Role of Crypto/Cybercurrencies in the PTB's loss of control?

[KJS]

Currently most cross-border payments in crypto seem to be done with the somewhat dubious dollar-pegged stablecoins like Tether (USDT) or USDC.

Or maybe RLUSD, backed by Ripple, which is the connection I am trying to make.

Any of the actual decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Solana or even Doge (and dozens of others) can be used for cross-border payments. Most have much faster transactions than Bitcoin.

XRP is just a centrally controlled token (not a decentralized cryptocurrency) and in that regard it is not better than even the meme coin tokens, except less volatility.

That is what I wanted to point out - that Ripple has all the properties of a CBDC, with the ability to not be named as such directly. I completely understand that most of the cryptocurrencies are nothing extraordinary in terms of technology, and are even unproven technologies. Memecoins have the same value as numismatic items featuring Pope John Paul II, it is just the platforms that make them possible to buy and sell, reinforced by sheer mimetic desire on a global scale. The whole cryptocurrency bag contains pure scams, such as Trump coin, or what @Bluegazer is presenting (although I think that the Trump coin was a kind of demonstration or a pilot project for POTUS), mixed with some interesting federated or even decentralized database technologies that involve an economic component for sustainability.

For anyone interested, this is how easy it gets to create a meme coin (Solana-based), although it might not be as easy to get listed on an exchange:

 

[Alma.Innovadora]

Guys, have you seen this?

Many important companies in cryptocurrency investment did not have the initiative to verify if that business was safe? Did a company or people with so much time working in that world of cryptocurrencies really invest blindly in someone like Milei? Was there really so much irresponsibility disguised as "trust" in Milei? It seems too suspicious to me.

I can't find any relevant news, they just blame Milei and scare him with the idea that the FBI bogeyman will come.

We have Putin holding hundreds and hundreds of meetings to reach agreements, all on paper, with his team and we have Milei closing deals by exchanging cards while he's dressed as a superhero or consulting with his dog, incredible.

If Milei has not committed any act of corruption with Libra, as he claims, he will have to admit sooner or later that he was assaulted in his naivety by a group of small-time crooks.

What I find most incredible is how the same people continue to see this individual as a child; Milei is definitely the exact mental reflection of his voters.

A few hours later, the first interview with President Milei was published in the local press after the scandal.

There the president said: "If you go to the casino and lose money, what is the complaint, if you knew that it had those characteristics?"

Escándalo de Javier Milei con $LIBRA: "Perdí US$6.000, tengo amigos que perdieron hasta US$100.000, pero hay gente que ganó mucha plata" - BBC News Mundo

Clemente Varas Collado, de 25 años, es uno de los afectados por la inversión en la nueva criptomoneda difundida por Javier Milei.

www.bbc.com

- Did you already know Milei?

Yes. And I liked him. Everyone said he was doing a good job. I saw it in a very positive light.

- Did he inspire confidence in you?

Yes, Milei is someone respected by the world of cryptocurrencies.

Last October I was in Buenos Aires, at a blockchain conference, where some people who were very involved in the subject told me that they were communicating with Milei's team to create it.

- In your opinion, has the dissemination of $LIBRA been a scam?

No, I don't think it was a scam by Milei with the world of crypto. But by the creator (of the cryptocurrency).

I think Milei doesn't understand the world of crypto very well.

I think Milei didn't understand much and said "let's do it", and then understood the magnitude of what it means to promote a cryptocurrency like this.


- So, the president did not understand what he was sharing on his networks?

There are two options.

The first is that he was scammed, that he met with this team and did not know what was going on. If that is Milei's argument, then he is showing a level of incompetence on an important issue.

The second option is that he says it was an experiment, that they were testing and it did not work. But then, he lied on Friday, when he said he had nothing to do with this.

So, either he says he was scammed or he says that he actually had something to do with this. It is a very complicated situation for him.

So if Milei was scammed, his incompetence is forgiven, and if it was an experiment, he is forgiven too. This is the most relevant thing, people's acceptance of being scammed in front of their faces and justifying/normalizing it. Everyone defends their own Pharisee. This guy does whatever he wants, however he wants, to people who simply won't act for anything.

User comments:

- Because they blame him, he didn't force them to buy those cryptocurrencies, everyone decides where to invest.

- People attack him as if he were the worst president of all, he only made a mistake without forcing anyone.

- Well, that's how cryptocurrencies are, if you invest you win or lose, the one who invests must know very well if he lost, then he lost, one is responsible for his decisions.

- But nobody forces anything, you just bought the currency and you only decide when to sell it, they are investments you win and you lose, it's the same as betting

- The first time I see Milei, he was nervous, he made a joke, but I still trust him to change Argentina.

- He was wrong, there is no defense for a mistake, but as a politician he did not meddle with public funds, he did not use government money or put his country into debt, it was a bad investment but it was a personal one.

- I don't think he has anything to do with the scam. Even though I love Milei, I do think he was wrong in this one, and because of the number of us who follow him, it would be a great human act to apologize.

- So I present a project where those who invest could lose everything? I mean a president must do good for his people... not make them invest in something that they can lose everything in

- But cryptocurrency is the most unstable currency of all, you don't need to be an economic genius to know that it's a bad option.

- The hard-liner of monetary theory, now he doesn't know about cryptocurrencies, when it suits him he's not an economist.

- "I'm a president who spreads information suspiciously fast on topics that I don't know" said the president XD

- How interesting, he promoted it for Argentines and then says that there are no Argentines affected.

- So your defense is that Milei did not scam Argentines, he scammed foreigners?

 

[Bluegazer]

So if Milei was scammed, his incompetence is forgiven, and if it was an experiment, he is forgiven too. This is the most relevant thing, people's acceptance of being scammed in front of their faces and justifying/normalizing it. Everyone defends their own Pharisee. This guy does whatever he wants, however he wants, to people who simply won't act for anything.

Now that I think about it... this comes to demonstrate another effect or symptom of how people keep swallowing lies... and do not learn. It happened with covid and vaccines. Now with this. Every event of these last years, one more maneuver to test the will of the people, and prove if they think or not.

 

[Alma.Innovadora]

Now with this. Every event of these last years, one more maneuver to test the will of the people, and prove if they think or not.

Yes Bluegazer, thanks. I was expecting to see Scott and it is exactly as he was presented by the team. Although I still have a question as to what Milei mean by "interiorized" nowadays, I guess it is wearing underwear outside the pants.

 

[Possibility of Being]

I should start with a disclaimer: I know next to nothing about crypto. Since this is the thread where it is discussed, I guess you will know what it is worth.

From rbc.ru:

US Department of Justice and US Secret Service announced on the confiscation of the domains of the Garantex cryptocurrency exchange and the freezing of its assets as part of an international operation carried out jointly with law enforcement agencies of Germany and Finland. Us authorities accused platform in money laundering, assistance to criminal organizations and violation of the sanctions regime.

Here is the official announcement titled U.S. Secret Service Seizes Russian Cryptocurrency Exchange Websites, dated 2025-03-07.

So Garantex was suspected of money laundering and facilitating sanctions violations, "received hundreds of millions in criminal proceeds as well as "was used to facilitate various crimes, including hacking, ransomware, terrorism, and drug trafficking" [kind of like Durov].

On March 6, the Secret Service seized three their website domain names and froze over $26 million in crypto currency transactions.

As part of the coordinated actions, German and Finnish law enforcement seized servers hosting Garantex’s operations. Those servers have been taken offline at various locations around the world. U.S. law authorities have separately obtained earlier copies of Garantex’s servers, including customer and accounting databases. The FBI also assisted with the investigation.

It's possible there was a crime so there is punishment. But it stinks. It's Russian. Trump just added new sanctions.

Garantex website doesn't display the 'seized' image now as showed on the US SS screenshot. There is a note with apology and ongoing technical work claim instead. (Weird.)

According to Interfax (RU), Garantex has been under U.S. sanctions since April 2022 due to suspected money laundering.
What a timing.

A few days ago, on February 24, Garantex posted on its TG channel, translated:

Today the EU imposed sanctions against cryptocurrency exchange Garantex “for ties with Russian banks”.
Since these are not the first sanctions against Garantex for its involvement in Russian financial infrastructure, nothing changes for our users.

And on March 6:

We have a bad news.
Tether has entered the war against the Russian crypto market and blocked our wallets for more than 2.5 billion rubles.

We are temporarily suspending all services, including cryptocurrency withdrawals, while we solve this problem with the whole team.
We are fighting and will not give up!

Please note that all USDT on Russian wallets is now under threat.
As always - we are the first, but not the last.

Nothing about the US agency's action.

From Kommersant (link goes to Yandex translation)

Garantex crypto exchange called itself the leader in ruble liquidity. The platform provided unlimited access to digital currencies for all Russians and allowed them to transfer funds to any bank accounts. It is for this reason that she was sanctioned by the European Union last week. And since April 2022, it has been blacklisted by the US Treasury. But in almost three years, the site has adapted to life under stricter American restrictions, its representatives claimed. But unexpectedly, the issuer of USDT - the company Tether - blocked the wallets of the crypto exchange, which paralyzed its work. And, according to Dmitry Machikhin, the founder of BitOK, this was to be expected:

"This is not the first time this practice has occurred for Tether. The company previously stated that it will search in every possible way for addresses that are associated with a violation of the sanctions regime. Where exactly this liquidity is taken from and whether it is directly related to circumventing restrictions is not yet known. But it is clear that this amount is actually out of circulation, and all Tether that will be directly linked to Garantex will be marked up on the network and can be seized by centralized exchanges.

This is a problem for the entire market, which is connected with the CIS, because the amount is large, and it will now spread everywhere."

It is noteworthy that the blocking of Garantex wallets occurred against the background of a discussion in the United States about creating a crypto reserve. On March 7, major market participants will gather at the White House to discuss industry regulation. One of the questions concerns stablecoins pegged to the dollar. These include Tether's USDT.

Here is the rbc article via Yandex translator.

Tether on Wiki - not so holy, either, suspected (WSJ) of the same crimes and yet:

In December 2023, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino told members of House Financial Services and Senate Banking that the company has been strengthening its relationships with law enforcement and taking new steps to strengthen sanctions controls. Ardoino emphasized Tether's decision to disable its tokens in all wallets associated with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanction list.[76]

In the letter, Ardoino reported that Tether had assisted the Department of Justice, U.S. Secret Service, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in freezing 326 wallets controlling 435 million USDT thus far. However, the recently frozen wallets appear to contain fewer tokens than the stated sum. Ardoino also revealed that Tether has recently collaborated with the United States Secret Service and is currently working with the FBI.

 

[daddycat]

And on March 6:
We have a bad news.
Tether has entered the war against the Russian crypto market and blocked our wallets for more than 2.5 billion rubles.

We are temporarily suspending all services, including cryptocurrency withdrawals, while we solve this problem with the whole team.
We are fighting and will not give up!

Please note that all USDT on Russian wallets is now under threat.
As always - we are the first, but not the last.

I keep saying that Tether is an absolutely scam run by the deep state. Above is another piece of evidence.

The majority of daily crypto trading volume is through Tether, so they control crypto up and down.

 

[daddycat]

I don't know if anyone has noticed that Ethereum has crashed -50% in the last 3 months, and is lower than all of 2024.

 

[Serendipity]

Informative discussion, well worth a watch.

Central banks are stockpiling gold while U.S. debt continues to climb, quietly preparing for a shift away from the dollar. Joining us is Matthew Piepenburg to discuss how Ripple’s technology is enabling the rise of XRP and XLM and the move toward asset-backed stablecoins at the central bank level—laying the foundation for a new monetary system.We also cover the risks tied to Bitcoin’s price structure and the vulnerabilities linked to Tether (USDT), contrasting that with the more stable, asset-backed approach central banks are now exploring.

I see the same thing as the hosts (Aljarrah brothers) see.

Global financial system restructuring is ongoing before our very eyes. Current system is in a bad shape and in danger of crumbling down and something has to be done.

XRP has been 'the chosen one' cryptocurrency (to be used in the planned new financial system) before cryptocurrency was even made public (before Bitcoin was made public), and many things are pointing to it being implemented and used in the transformed/digital financial system in a relatively near future, good chance as early as this year (the chart is also supporting possibility of a big market cap increase).

BTC is more like a ponzi scheme and centralized (2% holders have around 70% of all BTC) digital asset with no real usecase and thus no real value, other than one that has been artificially created by creating an artificial bubble based on the narrative and a 4 year cycle that 'coincidentely' coincides with debt refinance cycle. And that bubble is likely to pop in a relatively near future based on the level of mainstream-isation that BTC has currently, including being backed by the US president himself (the chart is pointing to not many waves upwards left in Bitcoin before a correction at a scale not yet seen in it's price history).

 

[axj]

"Asset-backed stablecoins at the central bank level" is basically the same as CBDCs - programmable money for total control, if cash is severely restricted at the same time.

BTC is more like a ponzi scheme and centralized (2% holders have around 70% of all BTC) digital asset with no real usecase and thus no real value

If that is what he is saying, then I cannot take anything he says seriously. It is the XRP network that is completely under central control, while the Bitcoin network is a decentralized system run by miners around the world. New XRPs can also be "printed" into oblivion, while Bitcoin is limited to 21 million Bitcoins.

The scarcity and network security are Bitcoin's use case, being more or less the equivalent of digital gold that even countries are now starting to include in their reserves.

Having said that, both Bitcoin and XRP seem to have shady origins (Satoshi Nakamoto = "Central Intelligence" in Japanese) and are manipulated for nefarious purposes. In the case of XRP it is much easier to do due to the central control by the Ripple company.

 

[Serendipity]

"Asset-backed stablecoins at the central bank level" is basically the same as CBDCs - programmable money for total control, if cash is severely restricted at the same time.

Yes, that is what XRP can do. Evolve the financial system and likely bring finer level of control of the population. Just like VISA payment system did. And that is my point. If that will happen, then the population will accept it just like we accepted VISA cards or any other technological 'improvement' prior, and doesn't that make XRP 'better' than BTC, having a real utility, solving a real problem in the world, 'revolutionising' payments, and also in the same time rising in price and making some investors/holders wealthy. And the control has already been being accepted, for a long time now. 'Mark of the beast system' is already here like Cs pointed (VISA), if 'sold' to population globally as 'savioiur'/solution to some manufactures economy crisis, XRP based system would probably ust be another step on the path/trajectory the world is walking towards.

Current "elites" are not doing so well. But the quorum is doing quite well.

In my opinion it's not a coincidence that logo of XRP is letter X (based on the hebrew letter tav, representing tally mark), just as it's not coincidence that twitter has been rebranded to X, and Grok is xAI, and spaceX. It's a signature(mark) of the system(beast) that is probably part of the quurom plans, that are going well according to Cs and to what we can see in the world.

And for Bitcoin. It's only value is a perceived store of value or 'digital gold' idea, and all of that is based on the spending of energy on mining it and the narrative that's behind it. It may continue going up overall, who can know for 100% certainty, but it might as well completely crash one day if the narrative and perspective on it (BTC) change, and then what's left holding it's value? No use case, 'ancient technology'... I'd rather bet my money on the quorum. They seem to know what they are doing, cause their plans are going along quite well.

XRP is temporary 'centralised' in the sense that the company Ripple holds around half of the coins (which can change), but they aren't dumping all the coins but are bound by contract to only release a certain amount every month and offer on the market and what's not sold is put back in the locked escrow. And no new XRP can be 'printed' into oblivion.

The scarcity and network security are Bitcoin's use case, being more or less the equivalent of digital gold that even countries are now starting to include in their reserves.

So it's use case is price go up and price not go down too much over time, cause miners and cause countries say so. I'm curious to see if that is going to last much longer.

 

[axj]

No use case, 'ancient technology'... I'd rather bet my money on the quorum.

That's quite a lot of assumptions you are making there, especially about quorum plans regarding the cryptocurrencies.

'Ancient technology' is also not really true, since the Bitcoin code can and does get updates (have to be accepted by miners). And XRP code is pretty much just as "ancient".

Yes, that is what XRP can do. Evolve the financial system and likely bring finer level of control of the population. Just like VISA payment system did. And that is my point. If that will happen, then the population will accept it just like we accepted VISA cards or any other technological 'improvement' prior, and doesn't that make XRP 'better' than BTC, having a real utility, solving a real problem in the world, 'revolutionising' payments, and also in the same time rising in price and making some investors/holders wealthy.

How in the world is a system of potentially total control "better" for us or for humanity at large? It is only "better" for those who would like to totally control us.

It sounds like you are making excuses to yourself for why putting money into XRP is a good idea. "The Beast system is already here with Visa, so it is fine if I try to make money with the next iteration". You can do that if you want, but I would be very careful with believing XRP propaganda videos like the one you posted.

Stablecoins seem to be indeed becoming a part of the new financial system, but these do not require XRP at all.

 

[Serendipity]

That's quite a lot of assumptions you are making there, especially about quorum plans regarding the cryptocurrencies.

'Ancient technology' is also not really true, since the Bitcoin code can and does get updates (have to be accepted by miners). And XRP code is pretty much just as "ancient".

It's my view based on various puzzle pieces I see, that seems to fit and connect well together, producing a picture of 'XRP is part of the plan' in short.

Yes, the difference is one has a real chance of being actually used in effective and game changing way in the financial system of the world, while Bitcoin is just a store of value and maybe not even that, time will tell on both.

How in the world is a system of potentially total control "better" for us or for humanity at large? It is only "better" for those who would like to totally control us.

It sounds like you are making excuses to yourself for why putting money into XRP is a good idea. "The Beast system is already here with Visa, so it is fine if I try to make money with the next iteration". You can do that if you want, but I would be very careful with believing XRP propaganda videos like the one you posted.

Stablecoins seem to be indeed becoming a part of the new financial system, but these do not require XRP at all.

I didn't say it's better for us as a humanity. I meant XRP has a better prospect and usefulness as a part of the proposed new financial system, if that is indeed where the world is being moved to, and in my view moved/led by the quorum.

Not excuses. Just sharing information here at this moment in time which based on what I see is a good moment to share with others.
Yes of course profiting from the process that's already in motion whether it's ultimately used for 'good' or 'evil' is a wise idea. Money is a tool, and like any tool, it depends on the user.

It's not propaganda, those guys can see what's going on. And if it indeed is truth, time will reveal it.

XRP is an ideal bridge currency for a digital currencies (or CBDCs) based financial system. And a lot of different clue are pointing to it already been 'chosen' for the new system that we are being led to, and things we see on the surface (likely including the trade wars of today) are just a part of the show for the masses. And what lies behind the show is the planned/scripted reset/transformation of the global financial systems, with a good possibility of XRP being in the very nuts and bolts of it.

Like I wrote somewhere before, even the chart is 'ready' for a big market cap increase, which would require a really big news event, that would be used to explain the increase (news are just explanations of the price, news don't cause the price, price/chart has to be primed/ready for a move, that is then explained by some news), and based on my view, a good possibility for that move and those news is this May. Just sharing, it's not a financial advice, nor an excuse to myself (I am very confident in what Im able to see).

 

[Carl]

Like I wrote somewhere before, even the chart is 'ready' for a big market cap increase, which would require a really big news event, that would be used to explain the increase (news are just explanations of the price, news don't cause the price, price/chart has to be primed/ready for a move, that is then explained by some news), and based on my view, a good possibility for that move and those news is this May. Just sharing, it's not a financial advice, nor an excuse to myself (I am very confident in what Im able to see).

I agree that the relative strength of XRP price indicates that it has some dark-state backing, that they have some kind of plan for it, and that "smart money" is betting on it.

That's all the info you need really. Getting lost in the narratives beyond that is just a waste of time.

The only thing that concerns me when speculating on it are the hordes of absolute retards who seem to obsess over it, make videos on it and worship it. Then again, it could be a perfect example of the "midwit curve" meme.

 

[Serendipity]

I agree that the relative strength of XRP price indicates that it has some dark-state backing, that they have some kind of plan for it, and that "smart money" is betting on it.

That's all the info you need really. Getting lost in the narratives beyond that is just a waste of time.

The only thing that concerns me when speculating on it are the hordes of absolute retards who seem to obsess over it, make videos on it and worship it. Then again, it could be a perfect example of the "midwit curve" meme.

I agree with you. That's a bit 'worrisome', but then again the world is full of those 'midwits'.
Focus on raw and real data (charts being a good example of it) and tune out the rest, most of which is just noise/distraction (news and theories being example of it).

Charts speak for themselves.
No matter how you cut it, chart of Bitcoin 'calls' for a big drop at a scale not yet seen (rising wedge breakdown), at least in my opinion, and I'd say it's supported by Bitcoin becoming too mainstream/ too advertised to the masses.




Chart of XRP seems to have programmed in it a repeat of the pattern from 8 years ago in spring of 2017 (when it retested a previous resistance level of around 0.033$ and then went on a bull run to reach around 3.3$ by the end of the year.
This time it's retesting 2$ previous resistance level (since top of it's previous bull run in 2017.) and it's market cap is much higher (currently at around 120 billion $), so my theory is if indeed it is going to mirror/rhyme the history of the previous bull run exactly 8 years ago and have a big price increase, which would by extension mean a big increase in the total market cap of XRP; then it means the news event that will be used to justify/explain (say it caused the upward chart movement) would have to be a really big news event, a word stage type of event. Or that's just a theory, that I'm sharing here. FWIW.