Boaz @sobradob Twitter profile

Pinned Tweet

Boaz

1 year

Much of the debate around Crypto is confused because both advocates and critics have a myopic view of what it is. There are four key elements: The Casino The Movement The Tech The Product And there is surprisingly little overlap between them.

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@Samhewittt

@aReezall

Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Thanks to KYC/AML regulations the criminals at FTX now have the name, address and passport details of millions of individuals.

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Boaz

@sobradob

4 years

@glozow Bet I don't get a single message.

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Boaz

@sobradob

4 months

@paulg This tweet was clearly written yesterday.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Western Academic: bitcoin is useless. Libyan money exchanger:

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Boaz

@sobradob

1 year

@Morbidful She could have just kept her eyes closed for the same experience.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

There is a widespread belief amongst financial commentators that the problem of international payments has been "solved" by fintechs such as @Wise . Let me show you how this isn't true.

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

Metamask and Infura are censoring Venezuelans. This is key infrastructure for the ethereum ecosystem that is not proving to be censorship resistant.

Criptolawyer

@criptolawyer

3 years

Desde ayer, venezolanos 🇻🇪advierten que no han podido ingresar a #Metamask . ¿La razón? MetaMask ha empezado a cumplir con las regulaciones norteamericanas y no prestará servicios directamente para usuarios venezolanos. Aunque si se puede ingresar utilizando VPN. 🤯

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

I never showed FTX (or binance for that matter) my passport. You don't have to either.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Cubans attempting to make Ethereum transactions on m*tamask reporting censorship.

davidulloa.tez/eth

@DavidUlloaCuba

2 years

This is by far no web 3

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Boaz

@sobradob

5 months

@CPhilpOfficial Blocking housing during a housing crisis!

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Boaz

@sobradob

11 months

Airbnb: +40% YTD Airbnb operator: -70% YTD

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Boaz

@sobradob

6 months

The Tulip Craze Conspiracy Have you heard of the Dutch Tulip craze? If so, you've likely fallen victim to centuries old propaganda. The Dutch tulip bubble of the 17th century never actually happened, at least not the way it is understood in popular culture. The popular

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

I know a lot of Cubans used @binance with no KYC. If they still have funds in there they are trapped. It’s hard to explain why self custody is important. But many people are learning the lesson today. They won’t forget.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Nigerians are the leaders in searching about information around @BtcpayServer , a bitcoin payment processor.

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

Apparently, for the first time ever, cryptodollars are worth more than physical cash in Cuba. 1 usd in cash is worth less than 1 usd in bitcoin/tether/etc

Enrique Yecier

@EnriqueYecier

3 years

Por primera vez en la historia de las criptomonedas en #Cuba , estas superan en cotización en CUP al dólar en efectivo. Esto habla a las claras de como se han popularizado y que cada vez tienen más demanda. ¿Superarán alguna vez al MLC? @kwelta_tech @eltoquecom @ErichGarciaCruz

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

The combination of inane AML policies and product managers in San Fransisco who have little regard for "edge cases" like the five million people who live Costa Rica mean that cross-border transactions are still quite complicated.

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Boaz

@sobradob

1 year

@cremieuxrecueil I’d be curious to see that plot in terms of casualties

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

You get deplatformed because you wrote "Cuban Sandwich" in the memo field of a 5 dollar transfer. Meanwhile:

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Boaz

@sobradob

6 months

"The apparent stabilisation of bitcoin’s value is likely to be an artificially induced last gasp before the crypto-asset embarks on a road to irrelevance." This is what the European Central Bank wrote in late November 2022, while bitcoin was trading at multi year lows. Bitcoin

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

@matthewstoller It's also used by thousands that aren't privileged enough to be born in places with strong property rights and access to trustworthy financial institutions.

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

Xiaomi, a Chinese tech company, has remotely blocked its mobile phones in Cuba to satisfy US sanctions. Meanwhile, the US senate voted for an amendment that stipulates the US should provide Cubans with uncensored internet. How exactly are they supposed to get online ?

Iosvany Alvarez

@iosdev_91

3 years

Problema del Bloqueo Regional de Xiaomi en Cuba Cómo extecnico de celulares, me especialice en la gama Xiaomi y la verdad que la cobertura que ha tenido la marca en Cuba ha sido grande y hoy miles de personas puede ver cómo se le bloquea su Xiaomi @ErichGarciaCruz Abro hilo 🧵,

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Boaz

@sobradob

9 months

People who live in wealthy countries with strong rule of law fail to understand why crypto is appealing for many. In their mental model of the world, a Cuban resident can just walk into Havana's BBVA office and get access to US dollars.

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Boaz

@sobradob

1 year

@macrocephalopod I once got into the top 10% of a machine learning competition by taking the mean and predicting that.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

An AI dystopia won't look like "1984" or "Terminator". It'll be much more like "Brave New World".

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

But addresses don't exist in Costa Rica! So often you'll get stuck because a form requires an address in a format that doesn't exist.

Street Addresses | Costa Rica Wiki | Fandom

And, here's where it starts to get a bit complicated. So you've arrived in Costa Rica, you know where you're supposed to go, you look it up on the internet... and you get something that looks...

costarica.fandom.com

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Ethereum has lower brand recognition than Dogecoin.

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

"fair distribution"

Sam Altman

@sama

3 years

Introducing Worldcoin, a new cryptocurrency that will be distributed fairly to as many people as possible. Details about how it works:

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

@ljxie I do "yourcompany @myname .com" and its often v awkward. "Do you work here?" "Please give us your real email"

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

@matthewstoller Not everyone in the US can send money to their parents using a bank account. On what basis do you think a prohibition style ban would be effective and moral?

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

A restaurant in Havana is now accepting lightning network payments.

Erich ⚡️

@ErichGarciaCruz

3 years

Pagando con #LightningNetwork ⚡ en #Cuba 🇨🇺

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

@datepsych Attractive men message more not because they are "willing to put the work in" but because they know they are more likely to get a reply.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

In case you didn't know: you shouldn't keep substantial amounts of money in a browser extension.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Problem with Attempt 1: The beneficiary's bank will freeze the funds for AML reasons until I provide embassy apostilled and translated salary slips to the beneficiary's bank. This adds substantial costs and hassle.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Experts: "Crypto is useless for cross-border transactions. Why don't you use services like @Wise ." Wise:

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Boaz

@sobradob

5 months

@johnebooth1 The vast majority of money the government takes from young people gets redistributed in a way that benefits boomers. Pensions, NHS, Social Housing benefits etc, are all for the primary benefit of boomers. Even high levels of migration while making it impossible to build

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

@gladstein Beautiful quote from Cuba's national poet.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

@hasufl I’ve seen many people say this, but I genuinely don’t understand how this rug is different from all the other thousands of rugs and exploits?

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Boaz

@sobradob

4 years

Check out my conversation with @nic__carter about why Bitcoin is becoming a big deal in Cuba.

On The Brink

@OnTheBrinkCIV

4 years

In our latest episode with @sobradob , we cover Bitcoin adoption in Cuba - The key trends accelerating Bitcoin adoption in Cuba today - How Boaz became a part of the early Cuban Bitcoin community - Cuba's multiple sovereign currencies

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

The Dark side of the Cuban Crypto Boom. In the 1990s the fall of the Berlin wall brought many new things to the Eastern block: democratic elections, free markets and western jeans. But it also brought Ponzi schemes and MLM scams.

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

If you are born in Cuba, even if you reside elsewhere, @binance and other centralised financial services countries will be loath to service you. The solution is self-custody and letting go of trusted third parties.

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

In Cuba, @Airbnb is requiring hosts to confirm they are not associated with the government or the Communist party. Hopefully, more services will let ordinary Cubans use their platform. Instead of banning everyone out of overcompliance.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

There is currently a bitcoin conference in the Cuban Art Factory. This is probably THE most important independent cultural venue in Cuba.

Erich ⚡️

@ErichGarciaCruz

2 years

La mejor comunidad de #Bitcoin en el mejor lugar de #Cuba 🇨🇺

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

Erich applied to open a bank account with 32 neobanks. 31 rejected him because he is Cuban.

Erich ⚡️

@ErichGarciaCruz

3 years

Ayer no disparé un chícharo... me dediqué a aplicar en más de 32 neobancos... De 32, a 1 no le importó que sea cubano... por ahora. (Es que va a ser verdad que soy un habla mierda, 1 me aceptó 🤣)

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

My friend Osmel, who went missing for 36 hours, is now confirmed to be detained. I’m being told he will be judged in a summary trial without rights to a legal defense. His mother’s phone line has been shut off.

Norges Rodríguez

@norges14

3 years

1) Los perfiles de #Facebook de @Danielarojocuba y Osmel González Darlington han desaparecido. Ambos fueron detenidos recientemente por la policía política de la dictadura cubana.

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Boaz

@sobradob

6 months

@hardestgeezer Need to double my output to reach you

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

@CryptoCronkite I don't understand why you would DCA instead of simply buying the bottom and selling the top.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

The KYC/AML regime is a wildly expensive policy experiment that inconveniences regular citizens but does little to stop warlords from accessing professional services.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

@tolstoybb They paid some guy 100m to build an NFT exchange nobody uses

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Attempt 5: Use Western Union account to account transfer. Problem: Maximum transaction size is 8k GBP. Also super expensive.

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

@basedkarbon the algo delivers

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Problem: I am a Costa Rican national living in London. I made a larger purchase in Costa Rica. I want to send multiples of 10k GBP to a USD account in Costa Rica.

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Boaz

@sobradob

1 year

What happens to mortgages in the US when you die? US Mortgages originated for 70+ year olds 2000- 2008: 589m US Mortgages originated for 70+ year olds in 2020- 2022: 653.6m.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Seems like DeFi perpetual futures are doing well. Volumes, fees and DAUs at all time highs. More on my @DuneAnalytics Dashboard here:

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

@mattysino To me worrying about BTC energy consumption is a form of Malthusian thinking. Energy is plentiful and literally falls from the sky. We should improve in how we harness it and distribute it, not ration it.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

@ejcx_ Thanks for sharing. If the account has 2FA, is the master key a function of 2FA + the master password or the master password only?

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

A top 20 US bank failed before Tether did.

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

@jp_koning To be precise they are using bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) to bypass the overzealous implementation of pre-internet laws regarding Cuba by financial institutions. In theory there's no law that stops a privately employed Cuban from transacting online.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Attempt 7: Transfer USD via Monzo & Wise to my HSBC UK USD account, transfer via SWIFT to my personal account in Costa Rica and transfer onwards locally. Costs: ~1%

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Problem with Attempt 3: @Wise does not allow transfers to my USD account in Costa Rica. @BACCredomaticCR is a market leading bank in Central America, but @Wise considers that it doesn't "fulfill our Acceptable Use Policy".

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Attempt 4: Use @monzo to make a transaction via SWIFT, without using @Wise . Problem: SWIFT transactions are not supported by Monzo.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Attempt 6: Transfer GBP to my @HSBC_UK account from @monzo , convert within HSBC to USD, wire USD out to my personal account in Costa Rica, transfer onwards locally. Costs: ~3.5%

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Big sentiment change in Bitcoin. More and more Bitcoiners speaking out against damaging groupthink.

Matt Corallo

@TheBlueMatt

2 years

1/ Bitcoin maxis are a dying breed. While there was a time where ~everything except Bitcoin was basically a scam, that hasn't been true for a long time, and the smart money has moved on to figuring out which projects are going somewhere, and which are straight pump-and-dumps.

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@sobradob

3 years

People like this want to block ordinary Cubans from using the internet.

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@sobradob

2 years

Problem with Attempt 6: HSBC charges me an atrocious exchange rate to exchange GBP to USD. It wants to charge me 1.15 vs the current 1.2 rate.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Looks like @DuneAnalytics will finally release an API.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

I can't think of any better alternative than Attempt 7, and am leaning towards doing this.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Btw, often you are prompted to provide addresses in this process...

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

@coder_blvck Does it ever happen that when they do hire you, they struggle figuring out how to pay you?

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

CashApp is successfully identifying and censoring bitcoin transactions to wallets of Cuban residents.

Erich ⚡️

@ErichGarciaCruz

2 years

¿No era que #Bitcoin es libertad y deso? El panfleto de empresas asimilando Bitcoin es puro humo de marketing. Tu Wallet, tu soberanía. No es culpa de @CashApp , es culpa de leyes del siglo XX. (Esto no me afecta en lo más mínimo, afecta al cliente) 😔 .

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

@SBF_Alameda @RevolutApp Beware users, Revolut will freeze your funds for no reason and only release them after a year later after you take them to court. Source:me

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 months

@JolyonMaugham Funny how everyone assumes that "equalising" means increasing the lower one rather reducing the higher one.

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

Excellent article on the complete uselessness and huge cost of AML/KYC policies as they now stand.

David “Whisky Tango Foxtrot“ Birch

@dgwbirch

3 years

AML Isn't Working - by David G.W. Birch UKplc as a jurisdiction should rethink compliance for competitive advantage.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Attempt 2: Send via @monzo and @Wise to a USD account of mine in Costa Rica. Then transfer onwards locally. Costs: ~0.7%

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Attempt 1: Send via @monzo and @Wise directly to the beneficiaries bank account. Costs: ~0.7%

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Boaz

@sobradob

5 months

GDPR is forcing advertisers to collect less data. But financial services companies are not only exempt: they have record keeping requirements. By law they must store this data. And now it's become far more attractive for advertisers to buy. h/t @eric_seufert

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

@AlexanderGerko I can tell you’re not a Cuban freelancer trying to get paid by an Argentinian company. Nothing illegal about the transaction, but nonetheless impossible.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Is MIA the worst airport in the US or are there worse?

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

@ODELL It's the bots man they are unbearable. Half my notifs are bots.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

@netcapgirl Bit harsh to call Apple a Chinese spyware company

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 months

@PassportAndPix What are the outcomes ?

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

The Cube

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

How I almost lost all my money when Stripe kicked me off their payment processing platform with 24 hours notice. Big reason why I believe in censorship resistant digital cash.

Crypto Critics' Corner

@CryptoCriticPod

2 years

How @sobradob ended up using a payments processor run by Argentinian money launderers

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Boaz

@sobradob

3 years

I'm hearing some noise that Nigerian accounts are being locked down by @binance , likely under pressure from law enforcement. The days of lax offshore exchanges are over. Self-custody is essential.

Ama Judy

@AmaJudy_

3 years

It’s been 10 months now that Binance held my hard earned crypto, I have reached out to customer care severally, till now I have not been given any tangible reason for this act @binance @BinanceAfrica @cz_binance @BinanceHelpDesk #BinanceStopScamming #BinanceStealingCrypto

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@sobradob

2 years

My @bitrefill balance is truly amazing. I chucked like a hundred bucks worth of bitcoin there a few years ago. I've been spending from it every year, but there's still hundreds of dollars left.

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Had a lot of fun chatting to @CasPiancey and @BennettTomlin . I highly recommend their podcast.

Crypto Critics' Corner

@CryptoCriticPod

2 years

Episode 90: @CasPiancey and @BennettTomlin are joined by @sobradob to discuss an argument for why Tether and cryptocurrencies have ended up a useful tool for people who have been financially deplatformed due to draconian regulations

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Boaz

@sobradob

4 years

@marinamaral2 Funny story, there is one in Havana too. Havana has a very impressive Napoleon museum. A Cuban sugar magnate, Julio Lobo was an avid collector, and he left the collection behind after 1958.

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@sobradob

2 years

This talk from @ziggamon is an absolute must watch for both bitcoin/crypto advocates and skeptics. It is probably one of the most impactful videos on the topic I've seen recently. And it has less than 500 views on YouTube!

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

@arduinostrand @Wise I’m not blaming Wise here, they have done wonders to improve things and are a company I greatly respect. It’s just not a solved problem, for multiple different reasons, including nuts compliance policies.

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Boaz

@sobradob

1 year

Crypto newbies seem to forget that the original way to buy bitcoin was through peer-to-peer trading on sites like @LocalBitcoins . At a time when the fall of FTX and the rise of blockchain surveillance companies like @chainalysis highlighted the risks of centralised exchanges,

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@sobradob

2 years

@henrymance You forgot to mention the obvious conflict of interest.

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@sobradob

2 years

A few interesting things that happened with stablecoins during the FTX implosion from @DuneAnalytics .

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@sobradob

3 years

@dystopiabreaker “Crypto is all the rage these days but crypto bros have not thought about [topic discussed at length on bitcointalk in 2010]”

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@sobradob

2 years

TIL the original funding for Ethereum’s “environmentally friendly” transition to Proof of Stake came from a fossil fuel executive who happened to be an ETH whale. h/t @laurashin

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

One of the scariest experiences I had recently. I ate a salad with crickets in Oaxaca and went for a run. When I got back I was red and itchy. Reasoned it was an allergic reaction. Went to the restaurant to ask the exact ingredients. Then I fainted.

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@sobradob

3 years

Coming up next: "Dear Editor. My neighbour buys bread on the black market. He has a family to feed, but I know I should report him to the Price Control Authorities. What do I do?"

The Guardian

@guardian

3 years

We have a powerful weapon to fight inflation: price controls. It’s time we use it | Isabella Weber

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@sobradob

2 years

The trustinvesting scam, which robbed thousands of poor and hopeless Cubans, has now shut down.

Erich ⚡️

@ErichGarciaCruz

2 years

¡Qué recuerdos! 🥹

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@sobradob

7 months

@paulg I bet that the top 10% of Twitter users represent 80% of twitter's income too. You're likely one of them.

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@sobradob

6 months

Do you really know where your salary comes from? The word “salary” comes from the Latin word “salarium,” which originally referred to a soldier’s allowance for the purchase of salt. Salt was a valuable commodity up until modern times, often used as a preservative and for

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Boaz

@sobradob

2 years

Serious crypto legislation: Japan -> After Mt Gox Canada -> After Quadringa US -> After FTX ?

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