This article makes good points to consider when we think about blockchain. Blockchain can absolutely succeed if we can evaluate it objectively and keep the purpose of it in mind. The author is dead wrong when he says it's ok for governments to come in and regulate it. The whole point of this new system is to reclaim what's ours; but our job certainly isn't finished in building the blockchain that will subvert the current system.

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation plans to let any industry in the country to accept bitcoin and cryptocurrencies for international trade without restriction, per a report from local media outlet [TASS](https://tass.ru/ekonomika/15943173?). Ivan Chebeskov, director of the Financial Policy Department for the ministry, explained in a recent interview. > "We are going to allow international settlements in cryptocurrencies for any industries without restrictions." However, though the ministry intends to offer a non-restrictive flow for the acceptance of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, there seems to be a difference of opinion coming from the Bank of Russia. >“[The central bank] is in favor of creating a full-fledged infrastructure for the circulation of digital currencies in Russia,” said Chebeskov. Thus, while the Ministry of Finance prefers a local approach to the regulation of digital assets, the central bank is pursuing a broader range of regulatory action. Chebeskov detailed that the Ministry of Finance has two primary functions as it relates to the regulation of digital assets for international payments. >"We believe that we need local crypto infrastructure,” said Chebeskov. >“First of all, to protect the interests of citizens.” >“Because now those who trade their digital currencies on crypto exchanges are limited,” Chebeskov continued. >“Secondly, to control when digital currency is used legally and when not.”

A Melbourne woman received quite the surprise when she discovered that nearly AU$10.5 million ($7.2 million) was accidentally deposited into her bank account by the digital currency app Crypto.com. The Singapore-based company discovered during a December audit that it had mistakenly refunded AU$10.47 million to Thevamanogari Manivel in May 2021, when it was attempting to issue a refund of just AU$100 ($70). According to court documents (pdf), the incident happened after an account number was accidentally entered into the payment amount field by an employee instead of the AU$100 amount. However, the mistake was not realized by the company until months later by which time Manivel, with some help from her sister, Thilagavathy Gangadory, had already gone on quite a spending spree. She also failed to notify Crypto.com of the mistake.

"Squeak Road" is a new app in the Umbrel app store that lets anyone run their own darknet market. Just go to the app store and install the app, and you are now the admin of a darknet market. You can share the onion address publicly so that buyers and sellers can find your market. All payments and withdrawals use lightning network. As the admin of your market, all you have to do is set the fee rate, and approve/reject listings from sellers.

by Heady Wook

Bitcoin for Small Business without the NgU. An open source brochure to present to small businesses in your community. PDF here: https://github.com/linkinparkrulz/Brochures

I wanted to make sure I shared this from 3Blue1Brown since it is by far the best explanation of the underlying mathematics and workings of Bitcoin and most Crypto currencies in general. All credit Goes to 3Blue1Brown for this, I'm just sharing.

Microlancer is a KYC-free Bitcoin Lightning freelance platform for jobs, gigs and microtasks with built-in escrow and P2P reviews. Signup for free and post a task, apply to an existing task or list your services.

Buy and sell products/services for Bitcoin in Telegram with https://t.me/BitcoinP2PMarketplace. Need an anonymous number? JuicySMS.com, TextVerified.com and SMSPVA.com offer KYC-free SMS verification for Bitcoin. You can additionally use Anbox in Whonix Workstation (https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Anbox) for more privacy.

Use Bitcoin to liberate yourself from the state's monopoly on money (fiat), identity (government ID KYC) and markets (regulations). Accept Bitcoin in your business, encourage your favorite stores to accept Bitcoin and trade in peer-to-peer marketplaces to create free markets for all.