BITCOIN: OPSEC with your ₿itcoin holdings

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

https://blog.bitbox.swiss/en/dont-talk-about-your-bitcoin/?utm_source=brevo&utm_campaign=BitBoxNewsEN039&utm_medium=email

Bitcoin

Don’t talk about your bitcoin!

Why operational security and being mindful with whom you share information is an important aspect of Bitcoin security.

Sebastian

22 May 2025 • 6 min read

*** begin quote ***

Avoid bragging

Putting the altruistic idea of peer-to-peer cash aside, Bitcoin has been a great asset to own over the last few years when it comes to return on investment. Many have purchased their coins at significantly lower prices than we see today, and some may even consider themselves rich now – and that’s great!

However, this high financial success can also result in a need to share the story with family members, friends or even strangers. First and foremost, you should be aware of when this “desire to brag” comes up and stay on top of it. It may be perfectly fine to share the fact that you own bitcoin with a close friend, but it may be out-of-line to share how much bitcoin you own with a stranger in a café, where even more strangers might be listening in. Of course, this entirely depends on your personal situation and how you value your privacy at any given moment.

In any case, bragging about your wealth is rarely a good idea, especially in front of strangers. The main reason for this is how difficult it can be to accurately predict what the other person is gonna do with the information that, for example, you “own six figures in bitcoin”. They may forget it five minutes later, but they might also start to envy you, develop negative feelings – or in the worst case, come up with a plan on how to get a slice of the pie!

Even if you do want to tease your friends and family a bit with your “Bitcoin gains”, it’s probably better to do so in a private environment and without revealing too many specifics. This is not to say you shouldn’t trust anyone at all, but to be more aware of who you entrust with what information.

*** end quote ***

No one needs to know about your bitcoin holdings except the executor of your estate.

One of the more interesting USE CASEs of ₿ is the ability to transfer assets without the Gooferment involvement.  And, this is important even if you’re NOT in a Third World Country.  Here in the USA, the IRS wants you to report all capital gains.  Even in ₿!  They have coerced the various Crypto Exchanges to cooperate by rating you out to the IRS under KYC rules.

Remember not your keys; not your coins.  

AND

TRUST NO ONE, EVER.

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BITCOIN: Why does the USA want or need a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

Monday, March 17, 2025

https://manage.kmail-lists.com/subscriptions/web-view?a=RLfipm&c=01HZQZ7P4XRM5XQMEEP6TE2D8R&k=236623793f7051989702ab4333096b92&m=01JNS8CVYW45M6PSCAY7A9XXER&r=01JNSDHS6WQ76EWT97ZNJZBNPB

March 07, 2025 | Block Height 879,567
Bitcoin Price Live | Bitcoin Magazine Pro
Hey Bitcoiner!

Check out today’s top Bitcoin news stories:

BREAKING: 🇺🇸 President Trump signs executive order officially creating a #Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 The White House calls Bitcoin “digital gold” and says “there is a strategic advantage to being among the first nations to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.”

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 President Trump’s Crypto Czar David Sacks said “We’ve decided that Bitcoin is scarce, it’s valuable, and that is strategic for the United States to hold on to this as a long-term reserve asset.”

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 Coinbase CEO says, “I expect many of the G20 to follow” the USA in establishing Strategic #Bitcoin Reserve

# – # – # – # – # 

Dear Usual Suspects:

I’m not sure why the USA or any Gooferment need a “strategic bitcoin reserve” (SBR)? I know I’m only fat old white guy retired injineer who’s a poor old senior citizen on a fixed income and not an Ekky-non-o-mist. I can understand an “oil reserve” like Biden drained, a strategic uranium reserve, or hell even a wildlife preserve. But crypto? If you have any insight I’d appreciate you sharing. To me, since the number of bitcoins is fixed, it can’t be inflated like fiat currencies. And there are several (good imho) understandable use cases: international transfers, wealth carried in the form of a twelve word wallet, wealth preservation in face of inflation, distributed commerce that can’t b e prevented by any Gooferment, and my favorite avoiding / evading estate taxes (i.e., the keys just disappear like the Lost Dutchman’s Mine). None of these seem to fit a Gooferment purpose.  

All an SBR will do is further restrict the supply of bitcoins available in the free market which will drive up the price. Since a bitcoin is infinitely divisible into smaller quantities it really doesn’t affect any of the use cases mentioned. And, unlike a gold or silver coin, you don’t have the problem of “making change” for a purchase.

Of all the Gooferment boondoggles of waste, fraud, and abuse, this seems the least harmful. After all, it won’t disappear like the gold in Fort Knox. Gotta love that indelible blockchain.

Anyway, I just thought I’d share some thoughts and see what anyone else thinks. Even if they really don’t care.

Remember “not your key; not your coin”!

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BITCOIN: What will ₿ be worth in 2140?

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Annual inflation over this period was 3.94%. 1971 – 2023 https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=1&year=1971 

₿itcoin’s fixed limit will insure it’s value against any fiat currency. The maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins will be reached around the year 2140. What will it be worth then? 10k$, 100k$, 1M$?

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BITCOIN: Blackrock entering Crypto means ₿ is going mainstream in the financial markets

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/14cf6mo/why_is_blackrock_entering_crypto_a_huge_deal_that/

Subreddit Icon r/CryptoCurrency •Posted by u/Zein313 Tin | SHIB 11

Why is Blackrock entering Crypto, a HUGE deal that shouldn’t be disregarded.

*** begin quote ***

BlackRock, the world’s largest and strongest asset manager with over $8 trillion in assets under management, has officially entered the crypto market in 2023. They have filed for a Bitcoin Fund and are probably buying the dip big time right now.

*** and ***

TLDR: BlackRock’s entry into the crypto market is a game-changer for the industry. It’s a clear sign that digital assets are here to stay and are poised for mainstream adoption. With more institutional investment, professionalization, and regulation on the horizon, the crypto market is about to get a lot more exciting.

*** end quote ***

This is good and bad.  They are the huge elephant in the room capable of making and manipulating the market.

And since “regulatory capture” is the rule un the USA Gooferment, don’t expect any “fairness” or “justice”.

Just look at the manipulation of commodity money metals and be warned.

I’d treat the “Market Price” of ₿ as possibly over or under stated as it suits Blackrock’s needs.

DCA of small savings regularly is the only way we have to address that.

When the lid blows of fiat currencies, then expect ₿ to explode.  Remember that fellow who bought tow pizzas for some bitcoins?  Don’t be that fellow.

Sigh!

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BITCOIN: ALT COINS are OT ₿ and rug-pulls are to be expected

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/05/22/bitcoin-pizza-day-turns-sour-as-meme-coin-shysters-profit-over-200k-in-rug-pulls/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=feedly&utm_campaign=headlines

Finance

Bitcoin Pizza Day Turns Sour as Meme Coin Shysters Profit Over $200K in Rug Pulls

  • Meme coin traders poured capital into several pizza-related tokens on Monday as rug pulls put a dampener on the anniversary of the first purchase made with bitcoin.

By Oliver Knight  — May 22, 2023 at 11:24 a.m. EDT

*** begin quote ***

Bitcoin Pizza Day has taken a negative turn, with meme coin issuers profiting over $200,000 from pizza-related rug pulls on the 13th anniversary of what’s thought to be the first commercial bitcoin transaction.

According to data from dextool’s “live new pairs” section, there has been 14 pizza-related meme coins issued in the past 24 hours. Four have been confirmed as rug pulls, or schemes in which money is stolen from investors through any of a number of techniques. And at least five others are suspected of being so-called honey pots, in which an asset can be sold only to the contract creator, and purchasers are left holding tokens they can’t get rid of.

Bitcoin Pizza Day is marked on May 22. It dates back to 2010, when computer developer Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoin.

*** end quote ***

Hard to imagine that these sheep don’t get shorn.

And imagine paying for two pizzas with 10,000 bitcoins.  Unimaginable lack of foresight!

HODL.

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BITCOIN: Bulgaria’s Golden Ticket = Seized Bitcoin

Saturday, April 29, 2023

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/the-future-for-bulgaria-seized-bitcoin?utm_source=Bitcoin%20Magazine&utm_campaign=67e3e40384-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_24_09_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f7d45fbb67-67e3e40384-357073741&mc_cid=67e3e40384

A Seized Bitcoin Stack Could Be Bulgaria’s Golden Ticket

  • After seizing 213,000 bitcoin in 2017, Bulgaria now has an opportunity to become one of the wealthiest countries on earth.

Ahmed Botan  —  Apr 24, 2023

*** begin quote ***

The reason for this is its possession of 213,000 bitcoin, which its authorities seized from a group they labeled as criminals in 2017. According to the South East European Law Enforcement Center (SELC), the group hacked the Bulgarian customs agency’s computers and made changes to the system so that their partner companies could import goods while avoiding paying taxes on them.

Immediately following the crackdown, the bitcoin seized was worth about $500,000, however, it would now be worth closer to $6 billion dollars, as of April 2023. While the details around the BTC seizure are unclear, and it is not totally clear whether the country still holds that bitcoin or what it plans to do with the stack if it does, the potential of a nation like Bulgaria holding this much BTC is worth exploring.

*** end quote ***

Well, one can only hope they held on to it.  That’s a neat nest egg for the people and Taxpayers of Bulgaria.

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BITCOIN: What is really fake money?

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

FROM BITCOIN MAGAZINE

Fakemoney

# – # – # – # – # 

Many a true word is said in a joke.

Here we have an interesting meme about what really is fake money!

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BITCOIN: If Walmart is not allowed to be a “bank”; then maybe it can be a “miner – fuds transfer agent – broker” all rolled into one?

Friday, April 14, 2023

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/what-happens-when-walmart-buys-1-billion-of-bitcoin

What Happens When Walmart Buys $1 Billion Of Bitcoin?

  • Though no purchase has been announced, Walmart’s inevitable allocation to bitcoin will jump start a ripple of hyperbitcoinization.

Clancy Rodgers  —   Mar 29, 2021

*** begin quote ***

MicroStrategy, Square and Coinbase are multimillion-dollar companies traded on NASDAQ with big bitcoin bags, but the everyday American could care less. Ask your average Joe how he feels about Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy purchasing of 91,326 bitcoins and you’ll probably get a “What is Bitcorn?” and “Michael who?”

Walmart, on the other hand, is a different story because it’s the epitome of working class America. Built off the back of America’s mom and pop, it is now the world’s largest company by revenue raking in $548 billion in 2020. When Walmart adds $1 billion of bitcoin to its balance sheet, you’ll have that same average Joe’s full attention. It will create the ultimate exposure for Bitcoin to blue collar Americans and trigger a global monetary paradigm shift that is long overdue.

As Walmart’s tentacles reach into 24 countries, a Bitcoin tidal wave will blast through its world of ecommerce and brick-and-mortar retail operations. Walmart sources products from more than 100 countries, bringing globalization to Middle America. Instead of having to deal with complex currency conversions with global suppliers, Walmart will accept bitcoin, which will negate the headache of dealing with dozens of fiat currencies. This will simplify accounting and streamline operations. With no middleman bankers pirating off of transactions, the only thing separating Walmart from its global partners will be oceans (if the miners don’t boil them first).

*** end quote ***

I see this as a great SET of “use cases” for WalMart.  

Remember: Wal-Mart Stores abruptly abandoned those plans for its own bank, withdrawing its application to obtain a special banking charter after a firestorm of criticism from lawmakers, banking industry officials and watchdog groups.Mar 17, 2007.

I’m sure that the Banking Industrial Complex used all their political power to block this 800# elephant from entering the competitive area.   Probably more than the BIC (Banking Industrial Complex), everyone else with a vest interest piled on.  What would Wall Street, Credit Unions, Western Union (and all the other funds transfer agencies), Amazon, Target, and the grifter politicians and bureaucrats do if WalMart literally swept up all the unbanked and all the little people’s bank accounts.  Profit margins if any would be cut to zero as WalMart ties in its  bank with its stores.

So now imagine that WalMart adopts bitcoin and see its use cases: (1) funds transfer from its international subsidiaries become cost free; (2) pay suppliers with bitcoin (free and fast); (3) Buy and sell bitcoins for U$D (dollars) globally; (4) avoid all sorts of onerous financial regulations, taxes, and fees.  

It would be a real hoot to see all the politicians and bureaucrats around the globe running around with their hair on fire.

And, in addition to a big win for WalMart, the little people all over the world could avoid the hidden taxation of earnings and savings that fiat currencies enable.

I’d love it.

—30—

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BITCOIN: Nigeria is an exemplarfor what could happen here

Saturday, February 11, 2023

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/bitcoin-can-help-nigeria-fight-for-money?utm_source=Bitcoin%20Magazine&utm_campaign=60be7f380b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_02_08_06_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f7d45fbb67-60be7f380b-357073741&mc_cid=60be7f380b&mc_eid=386b7b0895

Nigerians Are Fighting For Their Own Money And Bitcoin Can Help

  • As Nigerians have been cut off from access to their own money amid a banknote redesign, Bitcoin is the best chance to reinvent the system.

Ray Youssef  —     Feb 7, 2023

*** begin quote ***

This is an opinion editorial by Ray Youssef, a founder and CEO of Paxful and a founder of the Built With Bitcoin Foundation.

Imagine standing in endless lines, fighting to get ahold of your own money. Read that again and try to make sense of it. This is life for millions of Nigerians right now, who face a redesign of their banknotes, the naira, which means old naira bank notes will be useless after February 10. This is a problem because while Nigeria hopes to move closer to a digital-cash economy, the country is still heavily cash dependent. The policy is causing a flood of people at bank offices and ATMs, desperate to swap their old bank notes for the new redesign.

Adding fuel to the fire, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has imposed a weekly cash withdrawal limit which, as of January 9, was 500,000 naira for individuals (around $1,087) and 5,000,000 naira (around $10,087) for organizations. While these weekly limits already seem insane, the actual amount Nigerians can pull out depends on what’s available at each location.

What’s Unfolding On The Ground In Nigeria

My team in Nigeria is witnessing all-day queues — with many people walking away empty handed. Some bank offices and ATMs do not even have cash to dispense. Nigerians are bringing mattresses to ATMs and others are arriving at ATMs at 4:00 a.m. to be 115th in line for when they open at 8:00 a.m. Scarcity is an even bigger issue in some rural areas and individuals have not been able to access any new notes. I’m hearing that, after returning the old notes to the banks through their kids or agents because most are unbanked, they are unable to get new notes. This puts a halt to their day-to-day transactions and livelihoods. And for the individuals who are able to get naira, point-of-sale (PoS) transaction charges skyrocketed by 400% in most cities across the country. This is causing a lot of fear as inflation is already over 20% and Nigerians are struggling to keep up with the cost of living. 

*** end quote ***

While inflation in the USA is not near as bad as in Nigeria, it’s still bad if you’re on a fixed income, a wage slave, or just trying to get by.

Unlike fiat currency, ₿ bitcoin has a mathematical enforced scarcity.  While probably not a good as bullion, it is transportable with the memorized word list.  

And it frees you from Gooferment and its clutches.

Forewarned is forearmed!

—30—

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BITCOIN: Try and wrap your head around this paradigm shift.

Thursday, December 22, 2022

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/print/stage-is-set-for-bitcoin-to-replace-fiat?utm_source=Bitcoin+Magazine&utm_campaign=31a110c8e6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_12_16_08_04&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f7d45fbb67-31a110c8e6-357073741&mc_cid=31a110c8e6&mc_eid=386b7b0895

The Stage Is Now Set: Bitcoin Will Replace Fiat. 

  • Bitcoin represents an unprecedented paradigm shift, and while the world may not be ready to replace fiat, that change is inevitable.

Beautyon
Dec 15, 2022

*** begin quote ***

Bitcoin, which will transform the way you transfer money, needs to be understood on its own terms, and not just as an online form of money. Thinking about bitcoin as money is as absurd as thinking about email as another form of sending letters by post; one not only replaces the other but it profoundly changes the way people send and consume messages. It is not a simple substitution or one-dimensional improvement of an existing idea or service.

*** end quote ***

This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. — Morpheus in the Matrix (1999)

In this case, it’s the “orange pill”.

I wrote about how “job search” changed in the 80’s from the “gold watch” to “everyone is an entrepreneur”.  I used to say there was no K-Mart Blue Light announcing that there was a “special” in Aisle 7.  There was now announcement that the rules of employment had changed.  But they had and those that failed to adapt were left flopping on the beach like soon to be dead fish when the tide went out.

This “orange pill” tell a similar tale.  The Financial “rules of the game” are changing silently

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BITCOIN: Fiat money kills incentives and distorts the true cost of Gooferment

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/fiat-money-ruins-civilization?utm_source=Bitcoin+Magazine&utm_campaign=df4a8e47fa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_11_28_08_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f7d45fbb67-df4a8e47fa-357073741&mc_cid=df4a8e47fa&mc_eid=386b7b0895

Bitcoin Songsheet: How Fiat Money Ruins Civilization
Fiat money leads to a degradation of incentives, creating a society motivated only by the consumption of resources and zero value production.

Jimmy Song
Nov 17, 2022

*** begin quote ***

When the government can print money, the people that benefit the most are the people that get access to that money first. This is called the Cantillon Effect and it’s the reason why rich people get richer without adding much, if anything. So how does the government determine who gets access to the money? As with everything government related, decisions on who gets what money is determined through politics. And when the money printer is political, everything else becomes political. Politics is a cancer that spreads through the entire market.

*** end quote ***

Fiat money allows the Gooferment to escape any fiscal control.

Worse than that it acts as a hidden tax on all the money in circulation.  Savings silently erode away.

Think “penny candy” and then pickup your pitchforks and torches to destroy the FED.  

The Federal Reserve Bank is a misnomer. IT ain’t “federal”. It reserves nothing. And, it ain’t a “bank”. It is a private cartel of the elite banks run for their benefit and that of the entrenched politicians.

#endthefed

—30—

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BITCOIN: Several communities are finding value in bitcoin — transmittal, micropayments, and inflation protection

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

https://block.xyz/2022/btc-report.pdf?utm_source=Bitcoin+Magazine&utm_campaign=a3ccca7c58-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f7d45fbb67-a3ccca7c58-357073741&mc_cid=a3ccca7c58&mc_eid=386b7b0895

Block Inc. Survey Addresses Misconceptions About Bitcoin: Report
By Shawn Amick

*** begin quote ***

Block, a Bitcoin-oriented financial services firm previously known as Square, just released Bitcoin: Knowledge and Perception, a report detailing a survey of 9,500 participants conducted through a partnership with Wakefield Research to address common misconceptions about bitcoin.

Throughout the questionary, some interesting insights were shared such as:

  • 88% of the respondents are aware of Bitcoin.
  • 73% of no-coiners who know a bitcoiner, are likely to buy bitcoin.
  • The percentage of people optimistic about bitcoin’s future is slightly higher for high-income individuals.
  • Asia has the highest optimism in bitcoin’s future.
  • Adoption is significantly higher on countries with high inflation.
  • 51% of the people not buying it, don’t know enough about it.

There is definitely an area of opportunity in improving education to gain further adoption.

*** end quote ***

IMHO as a gun owning pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, bitcoin is a way to bring “financial” liberty to “We, The Sheeple”.

As soon as all the bitcoins are mined, it should be an ever increasing in value “commodity”.  The genius part is the fixed supply. Gooferment can’t “inflate” it.

I hope we see more competition with the fiat monies of the world (i.e., it is worth what I say it’s worth because I say so).

Argh!

—30—

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BITCOIN: Bitcoi … … makes sanctions quite ineffective

Sunday, April 10, 2022

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/russia-sanctions-bitcoin-conundrum?utm_source=Bitcoin+Magazine&utm_campaign=993d277006-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f7d45fbb67-993d277006-357073741&mc_cid=993d277006&mc_eid=386b7b0895

SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA POSE A CONUNDRUM FOR BITCOIN
Bitcoin is a free and open monetary network, accessible by anyone — which makes sanctions quite ineffective.
DOMINIC COLLARD
MAR 31, 2022

  • This is a guest post by Dominic Collard. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

*** begin quote ***
 
Almost half of Russia’s $630 billion reserves have been seized by foreign governments since the invasion of Ukraine. It was relatively easy to do given modern financial infrastructure.

The mainstream temptation is to react favorably to this move. Russia will be poorer and so less able to fund its war. The baddies lose, the goodies win.

*** and ***

The Bitcoin community risks confirmation bias by not thinking through the full implications. It would be naive to think there is only upside. They say Bitcoin changes people; that it is “F-you money” and with it you are no longer beholden to anyone. But what if the person, or the government, with bitcoin needs to be held down. What then?

*** end quote ***

Maybe I’ve become to cynical of all the politicians and bureaucrats.  I wouldn’t assign labels of “baddies” or “goodies” to anyone.  Just a lot of gray.

That being said, I think — as the Canadian Truckers demonstrated — “We, The Sheeple” should be more afraid of “our” Gooferment than some one a great distance away.

“Would you tell me please, Mr. Howard, why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? An elected legislature can trample a man’s rights as easily as a king can.” Mel Gibson as the character Benjamin Martin in the movie The Patriot http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187393/quotes

“Think locally; act locally.” — BrionMcClanahan (where I first heard it)

—30—

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