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molly0xfff

@[email protected]

crypto researcher & critic, software engineer, wikipedian • @web3isgreat creator • subscribe to my newsletter at http://citationneeded.news/
she/her • :QueerCat_Bisexual:

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molly0xfff , to random
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

The Justice Department worries about the stability of Ethereum, DCG tries to bilk their subsidiary's creditors, and Biden threatens a crypto veto. Catch up with https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-58/

molly0xfff OP ,
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@shalf heh, yeah

molly0xfff , to random
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I had such a great chat with @mike on his Dot Social podcast, where we talked about the future of the web and why I'm a web optimist, why everyone should be a blogger, digital ownership, and decentralized social media.

The full episode is available here https://about.flipboard.com/inside-flipboard/molly-white/ and on PeerTube/YouTube/the usual podcast feeds!

drovani , to random
@drovani@hachyderm.io avatar

I am a human and I am completely stumped by this captcha.
Does that prove that I'm human?
Maybe saying I'm human is exactly the thing a machine would state.
Maybe having that self-reflection proves I'm human.
Maybe AI has seen this kind of rambling enough to generate a post about being human and frustrated by a captcha.

molly0xfff ,
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

@drovani this captcha service needs some work https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff/112288150601790991

molly0xfff , to random
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hi hello i see it's time for our semi-regular reminder that your browser's incognito mode does not protect you from surveillance!

web3isgreat Bot , to random
@web3isgreat@indieweb.social avatar

Tornado Cash developer sentenced to more than five years imprisonment in the Netherlands

May 14, 2024
https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=alexey-pertsev-sentencing

Tornado Cash developer sentenced to more than five years imprisonment in the Netherlands Alexey Pertsev, one of the developers of the Tornado Cash mixing service, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to 64 months imprisonment in the Netherlands. Prosecutors claimed that Pertsev knew the service was being used to launder money, but "chose not to intervene". They argued that, although the developers could not necessarily prevent bad actors from laundering money through the service directly, they could have done more to prevent people from using the web interface to wash funds from known criminal wallets. The case is a concerning one, as sanctioning software developers for how the code they write is used — particularly when it comes to software intended to protect privacy — has frightening implications. Although there is some precedent in the United States that "code is speech", and merely writing and publishing code is protected by the First Amendment, that obviously does not apply to the Netherlands. A collaborator to Pertsev, Roman Storm, is set to be tried on charges of money laundering and sanctions violations in the United States in September, and that case is likely to grapple with this exact issue.
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    • molly0xfff ,
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    @luis_in_brief @curtmack @web3isgreat part of the problem here is that if you want any semblance of privacy on ethereum or other blockchains, you basically have to launder your money

    molly0xfff ,
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    @luis_in_brief re: financial privacy, yes, but how does that translate to cryptocurrency? ban crypto entirely? or everyone's transactions must remain fully public, regardless of size? allow mixing, but only certain amounts? require KYC for mixing?

    there are a lot of possible ways it could go — some much worse than others — but "ban writing crypto mixing software" sure ain't it

    molly0xfff ,
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    @luis_in_brief this is certainly a valid stance a person can hold, but it's also one that would largely outlaw cryptocurrency -- and it hasn't been the one the US government has chosen to go with

    molly0xfff ,
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    @luis_in_brief i guess more precisely, it would outlaw much of what you can currently do with cryptocurrency. pretty much all of defi, for example

    molly0xfff , to random
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    very cool to see a quote from my recent writing on AI (https://citationneeded.news/ai-isnt-useless/) in a piece by Julia Angwin in the New York Times this morning!

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/opinion/artificial-intelligence-ai-openai-chatgpt-overrated-hype.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sE0.SV0g.r4iVMq0NT6z7&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

    It feels like another sign that A.I. is not even close to living up to its hype. In my eyes, it’s looking less like an all-powerful being and more like a bad intern whose work is so unreliable that it’s often easier to do the task yourself. That realization has real implications for the way we, our employers and our government should deal with Silicon Valley’s latest dazzling new, new thing. Acknowledging A.I.’s flaws could help us invest our resources more efficiently and also allow us to turn our attention toward more realistic solutions. Others voice similar concerns. “I find my feelings about A.I. are actually pretty similar to my feelings about blockchains: They do a poor job of much of what people try to do with them, they can’t do the things their creators claim they one day might, and many of the things they are well suited to do may not be altogether that beneficial,” wrote Molly White, a cryptocurrency researcher and critic, in her newsletter last month. Let’s look at the research.
    ALT
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    • molly0xfff , to random
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    Ryan Salame (former CEO of the Bahamian portion of FTX) has submitted his sentencing memo. He's asked for no more than 18 months imprisonment for his charges.

    He was charged with conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission.

    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.590939/gov.uscourts.nysd.590939.433.0_1.pdf

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    He argues that he was not substantially involved in the wrongdoing at FTX and instead lays much of the blame on others (mainly Bankman-Fried and Dan Friedberg).

    He argues that his substance abuse (alcohol and unspecified drugs), charitable work, and family commitment should be considered in his sentencing.

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    Salame is the first of the four other high-level FTX employees to be sentenced. He pleaded guilty (as did all the others), but was the only one who did not have a cooperation agreement.

    Salame has agreed to restitution (~$5.6 million) and forfeiture ($6 million, two properties, and a business) which he says "will leave him with no remaining assets".

    molly0xfff , to random
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    his joy for springtime is contagious

    Atlas, a mostly black pit bull/husky/german shepherd mix with a white blaze on his chest and white toes, sits in the sun on some grass with dandelions. His mouth is open and his tongue is out, and one ear is turned to the side to listen for something. His eyes are bright and he looks like he's smiling. He's wearing a wide blue collar, a turquoise and grey harness, and a blue leash.
    ALT
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    • molly0xfff OP ,
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    @phi1997 i will tell him again just for you

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    @mtothevizzah atlas had just finished his own roll in the grass before i took this picture. nothing beats a grassy roll after a long winter, it seems!

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    i thought i loved spring until i got atlas. then i learned no one loves spring like atlas loves spring.

    steveboland , to random
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    I really didn't want to start another subscription, but I had to give some support to Molly White @molly0xfff I was behind on her critical Citation Needed, and the post/audio from May 1 is exactly the call I needed to hear. We CAN have the web we want. We really can. https://www.citationneeded.news/we-can-have-a-different-web/

    molly0xfff ,
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    @steveboland thank you!

    molly0xfff , to random
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    i...

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    @dozymoe it's not entirely clear to me. some combination of "radio" and "only half the world would be fried" https://cryptoslate.com/even-if-this-weekends-solar-storm-destroyed-civilization-bitcoin-would-survive/

    molly0xfff OP ,
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    @dozymoe the crypto holdings would still be safe regardless, though if they were using a hardware or other digital wallet without offline backups they could certainly run into an issue...

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    @momo everyone knows there's no math in heaven

    molly0xfff , to random
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    "In 2024, for the first time, it finally feels like we have a critical mass of people and platforms who are interested in rewilding the internet to bring back what we lost, and create something new. ... There's a palpable feeling that this just might be the year of the open web."

    is this feeling... hope? https://activitypub.ghost.org/day-0/

    At various points we revisited our old idea for networked publishing in Ghost and tested a few prototypes, but we were never sure how to make it scale; nor how many other platforms would ultimately adopt it. For all its promise, ActivityPub (like many open standards) seemed to generate products with user experiences that were often confusing and convoluted. But something else happened in the intervening period between 2016 and 2024: People became increasingly fed up with the behavior of centralized platforms, and increasingly hungry for alternatives. The motivation for exploring and understanding new technologies, rough edges included, meaningfully increased. In 2024, for the first time, it finally feels like we have a critical mass of people and platforms who are interested in rewilding the internet to bring back what we lost, and create something new. In the past week alone, we've had conversations with Mastodon, Flipboard, The Verge, Buttondown, WriteFreely, and several co-authors of the ActivityPub spec. There's a palpable feeling that this just might be the year of [begin strikethrough] the linux desktop [end strikethrough] the open web.
    ALT
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    • molly0xfff OP ,
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    @starbreaker i find spite to be a powerful motivator myself

    wesley83 , to random
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    What's a phrase that shows you were both once cool in the past, and old in the present?

    Here's mine: I had a beeper in high school.

    molly0xfff ,
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    @wesley83 i had a palm pilot, which proves i am old and also that i was never cool

    molly0xfff , to random
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    "Americans aren't confident in crypto. The crypto industry, however, says crypto is very important to Americans."

    great to see such hard-hitting journalism from @politico

    https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/10/trump-crypto-biden-00157051

    It’s unclear, though, whether courting digital asset traders can win a significant number of votes. A Pew Research Center Survey released last year found that most Americans weren’t confident in crypto’s safety or reliability. The industry has suffered major blowups in the last few years, including the implosion of the FTX exchange in a huge fraud scandal and the U.S. government’s $4.4 billion settlement with the Binance exchange over allegations that it facilitated financial crimes. A poll released by crypto industry groups this week showed that more than 20 percent of voters in six key swing states identify crypto as a major issue. A separate nationwide survey of registered voters commissioned by the crypto firm Paradigm found that crypto ownership is higher among communities of color and young people — key constituencies that helped boost Biden in 2020 but are now proving to be challenging for him to win over.
    ALT
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    • molly0xfff , to random
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    the team behind Critical Role just launched its own subscription membership service called "Beacon"

    pretty cool to see a creative team trying out a new model to give them so much control over their own content/platform

    molly0xfff OP ,
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    i'm sure it was a major and scary decision to branch out to their own platform, but the precarity of building on third-party platforms like twitch/youtube really can't be overstated

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    @ainmosni i ❤️ dropout

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    I've mostly only supported them through merch/etc since I'm always hopelessly behind on current seasons and don't need the early release, but now that it's going to them directly (and hopefully encouraging them and others to try these models) it's a no brainer sub

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    @geewee they did/do and I'm a huge fan of it!

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    @tastapod @steveriggins https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precarity

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    @jimcullen based on how they're describing it I haven't gotten that impression

    john , to random
    @john@465.onl avatar

    🗒️ Send me a (Web)mention

    Publish a post on your website, and link to a post on my website. Then paste the URL of your post on your website into the new box and click the up arrow.

    https://www.johnpe.art/note/1715258267/

    molly0xfff ,
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    @john ooo i love how you've formatted the webmentions on your site, that's so fun

    molly0xfff , to random
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    "[The moderator crackdown is] just a reminder that anything you post on any of these platforms can and will be used for profit. It's just a matter of time until all your messages on Discord, Twitter etc. are scraped, fed into a model and sold back to you." – @ben

    https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/stack-overflow-bans-users-en-masse-for-rebelling-against-openai-partnership-users-banned-for-deleting-answers-to-prevent-them-being-used-to-train-chatgpt

    h/t @dangillmor

    molly0xfff , to random
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    Changpeng Zhao's sentencing, FOIA requests reveal past FBI investigations into Coinbase, and the SEC is on a Wells notice bender.

    https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-57/

    molly0xfff OP ,
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    FOIA requests for FBI documents pertaining to Coinbase have revealed the existence of an investigation from c. 2017–2019, which focused on allegations of insider trading, investment fraud, corporate fraud, and tax crimes.

    Some interesting tidbits in there.

    Additionally, there were other potential criminal activities which were examined as a part of this investigation in connection with investigative partners to include the IRS-CID looking into potential tax fraud. Additionally the FBI and CFTC investigated Coinbase's use of software to artificially increase trading volume on their platform. The USAO did not see a criminal case in regards to this activity, but the CFTC will continue to pursue this matter. None of these other activities appear to constitute a federal criminal matter, accordingly the USAO is declining to prosecute these as well at this time .
    ALT
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    • molly0xfff OP ,
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    @justin HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    @michaelgemar now imagine referencing it to a group of people born this millennium!

    molly0xfff , (edited ) to random
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    “Crypto researcher Molly White skewered [Chris Dixon’s Read Write Own] with the delight of Pete Wells after downing an Almond Joy cocktail at Guy Fieri’s Flavortown.”

    😂

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-05-06/silicon-valley-crypto-investor-chris-dixon-wants-to-overhaul-the-industry (paywall)
    https://archive.ph/BDP2I (archive)

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    “Dixon tells me that White is ‘a professional anti-crypto person.’ ”

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    In case you missed my delighted skewering: https://www.citationneeded.news/review-read-write-own-by-chris-dixon/

    molly0xfff OP ,
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    @Chip_Unicorn [Jaws music]

    molly0xfff OP ,
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    @MHLoppy yes, a kind css whiz suggested a better hack for it than the one I recently abandoned

    wolfsweat , to random
    @wolfsweat@mastodon.social avatar

    @molly0xfff I’ve been very amateur-ly following Indieweb stuff the past few years, and have run my own “notes” section similar to yours - and I’m wondering if you’ve written up how yours works anyplace. It’s very nice!

    molly0xfff ,
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    @wolfsweat stay tuned! will be writing about it soon

    emilygorcenski , to random
    @emilygorcenski@indieweb.social avatar

    Easily the person in tech I am admiring most right now is @molly0xfff, who is doing so much cool stuff I am in constant awe.

    molly0xfff ,
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    @emilygorcenski :blobfoxaww: thank you!

    molly0xfff , to random
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    finally made an "AI" category (https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?collection=ai) for @web3isgreat to capture all the disasters pertaining to AI-powered cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency-powered AI

    molly0xfff OP ,
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    @csdummi @web3isgreat fade into obscurity usually

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