFAC is a ban on every American's ability to use a particular open-source software tool. Bitcoin is an open-source software.
North Korea is the smokescreen, and they use this because they cannot control Bitcoin.
Stifling open-source software is an unconstitutional clampdown on free speech. Software by precedent is speech along with money.
When they call Nayib Bukele a dictator, remember he never raided past presidents' or cabinet members' homes. Another case of psychological projection with nothing to stand on.
While the central planners desire to keep individuals down and seek ever more power, Bitcoin empowers individuals and diminishes their power with each block.
This is why we Bitcoin. Tick, Tock.
Written by @Satsforlife
If they are going to try and push this "approved transactions" story that means they have to bring the miners back after chasing them all away because ESG.
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