Summary
Elon Musk claims his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is shutting down payments to federal contractors, including a Lutheran charity, asserting it is eliminating corruption.
This suggests DOGE has access to Treasury’s payment systems, though officials have not confirmed the extent.
Senator Ron Wyden warned that DOGE may interfere with Social Security, Medicare, and government contracts.
Musk also called USAID “a criminal organization” that should “die,” amid DOGE’s growing influence over federal financial operations.
Guess you’ll have to use crypto once your dollar is worthless
I don’t think crypto will replace USD as a global currency if USD fails.
Euro or Yuan would
But the people in office would certainly want to replace it with crypto domestically
You know of a better alternative? Ain’t nobody going to be trading gold like an 1800’s prospector.
Better? No. But why do you think China has been pushing all of the infrastructure projects in Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe? They are ready and waiting for the USD to blow up.
If the dollar tanks, crypto’s going with it.
Or they can use euros. They’re widely accepted.
Learn how to spin up a monero node and stick it on the tor network. Only buy bitcoin and wash it with monero for transactions.
Don’t gamble on shitcoins.
Don’t get caught up in mining or NFTs
Then the internet gets shut down and you realize you have nothing.
That’s the brilliance of crypto: it can work even on paper. Without the internet, it’s a major pain in the ass, but trades are still possible by using good old fashioned paper ledgers.
Bury your reichmarcs in your mattress if you wish. We’re all trying to navigate this with the coping mechanisms we have.
My tor node is accessible outside of the US as is my ability to get there if things need be.
But right now I need a secure way to get funds to people in red states whose finances might be tracked so that they can get the gender affirming care in states that still allow it, or so they can move to states that aren’t actively trying to kill them.
And right now this is the safest way to get them funds that cannot be interfered with or traced by state or federal governments.
I respect your intentions.
You’re right to question the motives of a stranger talking about crypto on the internet. Caution is important but defeatism will kill us all. If you don’t believe in a better world you won’t try for one. And you’ll get what they give you. What all of us need right now is a little more unity and a lot more mutual aid.
Agreed, keep you loved ones close and safe, help who you can when you can.
I don’t really know anything about crypto, but I’ve heard for many years how criminals use it to ransom things. I’ve always thought the “bitcoin is anonymous like cash” angle never made sense, since the entire point of the blockchain is to record ALL of it, and eventually that paper trail is going to tie it to someone. (It sounds like I’m somewhat correct about that since you mention “wash[ing]” it.)
I’ve never heard of monero. How does that work with the washing and whatnot? It’s a whole world I know nothing about, but find interesting.
That’s a long conversation. Please allow me to share a YouTube video that gets to the crux of the issue first. And I can share technical docs afterwards.
However you are 100% correct. Bitcoin is anything but anonymous. XMR/Monero is and has always been fully cryptographic, with the minor issue that if someone controls a node you connect your wallet to, there is metadata that will out you.
I don’t agree with everything this guy says about politics or social issues but he’s correct on netsec issues.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QrHsFZBab4U
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nDBHhz00vjI
As far as anonymizing your bitcoin you’ll need to do your own research. But here’s how not to do it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7CD_Nl3iwhE
If you’re gonna do that research do it on an updated tails distro as the previous release was compromised.
Thanks for the great reply! Super interesting stuff. I keep wanting to study up on all this crypto stuff since it seems like it’s not going anywhere at this point. Appreciate the links.
Don’t spend more than 20 bucks to figure out how it all works if you want to tinker. It is not a safe store of wealth. The best usecase is for anonymous and secure transactions.
