Jake Paul has created and shilled multiple projects like Dink Doink and Cryptozoo which eventually led to the SEC fining home almost half a million dollars. This is good in theory, the SEC is protecting investors by giving a fine to fraudsters. But if you take even one second to go over the numbers he still wins.

Jake Paul netted millions from cryptozoo alone and his coworkers made just as much. His other scam projects such as DINK DOINK was another rug pull he cashed in on. If he is profiting 6x or more than his fine it’s really no punishment whatsoever, hardly a slap on the wrist.

The only real punishment was that it hurts his reputation. But the real issue I have with this is that tells other potential scammers that they have the green light. They can go ahead and commit mass fraud because at the end of the day you just have to pay a little tax on your profits. And retail investors lose again.

The SEC can’t seem to make one right move in the crypto world but I can’t even blame them fully because of all the influencers and celebrities are the ones doing it in the first place. There needs to be massive change if not way larger fines then at least jail time and reparations.

To further point out the sheer hypocrisy of the current state of US crypto regulation earlier this month Coinbase were sent a Wells Notice, a forewarning about potential coming actions from the SEC for breaking securities laws at virtually the same time (merely two weeks earlier) The US GOVERNMENT sent nearly 10k Bitcoin to Coinbase to sell (part of the seized stash from the silkroad hacker).

https://www.coinbase.com/blog/we-asked-the-sec-for-reasonable-crypto-rules-for-americans-we-got-legal

We are confident in the legality of our assets and services, and if needed, we welcome a legal process to provide the clarity we have been advocating for and to demonstrate that the SEC simply has not been fair or reasonable when it comes to its engagement on digital assets. Rest assured, Coinbase products and services continue to operate as usual - today’s news does not require any changes to our current products or services. 

Addresses associated with the U.S. government transferred out 49,000 BTC ($1.08B) seized from the Silk Road hacker on the 8th of March. Among them, 9,826BTC ($217M) was transferred to Coinbase and 39,175 bitcoin ($867M) was transferred to 2 new addresses.

https://mempool.space/address/bc1qmxjefnuy06v345v6vhwpwt05dztztmx4g3y7wp

https://preview.redd.it/7mhz1qer14ra1.jpg?width=679&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=f06dbfef5983500f28335e79ff37bd84bb751689

It seems Coinbase is both simultaneously a shady business doing shady things that the SEC must put a stop to and also the premier place for The US Government to offload their ill gotten gains.

Pick a fucking side.

You always see people saying they don't like Crypto and that they think it's either a ponzi scheme or very useless.

They never specifically have a single coin in mind, nor are they really going for Bitcoin for example. It's the crypto market they hate, and rightfully so, being filled with scams and useless cash grab projects around every corner. The average person who doesn't know about any good and useful coins sees that and is already out, before they had even got the chance to look into it.

There's not much to be done really about people creating these coins, the only way that people can learn about the few major coins is if they understand this and bother to look into it.

It only makes sense that they would be against Crypto, when "Crypto" or better yet Crypto Market as we call it consists 99% of these coins and you always hear about people getting scammed in Crypto. Not really encouraging in my opinion.

Earlier this month U.S. authorities transferred $1 billion worth of Bitcoin recovered from a dark web hack to new wallet addresses, including one owned by Coinbase.

Today, as per https://twitter.com/tier10k/status/1641821284341280768 they have sold a chunk of it:

[DB] US Govt Sold 9,800 BTC on March 14, Intends to Sell a Further 41,500 BTC Connected to Silk Road in Four Batches Over the Course of the Year: Court Filing

https://preview.redd.it/xnqets5le3ra1.png?width=869&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=1b2d14838b399a27b7a55dc1a40d4f92991d8fec

Let's see whether they will be able to scare retail this time

After long and painful deliberation, Bill, Rami, and I have taken the decision to voluntarily cease operations in the United States and put our energy and passion for crypto into making Bittrex Global a success. You can read our full statement here.

We’re reaching out directly to all U.S.-based customers today to let you know how this impacts you and what you need to do next. Please read this carefully; we’ve loved having you be part of our journey and want this process to be as painless as possible for you.

Bittrex U.S. customers will retain access to their accounts until 12pm (noon) Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on April 30, 2023. Until that time, you will be able to access your account and transfer crypto funds out of your account as you normally would.

Customers of Bittrex Global are not affected by this change. Below is the detailed timeline providing critical dates in this process – please review this thoroughly as some actions must be taken prior to April 30th.

Hello fellow crypto kings and queens!

Tomorrow is April 1st, April Fool's Day!

I am sure some of us will love to make some jokes and pranks but so does the whole sub aswell some of our media.

Just like what happens every year, there will be some huge 'news' about crypto or adoption. Do not let yourself get dragged by those fake news or feelings of ansiety and/or FOMO thanks to some prank. Do not fall for scams, keep sceptical, don't believe in absurd news, do your research or simply take a day off from crypto.

Stay focused on your goals and stay alert!

US sold some of their Bitcoins they got from Silk Road and plan to sell more, which in my opinion is peak of hypocrisy. And another proof that as long as they earn money doesn't matter they are stolen from native americans, from Iraq, made on selling guns to some genocide loving dictator in Africa or like in this case from drugs. But what we expect from people that even took money from SBF and refused to return them to victims...

In Lord of War character played by Nicolas Cage say: "...biggest arms dealer in the world is your boss, the President of the United States, who ships more merchandise in a day than I do in a year..." We now can say the same about US government technically being biggest crypto fraud and scammer. SFB and Do Kwon are small fries in comparation to US government. The same US senators and politicians that call crypto a scam and want to ban and overregulate it profit from it. They tell now this worthless BTC is worth $28k? No way, did they really manipulated some poor citizens into paying so much money for something that supposedly have no real value? Seems pretty low.

Either US government consciously participate in some ponzi scam called crypto or BTC and crypto actually are good. But then why they try to destroy it?

Most of you probably know that the Blockchain of most PoW tokens are transparent. That enables anyone to see the transactions and more importantly the amount of Tokens connected to a certain address.

Some people see a security/privacy issue with that and I can understand why. I don’t necessarily want everybody to know how much Bitcoin or Litecoin for that matter I have stored or sending to different addresses.

Well in May of last year Litecoin actually got an update which addresses this exact problem. It’s called MimbleWimble and it basically added extension blocks kinda like a parallel Blockchain to the mainchain. Any transaction conducted within these blocks will conceal the addresses and amounts involved from everyone except those involved in the transaction, enabling users more transaction privacy than they could easily achieve on the main blockchain. Users can then move their litecoins out from the Extension Blocks and back onto the main chain to conduct transparent transactions again.

The cool thing is that this is completely optional. You can still just use the transparent mainchain but when you want to send a private transaction you have the ability to do so. Since Litecoin often acts as a testbed for new features (like the segwit upgrade in 2017) this may be something that could be implemented for Bitcoin in the future.

What’s your take on this? Do you prefer full transparency or the option of privacy?

April Fool's is around the corner and many of us are about to get screwed by "funny" and "innocent" posts on social media.

Tomorrow you will see tons of misinformation. Some will look too good to be true, others will be very much realistic. Seeing an amazing announcement from well established projects would simply trigger FOMO, exactly like it happened a year ago with KAVA:

https://preview.redd.it/7ovbtk86n4ra1.png?width=976&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=57b0cac7d7ee733d507e46d71fdf772ebc5ea5df

As result someone just gets to excited to make a life changing money and goes all in:

​

https://preview.redd.it/27bb7iuin4ra1.png?width=687&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=edbaf10549f54cb4cb2f6c58122f9a4a6a7d1143

Be careful out there tomorrow!

P.S. BTW there was a community poll to ban April Fool's jokes. Here's the thread in case you missed it.

My earliest memories about crypto happen in stretch back to March of 2013, when Bitcoin was hovering around $40-45. I vividly remember sitting at a restaurant and having a family friend tell us about how he bought 30 bitcoin for a little under $1200 at the time. I don't really think much about it. (if anyone's curious, I haven't heard him talk about it since)

Fast forward to December of 2017, still sitting on the sidelines as Bitcoin surpasses $19k. At this point, everyone is euphoric -- my interest peaks, but I know nothing.

Once everything died down again, I forgot about cryptocurrency for awhile, until my interest sparked again in right as the the COVID lockdowns began to start. At this point, I start researching -- learning about how to safely hold your own coins/tokens in a wallet, etc. I learn the basics.

Fast forward once again to February of 2021, after building a solid computer, I start mining Ethereum. This lasts for about a year, becomes a hobby, and finally I have my hands on some crypto.

At this point, it had been nearly 8 years since I first heard about cryptocurrency until I finally owned any. The funny thing is, to this day, I've only directly bought a couple hundred dollars in some alts. Roughly 95% of everything I own is either from mining or trading NFTs, lol.

Finally, what's your story? How did you end up where you are today? Were you ever a skeptic turned into a believer?

I know a lot of people on this sub have very strong opinions against buying crypto on PayPal. There are obvious reasons like high transaction and conversion fees and limited to BTC, ETH, LTC and Bitcoin cash. These are all good reasons as to why PayPal is not remotely the best place to invest your money. Plus you don't own anything you buy so cannot move it to a wallet or another exchange if you are not in US (you can only buy and sell).

When I started investing in Crypto, I had no idea where to start. Most people will tell you how volatile and risky it is and DYOR but the information out there can be confusing at the very least.

I decided to try paypal first for the peace of mind knowing if my account got hacked and I lost my invested money, paypal would refund this amount. I didn't intend to hodl at the time - just wanted to make a bit of money.

I only bought ETH and BTC and I had a good return on my investment - eventually sold and moved to an exchange after being on this sub and reading about "not your keys not your coins''

I never had a problem with PayPal - I know different people have had different experiences but mine was a positive one and would recommend for newbies who just want to test the Crypto waters.

So we just got the reveal taht Gen3 avatars are dropping in the week of april 10th. See this post for all info and a nice teaser: r/collectibleavatars post

Text in the post:
That’s right, GEN 3 is dropping the week of April 10th! Your vigor, your valiance, and now your vaults will be taken to another dimension with the third installment of creator made Collectible Avatars. You’ve seen some returning artists as well as some new ones pop up over the last week announcing their participation in GEN 3, and soon you’ll be able to see all their amazing work available for purchase in the Collectible Avatar Shop (which you will also notice is looking pretty fresh itself).

Keep your eyes peeled on r/CollectibleAvatars and stay hydrated, as we will continue to use this space to keep you up to date on the latest happenings!

​

So we finally, roughly, know 'wen' the drop is but who will participate?
Over on discord a guy by the name of u/AblePaleontologist0 has been doing frequent updates on the confirmed artists.

Confirmed Gen 3 Artists: New Appearances: u/OniCowboy, u/mantrakid, u/Pollila1, u/redhalftone, u/irishnftgal, u/eno7x, u/sabet76, u/chlorophilly, u/NatAltDesign, u/Qugmo, u/Dashikka, u/GywnnArts, u/hey_barry, u/phobox91, u/kristyglas, u/Saiyre-Art_Official, u/that_john_guy, u/Holiday_Claim_27, u/GlowyMushroom, u/kinnester, u/iamdeirdre, u/Hofmaurerad, u/tinymischiefs, u/artofmajon, u/Josh_Brandon, u/tomlabaff, u/prguitarman, u/olenenok_mua, u/dreamingcolors, u/abeekatie, u/Bogi_D, u/Holiday_Claim_27, u/Sahoara, u/renrenyt, u/backgroundprocessing, u/artofbrentos, u/mooninmasha, u/razbonix, u/-Tisar-, u/karonuke, u/Bumblebon, u/paulinka_k

Old Artists making a comeback: u/AliciaFreemanDesigns, u/TreasureOfOphiel, u/WorstTwitchEver (Chrono), u/bodegacatceo, u/GenuineArdvark, u/TheFattyBagz, u/Rojom, u/Substantial-Law-910 (Artisma), u/MrGrumble84, u/Oana193, u/Laura_Dumitriu, u/dubbl3bee, u/Conall-in-Space, u/StutterVoid, u/Canetoonist, u/ChipperdoodlesComic, u/AVIRENFT, u/RaunchyRancor (Dissmore Designs), u/BigGayBaby, u/puzzled__panther, u/fmarxy, u/Earthtoplanet, u/Sys32Template, u/BaldTuesdays, u/tirli

Current Confirmed Artist Count: 67

Note: One obvious name that is missing is Foust. He said he would announce something tomorrow but he might also be trolling since it's April 1st.

Second note: For more info on your vault and or collectible avatars check out this handy dandy reddithelp page

Did you know that March 31st is World Backup Day? Well, you know now!

I want you to imagine that something happened to your hardware wallet. Maybe a firmware update caused it to get wiped out. Maybe somebody found your hardware wallet and tried to guess your PIN, but after a few failed attempts, it wiped itself out. Or maybe they stole it. Maybe the device got damaged somehow & is unusable.

"No worries," you say. "I wrote down my seed."

Excellent! ...but are you sure it is where you think it is? Are you sure you didn't make a mistake when you wrote down your seed? Maybe one of your words is "armor" but you wrote down "army" instead.

Most people don't think about this kind of thing until something goes wrong, at which point it could be too late.

Today is the day to check!

I'm going to use a Ledger hardware wallet for this post because that's what I own, but the steps for any other wallet will be similar.

Step One: Confirm That Your Seed Phrase Is Secure.

Retrieve every copy of your seed to prove it is where you put it, and to prove that place is secure. For example, I have two copies of my seed: one is written on a piece of paper that's secured in a safe only I have access to, and the other is on a Crypto Steel type metal plate, which is in my safe deposit box. Today, over lunch, I dropped by the bank to check my safe deposit box. You should make time to check when you've stored your seed too. Make sure your seed is secure.

If your seed isn't where you thought you stored it, your coins are at risk and need to be moved to a new seed immediately.

Step Two: Confirm That Your Seed Is What's Written Down.

Unlock your Ledger hardware wallet with the PIN code for your seed, not the PIN for your seed+passphrase (if you use a passphrase). Using Ledger Live, add the Recovery Check app to your Ledger device and open it to confirm that the seed in your device IS what you think it is. This is easy and it won't take much time. Recovery Check will ask you to input your seed words into your Ledger hardware wallet and it will confirm that they match the seed already stored in your wallet.

If the seed in your Ledger hardware wallet doesn't match, it means the seed in your wallet isn't what you think it is. Unless you can figure out what mistake you made, your coins are at risk and need to be moved to a new seed immediately.

Step Three: Confirm That Your Passphrase Is Secure.

Get your passphrase from wherever you secured it, to prove it's there and to prove that it's safe. It's very important that your passphrase isn't secured with your seed phrase. If somebody finds your seed, they can't access your coins without your passphrase. If somebody finds your seed and passphrase, your coins are theirs for the taking. Don't store your passphrase with your seed words.

Note: A passphrase is not a password for your wallet. A passphrase is a different set of addresses and keys which cannot be accessed using your seed alone. You probably know this, but I'm mentioning it since so many people think a passphrase is a password for their wallet. It's not.

Seed = addresses and keys which anyone who has the seed words can access.

Seed & Passphrase = a different set of addresses and keys which can only be accessed using both the seed words and the passphrase.

Step Four: Confirm That Your Passphrase Is What's Written Down.

To confirm your passphrase was originally entered into your Ledger hardware wallet correctly, go into the Settings app on your Ledger hardware wallet and create a Temporary Passphrase. Enter the same passphrase you use with your wallet. If an account in Ledger Live which uses your passphrase will sync with this temporary passphrase, it means they're the same, which means you know the passphrase in your device IS what you think it is. It's good!

In Ledger Live, if the temporary passphrase won't sync with an account that uses your passphrase, it means the temporary passphrase doesn't match the passphrase you assigned a PIN in your Ledger hardware wallet. This also means your coins are at risk and need to be moved to a new wallet immediately.

My goal with this post isn't to scare you. My hope is that you fetched your seed and proved that it is perfectly secure. My hope is that you checked your seed words and passphrase in your Ledger hardware wallet and proved they are exactly what you think they are. If you did that, you know your security is in tip-top shape! With your seed and passphrase secure, if something bad happens to your hardware wallet, you have no worries.

TL;DR:

1: Confirm That Your Seed Phrase Is Secure.
...where is it, and is it safe?

2: Confirm That Your Seed Is What's Written Down.
...are you suuuure it's correct?

3: Confirm That Your Passphrase Is Secure. ...it's not stored with your seed, right?

4: Confirm That Your Passphrase Is What's Written Down. ...are you suuuuuuuuuuuuure it's correct?

I hope this helps you stay safe.

Satoshi Nakamoto conducted the first P2P Bitcoin transaction of 10 Bitcoins on 11th January 11 2009. The person who received this transaction was Hal Finney, a well known computer scientist and cryptographer. But possibly most of us may not know him.

Hal Finney also tweeted that he was running a Bitcoin node, making him the second person to run Bitcoin node other than Satoshi Nakamoto.

​

https://preview.redd.it/g450twfyd3ra1.jpg?width=815&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=7e16aa2c8aca0b4ab3ddbd7086feef8734a28858

The legendary quote that started it all

​

When Satoshi announced the first release of the software, I grabbed it right away. I think I was the first person besides Satoshi to run bitcoin. ~ Hal Finney

​

Hal Finney was the one behind the theory of Reusable Proof of Work which allows for Proof of Work tokens to be reused (Bitcoin), acting as a medium of exchange like money.

Unfortunately, later that year in 2009, he was diagnosed with ALS and Hal passed away 28th August 2014.

He will always be the part of Blockchain. May his soul rest in Peace.

If you have been stuck around for some time, there were absolute killers coins with game-changing use cases and concepts with quite successful adoption in their prime.

However, unfortunately they didn't make it.

It could be because of marketing, concept is way ahead of it's time, or its just simply not possible to do so , or devs have given up.

What are your fav almost dead coin ?

Almost dead : very low to non-existent trading volume and ranked at least 400th .

So that we can use the data to reflect on current popular coins to weight in.

It's been a while since I've been active on the cryptocurrency world, around a year to be exact. Life got in the way, but now I'm eager to reconnect with this beautiful community and catch up on all the latest news.

I'm asking you for a friendly summary of what's been happening in the crypto world during my absence, and also what important changes have been made to this subreddit in the last year.

Also, if one of you could write something like "wen lambo" or "this is the way" to help me remember the good old days, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you guys, peace

Elizabeth Warren is now officially running on a platform to cripple crypto, declaring that she’s “building an anti-crypto army”. The SEC is equally intent on dismantling crypto as we know it today. The Biden administration only last week declared that cryptocurrencies have no inherent value.

Imagine a scenario where the US government decides to ban all forms of cryptocurrency in the country. They pass a law that prohibits the use, possession, and transfer of any digital asset that is not issued or approved by the federal reserve. They also shut down all the exchanges, self-custody wallets, and node providers that operate in the US or serve US customers. They ban US banks from allowing people to send or receive money to or from crypto platforms. And they criminalize any on/off ramps from fiat currency to crypto.

In this scenario, the US would effectively cut off its citizens from the global crypto ecosystem. However, that does not mean that crypto would die. People from other parts of the world would still maintain the blockchains and process transactions. Crypto would still exist and function, but it would be much harder for Americans to access and use it.

So, what would you do if this happened? Would you stop using crypto altogether? Would you sell your coins and tokens before the ban takes effect? Would you move to another country where crypto is legal and accepted? Or would you find ways to circumvent the ban and continue using crypto?

If you choose the latter option, how would you go about it? How would you acquire and store your crypto without relying on exchanges or wallets? How would you send and receive crypto without exposing yourself to legal risks? How would you convert your crypto to fiat or vice versa without using on/off ramps?

These are some of the questions that I think are worth discussing in this hypothetical scenario because this determines if the US can ever practically and successfully implement a prohibition on crypto.

I’m sure you are all aware of the recent attacks on our beloved industry by various governments and regulators around the world. They are trying to stifle innovation, censor freedom, and control our money. They are afraid of crypto because it threatens their monopoly on power and wealth.

Here are some examples of how they are trying to kill crypto:

1. The US government is pushing for more regulation and taxation of crypto transactions, such as the infamous infrastructure bill that would impose reporting requirements on crypto brokers and miners.

2. The UK government is banning crypto derivatives and imposing strict KYC/AML rules on crypto exchanges, making it harder for ordinary people to access and use crypto.

3. The Chinese government is cracking down on crypto mining and trading, forcing many miners to relocate or shut down their operations.

4. The Indian government is planning to introduce a bill that would criminalize possession, issuance, mining, trading, and transferring of crypto assets.

5. The Turkish government is banning the use of crypto as a payment method and arresting people who are involved in crypto businesses.

These are just some of the examples of how the governments are waging war on crypto. They are using fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) to scare people away from crypto and to justify their actions.

They are spreading lies and misinformation about crypto to further their aims and those of their lobbyists.

Crypto is a tool for financial inclusion, empowerment, and freedom for billions of people around the world who are unbanked, underbanked, or oppressed by their governments. It’s a source of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship that fosters new business models, industries, and solutions for various problems. A store of value, a medium of exchange, and a unit of account that is decentralized, transparent, immutable, and censorship-resistant. And last but not least, it’s the only hope many people have to buy a home for themselves and their family, with inflation soaring through the roof and property at completely unobtainable prices.

We cannot let them destroy what we have built. We cannot let them take away our rights and liberties. We cannot let them dictate how we should live our lives.

We need to stand up for crypto. We need to educate ourselves and others about the benefits and potential of crypto. We need to support the projects and platforms that are advancing the crypto space. We need to vote with our wallets and use crypto as much as possible. We need to show them that we are not afraid and that we are a powerful group.

We are the crypto revolution. And we will not be stopped.

So, what are you doing to protect our community?

I could be totally wrong, but if i look at the rest of reddit many people seem to have issues with crypto. That they are all a scam, NFTs and cryptocurrencys are worthless, nobody uses them and many more similar arguments float around that i have seen, some of them are just blatantly wrong, obviously.

I was thinking, how could we do something to change that? Arguing was a BIG mistake i noticed, rational arguments seem to be lost on many people especially online.

Does anyone have experience in this? How to change peoples minds on things like cryptocurrencys so they understand there is more to them then snarky oneliners?

Thanks for any help and sorry for my english, it isnt my first language.

Who else has been seeing these lately? I have a friend on Instagram who now claims to have made $700k+ in less than a month from an initial investment of <$10k to this @_____forextrader2023 account (not going to share the actual name so I don't send more people into the scam).

I searched the sub and found a couple of similar situations, but this one is on a much bigger scale. The people who are shilling for the account are posting screenshots of profits in the 100's of thousands of dollars, as well as of luxury cars and purchased houses they've gotten from the profits.

Of course, accounts can just be hacked and be posting stolen/edited images, but the friend who shilled for them has also posted actual video content of themself since the shill posts started and replied to me when I messaged. I get the sense that this scam is more like a Ponzi scheme, where accounts with enough followers are actually paid out profits so that they can then lure their followers in with screenshots of lavish profits, then once enough followers send through thousands of dollars, the rug gets pulled and no one profits anymore - mentioned in this article.

Screenshot of a shill who 'made' CA$250,000 with help from this account

Screenshot of a paypal balance of $66k ostensibly from this accounts tips

Another shill who claims to have turned $900 into $10,000 after initially thinking it was a scam but now is a believer and wants others to follow - one of a few shills who claim that the scammer is an expert in Bitcoin mining

The biggest giveaway of course is that you can't be an expert in Bitcoin mining, you just need mining power, there's no magic trick to mining that can turn you a 10x profit in 4 hours... this is all absurd, but most of these shill accounts seem to not be hacked from what I can tell...

Do you think they are actually being paid fake profits to lure in the next layer of scam targets?

Would you take the risk and try to make a quick 10x before the rug pull?! :P