Libertarians Unleash the Bitcoin Kraken

Bitcoin is libertarian crack. And that’s a good thing! It’s almost a pure distillation of libertarian monetary policy into a serious medium of exchange! We should all be so lucky as to have the chance to literally invest in our beliefs. Some consequences are good consequences.

Bitcoin is not doing well at the moment, along with a market crash of the other cryptocurrencies… notoriously not including the currency-backed stablecoins. I had wondered if this would happen. Not just a  volatility concern; if its backers are right and BTC is a mathematically unfalsifiable currency, then its mere existence is a mortal threat to the GAE. If the banksters cannot subvert BTC then they will destroy it, which looks like what is happening.

It also explains the snark that I’ve been seeing directed at El Salvador. I’ll touch on it, but the big article today is the Kraken Exchange taking this opportunity to purge its SJW infestation!

El Salvador Bitcoin purchases look very stupid… Check the chart…

h ttps://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/el-salvador-bitcoin-purchases-look-very-stupid-check-the-chart/

By Kane, 16 June 2022

[Quoting ‘CryptoWhale’ on Twitter:]

El Salvador is down $50 Million from #Bitcoin

Their Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya claims the country’s losses are “fake and don’t count”.

The first stage of grief is denial.

If El Salvador was purchasing BTC as an investment then yes, this looks bad. They bought high and… would be selling low, except they aren’t selling.

But here’s the thing, I suspect El Salv isn’t going to sell that BTC ever, at any price. I suspect they actually want to use it. Their reason for getting into it in the first place was to make it their official currency. At which point, the investment paradigm is no longer relevant.

It’s the difference between speculating on gold values and taking delivery on a shipment to make computer chips out of.

El Salvador ‘has not had any losses’ due to Bitcoin price dive, Finance Minister says

h ttps://cointelegraph.com/news/el-salvador-has-not-had-any-losses-due-to-bitcoin-price-dive-finance-minister-says

By David Attlee, 14 June 2022

Alejandro Zelaya, the Minister of inance of El Salvador, reacted to the recent media attacks on the nation’s strategy of investing in Bitcoin (BTC) by calling the allegations of fiscal risks “extremely superficial.”

During a press conference held on Monday, Zelaya responded to a journalist’s question about the government’s reaction to Bitcoin’s sharp dip in an emotional manner:

“There is a clear criticism of Bitcoin as such, not of El Salvador’s strategy. El Salvador is what interests them the least, they [the media outlet] are not interested in what happens to our economy, they are not interested in what happens with our people, what happens with inflation.”

Zelaya’s comment is exactly what my suspicion predicted. The GAE banksters are trying to destroy crypto by devaluing it as an investment, making it unattractive as a store of wealth. They’re hating on El Salvador as a critical part of that demoralization.

But ruining crypto as a store of wealth, does not affect crypto as an exchange of wealth.

At the moment, El Salvador holds 2,301 Bitcoin, which amounts to around $50 million by press time. In fiat equivalent, that is less than half of the money the nation has invested in Bitcoin through its purchases in October 2021 and May 2022, when BTC was worth $30,700.

Like the whole crypto market at large, BTC has been declining since its all-time high in November 2021 (around $69,000) with the downtrend accelerating for the last month and a half following a series of the shake-ups such as the failure of Terra (LUNA, now L and the fiasco of a major DeFi lender, Celsius, as well as the global inflation rise.

Celsius was a Jewish scam. Literally; it’s being prosecuted by Israeli authorities. I’ll post a link to Upper Echelon Gaming who absolutely savages the topic better than I ever could, but your takeaway here is that El Salv’s using BTC to escape GAE influence is being compared to a money laundering racket. That shoe don’t fit.

Related:

h ttps://cointelegraph.com/news/falling-bitcoin-price-doesn-t-affect-el-salvador-s-strategy-now-it-s-time-to-buy-more-reveals-deputy-dania-gonzalez

Cointelegraph [ spoke with Dania Gonzalez, Deputy of the Republic of El Salvador] about central bank digital currencies, also known as CBDCs, and how their issuance by nations can impact the cryptocurrency market.

Gonzalez stated that she does not see a clash between cryptocurrencies and CBDCs, believing that both should coexist together in the digital ecosystem that will guide nations in the future. Furthermore, she stated that the proposed issuance of CBDCs by countries shows that they have understood the power of the crypto economy.

A typically positive libertarian sentiment but very false. The power of crypto is that it exists beyond the possibility of human meddling. The power of CBDC is that it exists to MAXIMIZE human meddling… reducing all currency to a mother-may-I voucher system.

The deputy also highlighted that El Salvador is working to expand the effects of the Bitcoin Law and will build an ecosystem based on cryptocurrencies, with the elimination of taxes for sectors linked to the crypto economy.

El Salvador is in for the long haul!

In addition, she highlighted that other laws will be reformulated to meet the new demands of the digital economy and to reduce bureaucracy in public administration procedures. She explained:

“We want it to be possible to open a business in 5 minutes here in El Salvador […] We already have a national digital wallet system for cryptocurrencies and we intend to make a law so that investors from all over the world can have immediate citizenship in El Salvador if they invest in the world of Bitcoin in our country.”

LONG HAUL!

It’s such a relief to watch a plucky leader try something new! All we have in GAE are crooks too old to even enjoy what they steal anymore.

And now, my feature presentation: the Kraken Crypto exchange is using this moment, when investments seem lost, to purge the termites!

Kraken Culture Explained

h ttps://kraken-culture.notion.site

If culture is the way of life for a group of people, then company culture is the way of work for a group of people.  It is a company’s shared set of traditions, values, goals, attitudes and norms – whether written or unwritten.  We believe that every company should be as different and unique as every individual.  Just as two individuals may or may not be compatible with one another, an individual and a company may or may not be compatible. 

After reading this description of Kraken company culture, we hope that you have a sense of if you would like working here.

Shots fired!

Our Founders have worked together for over 20 years in remote-first companies, in the virtual goods industry.  Prior to Kraken, from 2001-2011, they ran a virtual goods marketplace for video games called Lewt, which was constantly plagued by payment problems.  Digital currency was obviously the future and when they discovered Bitcoin in 2011 they went all-in, sold Lewt and started Kraken with the belief that Bitcoin – if they could drive adoption –  would improve life for billions of people.

Starting a crypto exchange was a daunting task, chock-full of danger, technical and legal complexity but the pair saw it a challenge worth pursuing.  They funded the company from their own pockets for the first three years, before investors took the industry seriously.  It requires an ideological drive, a greater sense of purpose, to walk away from a successful business and risk everything while “experts” call you crazy.

Eleven years later, our Founders are still on the front lines of the battle.  Their values – crypto, cypherpunk, libertarian values – are the core of what continues to make this company the most attractive home for the top minds in the industry.

Bitcoin removes politics from money. The implication is that anyone is free to transact on the Bitcoin network as long as they can cryptographically prove control of their keys. Anyone can participate in Bitcoin mining as long as they follow the rules of the system and expend energy to do so.

There are no shortcuts. No one can change the rules of the system without the overwhelming consensus of all participants, not merely a democratic majority. No one can rewrite history. No one can print money out of thin air and give it to their friends. The culture of Bitcoin – and the aspiration of the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem it spawned – is one of extreme ownership, responsibility, and work.

I badly want to believe that, which is why I haven’t yet invested in crypto. If it sounds too good to be true… but if what I’m seeing in that chart above is GAE’s best shot against it, then it’s time to reconsider.

At Kraken, The Mission is to accelerate the worldwide adoption of cryptocurrency because we believe that this will improve lives of billions of people and usher in a new era of human flourishing.

We will accomplish The Mission by building a bridge from the old world to the new, meeting people where they are, and shepherding them gently across in a way that feels natural, safe, fun and superior to everything they’ve known before.

Props to CEO Jessie Powell for clear communication skills.

Does every Krakenite need to believe in The Mission? We believe so. Why? We are fighting an extremely difficult, protracted battle, facing tremendous uncertainty and peril. For the true believers, the prize makes the pain worthwhile. For those with less conviction, the journey might be too much.

We shouldn’t forget that the biggest enemy is the incumbent system, those fighting to maintain power in the status quo, and the attachment people have to its familiarity, no matter how much they’ve been cheated.

Emphasis theirs. Say what you will about libertarianism, I got my own disagreements, but they’re the first organized resistance against GAE to appear in North American.

**The crypto movement is rooted in “dangerous” ideas**, such as all humans having fundamental rights to:

– Encryption
– Free speech
– Free markets
– Currency choice
– Open source software
– Personal & financial privacy

Some might characterize these beliefs as humanitarian, libertarian or classically liberal. People who hold the above beliefs often believe that none of those rights are possible without these rights:

– Liberty
– Self-defense
– Due process
– Personal property
– Limited government
– Personal bodily autonomy

I hate that the last one is even needed. This regime SUXX.

This should be no surprise to Americans as these rights can all be derived from the US Constitution. While government encroachment on these rights has become tolerated (or even demanded), we believe that we should covet the rights we have because they are never returned once taken. **Our ability to drive crypto adoption in the world depends on these rights.**

Here are some examples of how these beliefs might affect how you work and your experience:

– We will push back on government overreach

BOOM!!! Even square one ain’t safe from Jessie!

– We will go above and beyond to protect the personal and financial privacy of our clients

– We may develop or sponsor open source software that empowers citizens to resist corruption

– We will seek to limit market interference and restrictions on who is allowed to participate in markets

– We will engage in disputes with government agencies where outdated laws are unfairly exclusionary

– We will engage in lobbying, as a single-issue donor, supporting controversial politicians and legislation that furthers ***The Mission**, possibly to the detriment of other civil rights causes

– We will advertise with and sponsor controversial television programs, podcasts, influencers and events, if it furthers ***The Mission***

– We may incorporate firearm and self-defense training in to corporate retreats

Now he’s just twisting the knife.

– We will allow discussion and photographs of firearms in public (but optional) chat rooms

If nobody is ever offended, we either don’t have enough diversity of thought or we don’t have enough transparency in communication.

Diversity… of… THOUGHT!!!

– Should we aim to be exemplary in terms of stereotypical team diversity measurements? *No.*

– Should we aim to be exemplary in terms of execution, product and service quality? *Yes.*

– Should we donate money to the *Current Thing*? *No.*

MEME WIN!

– Should we donate money to crypto research? *Yes.*

– Should we mandate the seasonal flu vaccine? *No.*

He weren’t thinkin’ about no flu when he said THAT. And so it went, and the  crybully whining REEEEached to the New York Post:

CEO of crypto firm Kraken offers severance to ‘triggered’ employees

h ttps://nypost.com/2022/06/17/ceo-of-crypto-firm-kraken-offers-severance-to-triggered-employees/

Word. The article’s got nothing more.

I haven’t invested in BTC before because I don’t like investing in stuff I don’t understand, just on principle. But now I see that I’d be investing in libertarians… people, not some money-making risk… and dang if they aren’t doing a thing, I’m reconsidering. AND they’re walking off GAE’s best shot like a Putin?!

Wouldn’t it be something if libertarians becomes the ones to operate North America’s coming black market?