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Cryptocurrency: Decentralized Law and the Crypto Sovereign
by grarpamp 28 Oct '22

28 Oct '22

https://decentralizedlegalsystem.com/ https://decentralizedlegalsystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/The-Decentr… Whitepaper In 2017, the world saw a dramatic increase in the use of Crypto-Currencies. Aside from their original use case for borderless transactions, a number of “decentralized” projects emerged focusing on the legal world. These projects can be divided into four main categories: Smart Contracts, Decentralized Jurisdictions, Decentralized Arbitration and Decentralized Companies. The main observation in this Whitepaper is that almost all of these projects lack a Legal Framework and therefore have little “force” in the real world. To resolve this issue, this paper presents the Decentralized Legal System, the first enforceable Legal Framework for Decentralized Legal Applications. In addition, this paper proposes an open source process for creating Decentralized Law, and envisions a world governed by Decentralized Law. Summary of Chapters Chapter one explains that law and justice are somewhat fluid concepts and that their meaning changes over time. Law was first thought to be universal and imposed by a Creator. During the enlightenment era, the idea that rulers/governments alone impose law became more dominant. A number of developments however – both in theory and in practice – demonstrate that law making isn’t the sole domain of governments. This is especially apparent when we consider international and private law. The conclusion is that the law allows for decentralized innovation. Chapter two explains what Decentralized Systems are. The origins, workings and use cases of Crypto-Currencies are described in detail, as well as the process that resulted in the development of Decentralized Legal Applications. Chapter three discusses the legality of four specific categories of Decentralized Legal Applications: Smart Contracts have a wide range of possible applications. Their binary outcomes however restrict their use in the more fluid legal world. They should firstly be considered as technological innovations usable for relatively simple and repetitive tasks. Although they can be used in more complex situations, they need to be supplemented by a Human Language Contract and a Legal Framework. Decentralized Jurisdictions. Like many other aspects of our Legal System, the concept of jurisdiction relies on physical locations in the real world. By nature, a Decentralized System isn’t tied to a physical location. The only option left is to create jurisdictions by consensus. Decentralized Arbitration, as currently proposed, lacks a Legal Framework and force in the legal world. However, an enforceable framework for International Arbitration already exists and can be used for Decentralized Legal Applications. Decentralized Companies. Legal personality is essential to own property, engage in contracts or limit liability. Decentralized Corporations lack the Legal Framework needed to obtain legal personality. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DOA’s) do not remotely resemble legal persons. Both can therefore not be expected to perform many of the functions regularly attributed to them. Chapter four summarizes the differences between the Crypto-Space and the Law. Legal Systems are based on ideas and best practices dating back thousands of years. They are subject to changing opinions and ideologies. Their definitions are debated and their outcomes are uncertain. Decentralized Technologies on the other hand, are based on hard sciences like mathematics and cryptography. These systems are both transparent and open source, and result in predictable outcomes. This discrepancy cannot be fixed by technological developments alone. Furthermore, it is noted that many legal issues discussed in the Crypto-Space are in fact not new and that the law already provides a lot of room for innovation and bottom-up law creation. Moreover, decentralization appears to be a logical continuation of a the centuries-old process of dismantling power structures in favor of individual rights. Chapter five presents Decentralized Legal Frameworks for the four categories of Decentralized Legal Applications mentioned in chapter two. Firstly, it proposes the creation of jurisdictions by consensus: so called Consensus Jurisdictions. It then explains a simple method for merging Decentralized Arbitration with existing International Arbitration frameworks. A Smart Contract Block is presented as a simple solution for merging Smart Contracts, Human Language Contracts and a Legal Framework. It continues by proposing two ways to register Decentralized Corporations so they can be recognized as legal entities. Chapter six presents the Decentralized Legal System; a system not enforced by an individual or elite group of powerful individuals organized in a government, but accepted by a public and open source process. A system that exists in cyberspace, but has force in the real world. This framework can govern all four types of Legal Applications. Next, an open source process for developing decentralized governing laws is presented that is similar to Bitcoin Improvement Proposals. Four methods for publication and acceptance of Decentralized Law are then discussed after that. A Legal Wiki is presented as the ideal technology for publishing Decentralized Law, along with a rule-based algorithm for making amendments and keeping laws simple and understandable. Chapter seven explains how Decentralized Law could govern the interaction of large groups people. The concept of Legal Reflexivity is introduced to explain how Decentralized Law could become an important foundation for Centralized Law. Finally, the idea of a world run by Decentralized Law is explored. Goal The Decentralized Legal System merges revolutionary Decentralized Technologies with the tried and tested Legal System developed by trial and error over the last two millennia. It is in fact a workable new system grounded in the best of both worlds. This paper explains important concepts of law, and what Decentralized Systems and Decentralized Legal Applications are. The Decentralized Legal System is just a logical conclusion. The Decentralized Legal System allows people to freely collaborate with the backing of an enforceable Legal Framework. This system is completely private and voluntary. It is the hope of the author that the theories discussed in this paper will be used as a framework for decentralized projects in the near future, and progress into other realms of governance as well. After the decentralization of money, the world is now ready for decentralizing law. A number of important observations are included on the shortcomings of current Decentralized Legal Applications. Frameworks are suggested for their improvement. This should provide guidance for those working on the hundreds of projects in this area. Limitations This Whitepaper is purely theoretical. The goal is to help the Crypto-Community. This is not an ICO. The ideas set forth in this paper will hopefully result in practical solutions and real-world applications. Included are observations that could be considered critical towards current developments and beliefs in the Crypto-Community. This paper is not in any way a call to restrict decentralized developments by clinging on to what is “legal.” New technological developments will always be trailed by governing laws for the same reason that the car was created before a driver’s license was needed. This paper thus aims to explore the areas were Decentralized Law could flourish in short notice. Many in the Crypto-Community are somewhat anarchistic in nature and reject the current Legal System with the idea of building something new. But when you reject the Legal System, you also reject its protection. This Whitepaper acknowledges the existing legal structure and its dependence on both governments and physical locations. However, like all other Decentralized Systems, it has the potential for innovation and disruption. This paper is extensive, in some cases elaborating on basic concepts of either the law or Blockchain. This ensures that people with a legal background and those coming from the Crypto-Community, as well as the general public, are able to understand this paper. What is Decentralized Law? This article answers the question: what is Decentralized Law. This is a summary of twelve lessons on Decentralized Law. By the time you finished this article, you have a deep understanding of our legal system, where most current projects go wrong, and how private decentralized legal systems can be created with power in the real world. This is not just theory. This system is practical, and can be implemented right away. This project is unique because it merges the current legal world with the decentralized one. This has not been done before in this way. Keep reading if you are interested in how private law systems can be created—it is actually simple. This article summarizes the main relevant building blocks. For more details and footnotes, there is a link to each individual lesson. This article is divided into three parts: Part I – The Existing Legal System Part II – Decentralized Legal Applications Part III – Decentralized Legal Frameworks and Governing Laws Part I – The Existing Legal System Who Creates Our Laws? Most people would answer: the government. Obviously, this answer is true. But this is not the entire picture… There are four sources for the laws governing our lives. These are the following: Natural Law Governments (Positive Law) International Organizations (International Law) Private Law Once we understand how these four sources create law, we understand what Decentralized Law can and can’t do. Decentralized Law Source Overview Natural Law – Laws of Nature and God Natural law (Latin: ius naturale, lex naturalis) is a philosophy asserting that certain rights are inherent to human nature. These laws are endowed by nature (or God) and can be understood and observed through human reason. Natural law is implied to be universal—the same for everyone on earth. It exists independently of government, legislature or society at large. In a sense, natural law is fully decentralized. In the Middle Ages, the Catholic philosopher Thomas Aquinas revived natural law, and over the years this led to an increasing popularity of the idea of natural laws and natural (human) rights. This let to widely influential legal documents. The most famous examples? The United States’ Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although the study and influence of natural law are interesting, it doesn’t offer a simple or practical roadmap to Decentralized Law. Positive Law – Law by Government During the era of enlightenment, natural law was challenged. Some argued that humans alone constructed laws and that they were enforced by the government. This became known as Legal Positivism. Early Legal Positivists in the 19th century argued that law merely reflects relations of power and obedience between a sovereign and its subjects. As of today, the idea that national governments make laws is hardly ever challenged. It is unlikely that governments will give up their law-making powers. Nor is there need for this. The following two sections reveal that an erosion of the power of governments is already underway, and that there is still enough freedom for individuals to start creating their own laws. If you want to know more about the four sources of law, make sure to visit Lesson 1 – Who can Create Law. International Law Early forms of international law were mainly to regulate the interactions between nations at war. Over the years, developments like international trade, economic cooperation, wars and subsequent peace treaties, and many multinational governing bodies have led to what is known as international law. International law describes the body of rules and principles that determine the rights and duties of states, primarily in respect of their dealings with other states and the citizens of other states. It also determines what a state is and within what geographical territory they exist. How is International Law created? No central authority exists to enforce international law. There is no constitution and no world government that creates it. There are three ways of creating international law: A) International conventions and Agreements. B) International custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law. C) The general principles of law recognized by civilized nations. The first method is straightforward; States sign treaties with one or multiple other states. This creates a body of law that governs their interactions. However, the second and third methods involve the words “accepted” and “recognized” respectively. This implies that international law is accepted over time due to consensus. There are a lot of famous organizations that create international law, such as the United Nations and the European Union. And there are other organizations that focus on specific areas of economic cooperation, including the World Trade Organization and the International Maritime Organization. Hard Laws vs Soft Laws The majority of international organizations, such as the OECD, generally only create rules that are qualified as “soft laws.” Soft laws are rules that do not have any legally binding force, or whose binding force is weaker than the binding force of traditional national laws. The latter are often referred to as “hard laws.” In order for soft laws to have effect, States must implement them in domestic laws or treaties to become hard laws. They usually do so without delay. International Law vs Private Affairs The influence of international law is increasing with every treaty. And there are developments in the creation, enforcement and reach of international law that influence the crypto-space. This becomes clear when we look at the actions of the OECD and FATF. These organizations are responsible for legislation known as KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti Money Laundering). Their policies are implemented around the world almost universally. As a result, multinational organizations now regulate (and in many cases restrict) the interaction between individuals and private organizations. These developments alter the basic concept of international law because they are neither based on treaties, nor acceptance. No, they are enforced in a top-down fashion. Moreover, they expand the scope of international law by getting involved in the rights and duties of private parties. International law = Decentralized One could argue that international law is already decentralized. It requires no central authority to be effective. This also means that it, for the most part, is followed voluntarily. This leads to an important conclusion: There is no need for the involvement of national governments to create law. Once a piece of legislation or a practice becomes accepted and recognized, it eventually becomes part of international law, one of the highest and most influential forms of law in existence. Given that a group of unelected bureaucrats can create worldwide-accepted regulations why can’t the crypto-community do the same? This question is answered in the next section. If you want to learn more about international law, and how it works, make sure to visit Lesson 2 0 – How is International Law Created? How Private Parties Can Create Law The Romans first created the distinction between Public Law—governing the relationship between individuals and the State—and Private Law—governing relationships between individuals. Private law deals with such aspects of relationships between individuals that are of no direct concern to the state. There is a variety of areas where private individuals and organizations create their own laws to govern their actions. Examples are copy-right laws, Lex Mercatoria (a private legal system for international trade), and globally active sports organizations such as the FIFA. Private Law by Contract Besides these broad forms of widely followed laws, there is a more exclusive form of private law: law by contract. There is a lot of freedom to engage in contracts, they offer flexibility in determining the governing laws, and they are enforceable around the world, especially when subjected to arbitration. International arbitration Arbitration is a private court system for resolving disputes. Parties who arbitrate have decided to resolve their disputes outside any traditional judicial system. In most instances, arbitration delivers a final and binding decision, producing an award that is enforceable in a national court. An arbitration agreement creates a unique body of private law. Those involved consent to be subjected to this body of law by signing the agreement. They can choose those who rules on any dispute, and they can even choose their own governing laws. And thanks to the New York Convention (1958), arbitration awards are enforceable in almost any country in the world. Building block of Decentralized Law There is absolutely no reasons why the community should wait for the government to come up with legislation. Private law already streamlines the interactions of (large) groups of individuals around the world. Moreover, forms of private governing laws already exist, and private court systems are created by contract. The use of decentralized private law is limited to what isn’t regulated, but this still leaves massive areas open to disruption and innovation. Private law (by contract) forms the ideal building block for Decentralized Law. If you are interested in Private Law, make sure to visit Lesson 3 – How Private Parties can Create Law. Part II – Decentralized Legal Applications Decentralized Legal Applications The invention of Bitcoin revolutionized the idea of digital money. But innovation didn’t stop there. A number of people saw use for these technologies in other areas―including in the area of law. Not Just Money Bitcoin is not a like a traditional currency that is sent from one account to another. In fact, Bitcoins always “sit” on the blockchain. What changes hands is the ability to spend them based on their unique access keys. Moreover, the execution of a Bitcoin payment happens based on a script. This script can be programmed. Due to this fact, systems can be created that spend currency not based on human actions, but on computer code. This allows for systems to be built that can make transactions automatically without a central server, system supervisors, or security systems. There are endless applications for this; self executing (smart) contracts, token systems used for crowd-funding, arbitration systems, financial contracts, and even new systems of governance. Four Main Decentralized Legal Apps As far as legal projects are concerned, they can be divided into four main categories: Decentralized jurisdictions Decentralized arbitration Smart contracts Decentralized companies Below, each development is covered in detail. Problems when Merging Decentralized Systems and Law Two categories of thinking errors persists with those creating applications: Differences between law and technology aren’t understood Absence of a legal framework Differences between Law and Technology Legal systems are based on ideas and best practices dating thousands of years. They are subject to ever-changing opinions and ideologies. Their outcomes and definitions are uncertain. Legal systems evolve slowly in a non-linear fashion over time and their development and workings are not transparent. Decentralized technologies are based on hard science, mathematics and cryptography. They are formed by peer-to-peer networks and run by consensus. They provide a cryptographically secure framework that can be trusted to provide a predictable binary outcome. The systems and their development are transparent, open source and can be inspected by anyone. We must acknowledge that the development of a legal system is not the same as the development of a technology. One cannot just create a piece of code an expect the legal world to adjust to it. Bridges have to be built. A Legal Framework One essential question for any legal system is: which laws govern the interactions with the system. As fundamental a question as it is, research for this projects showed that most projects simply ignore it. As a result, certain projects aim at creating new countries without defining what a country is. Others wish to create a new type of corporation but fail to understand that it is the establishment of a new person. Arbitration systems arise without governing laws or means to enforce rulings. Smart contracts are signed that aren’t binding or enforceable. In short, the vast majority of these projects lack a legal framework. What is a Legal Framework? A legal framework is a broad system of rules that governs and regulates decision making, agreements, and laws. It acts as a top-level umbrella, governing all beneath it. A more specific example would be the laws applicable when starting a business in Dubai. The main applicable legal framework is the UAE federal law no.2 on Commercial Companies. However, this law delegates some of it’s control to specific free zones. Free zones in Dubai are free to create their own laws regarding companies acting within the free zone (outside the free zones the federal law applies). The individual free zone companies in turn then sign a memorandum and articles of association (M&A) that govern the company. This framework looks like this: What is a Decentralized Legal Framework If you wish to learn about the different decentralized apps, and how they differ from the law, check out Lesson 4 on Decentralized Legal Apps Consensus Jurisdictions The concept of jurisdiction is important. After all, how does a system that only exists in cyberspace relate to the real world? “Jurisdiction” can have two meanings: the authority of a court to rule on a specific case, and the territory in which this authority is limited. Nowadays, it is States that have the right to enforce their laws and punish for non-compliance. The usual concept of jurisdiction in our legal system is tied to physical locations. This must be acknowledged when we want Decentralized Law to have any meaning in the real world. Luckily, there is a third form of jurisdiction that does not involve a territory; a court can have jurisdiction by consent (or contract). Consensus Jurisdictions We already saw in the section on arbitration that contracts can create a private body of law that binds the contracting parties. The question now is, why should there be a limit to the amount of people that sign a contract? Technology exists for a collective to sign a contract as if accepting the terms and conditions page of any website. This way, a jurisdiction by consensus can be created, where the participants have agreed to cooperate under a certain set of rules. Consensus Jurisdiction Enforcement If needed, such a system could even be enforced in the real world. After all, a framework for enforcing private contracts already exists: the New York Convention. Subjecting a Consensus Jurisdiction to this framework is surprisingly simple; it is just a matter of adding a clause to the Consensus Contract explaining that any disputes arising under it are subject to arbitration and said framework. The jurisdiction that arbitrators would have is restricted to whatever has been agreed upon. In addition, there are significant areas of public law that private contracts cannot “breach,” including family, criminal or tax law. Therefore, initial use cases are likely to be industry-specific collaborations with a set of guiding principles for relatively standardized recurring transactions. Examples could be found in areas such as decentralized organizations, ICO’s, international trading, e-commerce and international freelancing. A more detailed explanation of jurisdiction, the concept of the State, and how real world jurisdictions and cyberspace are linked can be found in Lesson 5 – Consensus Jurisdictions. Decentralized Arbitration Enforcement Framework One important question has to be answered: what if a dispute arises? After all, Decentralized Law only has value if it can be enforced. As discussed, international arbitration provides the ideal framework for the enforcement of private Decentralized Law: What is the decentralized law enforcement framework Important! The New York Convention requires contracting States to recognize and enforce arbitration awards made in other contracting States. This refers to a physical location. For this to work, a “Seat of Arbitration” is required in one of the participating States. Luckily, online arbitration already exist. An example is the service offered by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, which offers a completely online arbitration procedure. Other Ideas on Enforcement of Rulings Some of those working on decentralized arbitration are of the opinion that governing laws and enforcement through existing legal systems are not needed. Those engaged in small transactions might not need the backing of a legacy legal system. But those performing large transactions or listed multinationals do. A logical solution would be a two step system, with fully decentralized arbitration first, and international arbitration only when the first step has not resulted in a favorable outcome. More on this discussion in Lesson 6 – Decentralized Arbitration Enforcement Framework. Smart Contract Considerations A primitive ancestor of a smart contract is a vending machine. It works by detecting the insertion of a quarter and then executes a sale. Smart contracts take this principle to the next level. They can handle complex transfers of property as long as they are controlled by a digital means. With the transfer of property, there are legal implications. Unfortunately, a smart contract cannot be considered a legal contract. Moreover, real world projects rarely result in binary outcomes. For example, the Ethereum whitepaper talks about a crop insurance that automatically pays out in case of a storm. But the harvest might only partially be ruined, or the crops might already be harvested once the storm hits. Smart contracts are to rigid to govern reality. They need to be merged with a normal contract. The Smart Contract Block A simple and way to create a bond between a legal contract and a smart contract is often overlooked; at the start of a human language contract―in the clause identifying the parties―a hash or link could be included corresponding with the appropriate smart contract. To simplify the human language contract, existing terms and conditions can act as a legal framework for the human language contract, which in turn is linked to a smart contract. This could be called a Smart Contract Block. what is a decentralized smart contract block One main benefit of this approach is standardization. Smart Contract Blocks could become reliable after being used and tested over time. With them, users can simply pick the “Block” most suitable for their transaction and fill in the details relevant for their transactions―like selecting an App in the Appstore! Widely used Blocks that contain a proven enforcement framework could become valuable assets when licensed by their creators. At the same time, they are much cheaper to use than uniquely drafted contracts for each transaction. More on Smart Contract Blocks and some practical examples are found in Lesson 7 – Smart Contract Blocks. Decentralized Companies There are two types of decentralized companies. A first example would be the decentralized corporation. A second example is the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). The Decentralized Corporation A few characteristics make the “corporation” unique. First of all, it is the creation of a fictional legal person, separate from its owners. As a result, a corporation has the right to own property, hire people, take on loans and engage in contracts. It can sue and be sued. A second important aspect of a corporation is that it limits the liability of the owners. It is thus a great way for investors to invest capital without risking bankruptcy and without the need to be part of day-to-day management. This division of roles and responsibilities is another important characteristic of corporations. The work done so far on decentralized corporations completely ignores all this. Moreover, it doesn’t address what is needed in order for a decentralized corporation to be recognized as one by the law. And in order for it to be recognized, it needs a physical place of registration. Decentralized Corporation Nexus Existing laws allows for two different kinds of registration for decentralized corporations: PE (Permanent Establishment) Registration Nexus Registration what is the decentralized corporation The Decentralized Autonomous Organization When looking at a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) from a legal perspective, it is clear that it is neither a corporation, nor any other type of existing legal personality. It doesn’t have a registered office and has no physical place of business or registration. There are no shareholders or managers. As a result, it cannot perform many of the tasks commonly attributed to it, like owning property or engaging in contracts. Moreover, participants in a DAO should take precautions if they want to be shielded from liability or taxes. For example, by accessing the DAO through a corporation. More details on the challenges and opportunities of decentralized organizations is found in Lesson 8 – Decentralized Corporations and the DAO Part III – Legal Frameworks and Governing Laws Definition Decentralized Law We have covered all the components that make up decentralized law. Before we continue, we must come up with a definition. We have to accept law in the broadest sense of the word. Having said that, only private law allows for practical decentralization. As a result, decentralized laws must be recognized by the participants since there is no central authority to enforce it. And finally, we learned that it has to be build on decentralized infrastructure and be controlled by distributed political structures. The definition of Decentralized Law is as follows: A set of voluntarily accepted private law systems of which the control is distributed both politically and technologically. For a detailed explanation of how this definition was reached please visit Lesson 9 – Decentralized Law Definition The Decentralized Legal System This section introduces the Decentralized Legal System (DLS), the first complete framework for Decentralized Law. It is a system not enforced by an individual or elite group of powerful individuals organized in a government, but accepted and created by a public and open source process. A system that exists in cyberspace, but has force in the real world. This framework can govern all four types of decentralized legal applications. >From a technology standpoint it can best be compared to WordPress. In this case the DLS works as the open source framework, the themes as the different jurisdictions and arbitration systems, and the plugins as the different smart contract blocks. And just as WordPress uses the existing infrastructure of the internet, the DLS can use the existing law enforcement infrastructure. And while the overall structure is similar for each WordPress website, each end product is unique. The DLS Framework what is the decentralized law framework The DLS consists of an: Enforcement Framework (green) A set of Governing Laws (blue) A set of Decentralized Legal Applications (orange) It is worth repeating that most of the components of the DLS already exist today. First of all, the enforcement and governing frameworks (blue and green layers) are already in place. Work on decentralized jurisdictions is currently being done, and it would be easy to transform them into consensus jurisdictions (as simple as it is to accept the terms and conditions of companies such as Google or Facebook). And finally, creating a contract to govern the use of a technology (smart contract) is also a piece of cake. The only challenge (and main benefit) comes from combining all of this in an easy to use (open source) system that any group of like-minded individuals can use to create bottom-up fair and transparent rules to govern their interactions. A more detailed explanation and a practical example are provided in Lesson 10 – The Decentralized Legal System. How to Create Decentralized Law In previous lessons, we saw the common practice of using English Law as governing law. However, these governing laws could be replaced (partially) by Decentralized Law. Decentralized Law would have to be proposed, created, codified, and accepted/implemented. Existing technologies could help with this. Using a BIP to Propose Law In order to create Decentralized Law, we must overcome two hurdles. The first is a model for the creation of laws and regulations. The second is a model to publish and accept these laws. A way to create laws could be taken from the best practices in decentralized open source software development proven effective by Bitcoin: the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP). Bitcoin is a fully decentralized system. As a result, no one developer is responsible for its mechanisms. Adjustments to the protocol start when someone makes a proposal for an amendment to its code, known as a BIP. The BIP is scrutinized and either accepted of rejected by the community. This process has worked well, and can be applied to law creation as well. what is decentralized law creation process Using Github to Create Law Github is an interesting tool that is used for open source processes, including BIPs. It is a website that allows software developers from around the world to cooperate on open source software development projects. It is based on software known as “Git.” Git is a version control system for tracking changes in computer files and coordinating work on those files by multiple people. It is primarily used for source code management in software development, but can be used to keep track of changes in any set of files. Given its success in the software community, this process could also be adapted to create law. Using a “Legal Wiki” to Codify Law The public Wiki is another existing technology that lends itself perfectly to the codification and publication of Decentralized Law. Wikis are extremely applicable here as they are both lightweight and easy to use, and familiar to the general public. They are perfect for hosting large bodies of text. In addition, it is easy to hyper-link to relevant clauses within the law, to important rulings or to higher laws. This makes them more accessible and usable compared to the current system consisting of random selections of constitutions, books, rulings and separate laws created over time. Publishing and Accepting Decentralized Law Next, the proposed legislation must become law. This can simply be achieved by publication and subsequent acceptance. Ideally, its publication is subject to acceptance. This way, only widely supported legislation may become a part of law as we saw in the BIP process. Some ideas on how to publish and accept Decentralized Law are: 1) Static Publication 2) Voting 3) On a Blockchain 4) Prediction Markets Amending Decentralized Law Laws change. Although they are written with the best intentions, they may become outdated as time passes. Decentralized Law could address this via the introduction of an amendment process guided by mathematical restrictions, called a Rule Based Legal Wiki. The rules could allow for periodical amendments to be made. A restriction could be placed on the amount characters or words that can be changed, such as the total amount of words is only allowed to increase by 10%. This stimulates writing clearly and removing unnecessary and difficult words. Such a process leads to orderly, accessible and simple legislation that can be understood by anyone. It also prevents out of control legislation by limiting what can be added. For more details on how Decentralized Law can be proposed, created and amended, view Lesson 11 – How to Create Decentralized Law. The Future Governed by Centralized Law As is clear, the ideas so far presented are based upon private law. The private arbitration framework based on private contracts is a good example of this as well as the creation of frameworks for specific industries and private Consensus Jurisdictions. Some may ask however, how does this relate to the world of law making at large? Public Law The creation of public law is the domain of governments. In most countries, this is subject to a democratic process. This process is generally founded on the principle of separation of powers. An alternative system could be an executive branch that manages the government, a judiciary branch that enforces justice, and a decentralized process for the creation of law. This process could be completely decentralized, or managed by legislators and involving the public at large. For some, this sounds radical. But remember that this is already happening. Legal Reflexivity Not only do public policies affect private affairs; private affairs also affect public policy. This process can be observed in the real world too. An example is the refugee crisis in Europe, where judges determine the cases of asylum seekers based on reports from NGOs; reports written in support of the plight of the asylum seekers. Once large groups of people create standards for their interaction it will influence the legal world. It doesn’t exist in a bubble. The Benefits of Decentralized Law Legislation created in this matter will be fair and readily followed as participants create it in a bottom-up fashion. There are lots of areas where Decentralized Law could step in and regulate the interaction of large groups of people. In fact, there is no use in waiting for government legislators to act. Politician simply don’t understand the crypto-spcae and just impose Anti Money Laundering legislation to pretend they are useful. The time is now for others to start working on functional frameworks of Decentralized Law. Once a new standard emerges, it is a safe and popular bet for governments to incorporate this in their legislation. As far as enforcement goes, judges are supposed to be independent and base their judgment on the law. For them, there should be no difference in how the law is created. They might even feel more comfortable in ruling based upon widely supported and accepted Decentralized Law than top-down enforced public law. The Future of Law? We have endured a long and hard battle for power with our rulers for the establishment of individual freedoms under laws that equally apply to everybody. However, as the creation of law still sits in the hands of government and is applied in a top-down manner, we are still subjected to centralized law. Using the Decentralized Legal System, we can immediately start creating bodies of private law based on consensus with force in the real world. In addition, these laws can supplement centralized law in areas where it falls short, and perhaps gradually start replacing some of its processes. These developments are in fact a very logical next step in the continuing trend of decentralizing power structures that has been going on for centuries. From gods to kings and from kings to States. The next target for decentralization might well be the State and their multinational organizations. It requires a shift in thinking, and will not happen overnight. But it is coming, and cannot be stopped. It can be assumed that not everybody in the government will welcome this idea. But neither did the king… Vires in Numeris! More details on legal reflexivity and how decentralized law can replace public law, visit Lesson 12 – The Future of Decentralized Law. Cite this article Thysse W., “What is Decentralized Law,” (Decentralized Law Lessons, December 28, 2019), available on: https://decentralizedlegalsystem.com/law/

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NAZI's had the backstab legend - Rambo had spat-on-vet-syndrome
by professor rat 28 Oct '22

28 Oct '22

Gramps, the MyPillow guy and Margorie Taylor-Green have got the 2020 POTUS election. Guys! - the best disinformation is mostly true!

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Cryptocurrency: War On Crypto - G20 OECD To Mandate Total Reporting Worldwide
by grarpamp 28 Oct '22

28 Oct '22

Not only is no-KYC mandatory, also are lunar anon DEX exchanges, as is adoption and migration to privacy coins over them as well as via P2P. If you don't fight back by rolling out, spreading and using privacy-enabled coins to the masses (whose numbers when then wielding private money are what makes winning possible), then all stored value and means of transacting will be killed, and the entirety of crypto will go to zero. The WAR on Bitcoin Privacy Intensifies. Automatic Reporting of ALL Trades and Transactions Soon Mandatory. Massive overreach of international regulators to force all service providers in the industry to: Record ALL crypto trades on exchanges, DEFI and DEXs; Record (large) purchases from private wallets; Record all transfers to cold storage and make lists with private wallet addresses; Send all this info annually to the (tax) authorities; And finally, the G20 forces governments to pass these rules into domestic law. The war on privacy continues. The aim: to tackle anonymous spending and exchanging of crypto. As you’ll discover, these new regulations force upon us a system of complete surveillance and control. https://www.oecd.org/tax/exchange-of-tax-information/public-comments-receiv… This report explains exactly what to expect from the latest developments launched in October 2022… Disclaimer: Given that this post is based on new international standards that have not yet been implemented in national legislation, and US proposed legislation, non of this information can be considered legal or financial advice. What is Going On? Last year, the crypto world was shaken to its core when the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), acting in behalf of the G20, released their guidance on virtual assets.1) This document laid out a set of rules regarding stablecoins, distinctions between private and hosted wallets, extensive KYC requirements, the tackling of privacy tools, and more.2) FATF has also provided a final definition of the type of service provider tasked with reporting on crypto: the Virtual Asset Service Provider, or VASP. Fast forward to today, and these rules are quickly being implemented across the world.3) But as usual, it didn’t stop there. Another international regulator, the OECD, is already building on this framework in an attempt to massively increase the grip of authorities on what happens in the industry. What is the OECD? The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a Paris-based international organisation that works to “build better policies for better lives.” Its goal is to shape policies that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being for all.4) Together with governments, policy makers and citizens, the OECD works on finding solutions to a range of social, economic and environmental challenges. From improving economic performance and creating jobs, to fostering strong education and fighting international tax evasion. The organisation provides a unique forum and knowledge hub within which to discuss and develop public policies and international standard setting.5) This “international standard” setting is what we will look at next. Automated Exchange of Financial Information with Authorities Since 2014 In 2014, the OECD published the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters.6) This publication created a “Common Reporting Standard” (CRS), which forces financial institutions to automatically exchange account information with the authorities of the country of residence of their account holders. The goal: to prevent persons from holding financial accounts in offshore jurisdictions and not reporting them back home. This is why all financial service providers request utility bills: they prove where you live, and hence where they have to report to. All financial institutions that are currently subjected to these regulations are forced to automatically report to the authorities the name, address, Tax Identification Number(s), date and place of birth, the account number, and the account value as of the end of the relevant calendar year (or other appropriate reporting period).7) Now, there is no more hiding of accounts held with a foreign financial institutions. The authorities enlisted all financial institutions as involuntary (but powerful) assistants in collecting facts and evidence needed for tax compliance. The Panama Papers; Just in Time to Boost Worldwide Implementation of Automated Reporting… After publishing their standards in 2014, the OECD needed to get countries and their financial institutions in line. By August 2015, the OECD had released the first version of a CRS Implementation Handbook.8) It provided practical guidance to assist government officials and financial institutions in implementing CRS. But while the standards set by the OECD came into force in 2016 in early-adopting states, by March of 2016 these standards were still far from being fully integrated into the global financial system.9) This was especially true in the offshore jurisdictions that were the main target. What was needed was a shift in conscience… On April 3rd, 2016, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published a giant leak of offshore financial records, better known as the Panama Papers.10) These revelations caused public outrage. The G5, the five largest Western European countries, were quick to jump on the bandwagon and call for more international cooperation to tackle “tax dodging and illicit finance.”11) The message did not fall on deaf ears; the next day, on April 15th, G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors met in Washington and issued the following Communiqué: “…we call on all relevant countries including all financial centers and jurisdictions*, which have not committed to implement the standard on* automatic exchange of information by 2017 or 2018 to do so without delay and to sign the Multilateral Convention. We expect that by the 2017 G20 Summit all countries and jurisdictions will upgrade their Global Forum rating to a satisfactory level. We mandate the OECD working with G20 countries to establish objective criteria by our July meeting to identify non-cooperative jurisdictions with respect to tax transparency. Defensive measures will be considered by G20 members against non-cooperative jurisdictions if progress as assessed by the Global Forum is not made.”12) Thus, within 12 days of the publication of the Panama Papers, the world’s 20 most powerful governments had collectively agreed to start pushing CRS reporting requirements aggressively, and to punish non-cooperative (offshore) jurisdictions—regardless of their local laws. This is how offshore finance was brought into the fold, and financial privacy died. Why Can the OECD Regulate Financial Institutions Around the World? Isn’t this a Task of Democracy? The OECD isn’t a government agency of any individual country. As such, it cannot create law. It issues what is known as “soft laws,” or “recommendations” and “guidance.” Only when this guidance is transposed into the laws of individual countries does it becomes “hard” law, with real world power. In theory, this process is subjected to the formal (democratic) law-making processes of the implementing countries. However, countries that don’t participate face restricted access to the financial system and ostracism from the international community. For this reason, almost all nations are compelled to implement these recommendations. It must also be said that national governments, especially in the Western world, highly value this kind of international cooperation, and the control it gives them without the need to deal with the “inconveniences” of democracy. They simply hide behind the fact that these are “international standards” which they have to follow because “everybody” does. Neither does it help that few of our representatives, journalists and fellow citizens seem to understand the impact of these treaties. Those in the legal industry who do understand the implications just look at it as “business as usual” and a new way to generate income. As such, most standards are passed into domestic law with little opposition or delay. International Standards Aim to Supersede National Law Once these treaties are accepted, they become part of a body of law called “international law,” which in many cases supersedes national laws. Unknown to the general public, international law is increasingly being used as a backdoor for passing invasive regulations such as those we are discussing here, and establishing a global bureaucracy with real power over our (financial) lives. It is also worth noting that the people working for this Paris-based institution have not been elected, their procedures and budget are not subjected to democratic oversight, and they are almost impossible to remove from power. Like most international organizations, their operations fall under the Vienna Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities.13) As such, they enjoy immunity for their actions taken whilst in office, are exempt from administrative burdens (such as taxes and fines), and enjoy less stringent (COVID) travel restrictions. AUTOMATIC Exchange of Transaction Info For Crypto Last week, October 10th, the OECD published the “Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amendments to the Common Reporting Standard.”14) This applies the tax reporting guidance of the existing CRS to crypto―and makes it FAR more invasive… The OECD first published a public consultation version of the document on 22nd March 2022.15) The deadline for feedback from the public was 29th April 2022. This gave the public just over a month to analyze a 101-page document, figure out what it meant for them and their clients in multiple jurisdictions, and formulate a public statement on company letterhead. This is not a sign that the OECD takes public input seriously. When comparing the two documents, there is no material difference between the public consultation and the final version in the section that matters most, the actual rules…16) Public consultations give these recommendations the appearance of being widely supported by “stakeholders.” It creates the illusion that the public has a say in the matter. It doesn’t. When you read the questions carefully, they only seek feedback on details, such as which intermediaries are to be included or excluded, which type of NFTs are to be in scope, what reporting thresholds there should be, and how much time should be reserved for implementation.17) Furthermore, if you read the commentaries submitted, which can be downloaded here, most respondents just talk their own book, trying to elicit amendments that perhaps exempt them from a specific reporting requirement, or trying to get a longer time-frame for implementation. In all fairness, there were also a number of industry insiders who highlighted the double standards created for the crypto industry, and how much of a burden the regulations would represent. In the end, none of this mattered. The regulations have been published and are now the new worldwide standard. What Are The New Guidelines for Crypto? As was the case with earlier regulations, Bitcoin will not be banned. Instead, the OECD builds on the approach set by FATF: to regulate the service providers who facilitate transactions. In this instance, the OECD developed a new global tax transparency framework which provides for the automatic exchange of tax info on transactions in a standardised manner. This is the “Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework” or “CARF.”18) As previously mentioned, automatic exchange of information used to contain only the details of the individual and the account value. New reporting obligations, however, apply to all transactions in an account. This is a major extension of the reporting obligations that currently exist for non-crypto financial services. Reporting of Transactions (and their Nature) by VASPS The OECD proposes that those providing crypto transaction services, for or on behalf of customers, are to report under the CARF. We are talking here about the reporting entities that are defined by FATF, i.e. “Virtual Asset Service Providers,” or “VASPs.”19) Before we look at the details of the information that is going to be exchanged, let us remind ourselves of what a VASP is: “VASP: Virtual asset service provider means any natural or legal person who is not covered elsewhere under the Recommendations, and as a business conducts one or more of the following activities or operations for or on behalf of another natural or legal person: i. exchange between virtual assets and fiat currencies;ii. exchange between one or more forms of virtual assets;iii. transfer of virtual assets;iv. safekeeping and/or administration of virtual assets or instruments enabling control over virtual assets; andv. participation in and provision of financial services related to an issuer’s offer and/or sale of a virtual asset.”20) As you can see, the definition of VASP is so wide that it covers many of projects currently operating in the crypto space. According to the OECD, reporting obligations also apply to companies facilitating Decentralized Finance and Decentralized Exchanges.21) What Kind of Individual Transactions Are to Be Reported? What needs to be reported? In particular, the following three types of transactions: Exchanges between Crypto Assets and Fiat Currencies; Exchanges between one or more form(s) of Crypto Assets; Transfers of Crypto Assets (including Reportable Retail Payment Transactions).22) Transactions will be reported by type of Crypto Asset, and will distinguish between outward and inward transactions. In order to enhance the usability of the data for tax administrations, the reporting is to be split out between Crypto-to-Crypto and Crypto Asset-to-fiat transactions. Reporting service providers will also be forced to label transfers (e.g. airdrops, income derived from staking or a loan), in instances where they have such knowledge.23) In short, the CARF mandates that information an all trades, including the type of coin, the amount of coins, the market value, and what was paid, be submitted. This info is then aggregated and automatically exchanged.24) The goal is to inform the tax authorities of how much you own and what kind of income you generated from your holdings. And if that is not enough, the OECD allows lawmakers the option to request lists of private wallet addresses of users.25) Reporting of Retail Transactions from Private Wallets On a final note, the OECD has come up with a trick to limit the opportunity for crypto users to spend their coins anonymously. The CARF also applies to merchant providers facilitating crypto payment for goods or services. In such instances, the merchant provider is required to treat the customer of their customer as its own customer, and report the value of the transaction to the tax authorities of the buyer.26) For now, this only applies to “large” purchases of over USD 50,000.[27] What About US Citizens and Green-Card Holders? The CRS has been implemented worldwide. All developed nations and all international financial centers have been included in the list, leaving few of the world’s financial highways untouched.28) Surprisingly, the United States is not on that list. The reason is that the US came up with their own automatic reporting framework even before the OECD did. It is called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, and requires that foreign financial Institutions and certain other non-financial foreign entities report on the foreign assets held by their U.S. account holders.29) Up until now, FATCA did not directly apply to crypto. But the new 2023 budget proposal seeks to amend section 6038D(b) of the Internal Revenue Code to require reporting for a new third category, namely any account that holds digital assets maintained by a foreign digital asset exchange or other foreign digital asset service provider (a “foreign digital asset account”).30) There is also another US-specific reporting obligation, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. Regarding FBAR, FinCEN has issued Notice 2020-2, stating that it also intends to make reporting foreign virtual currency accounts mandatory.31) Moreover, US tax payers are already required to report their crypto transactions on their tax returns.32) The question is, will the United States also implement a CARF like system, as in the automatic reporting of all transactions? This question remains unanswered for now. But President Biden’s Executive Order from earlier this year clearly stated that the current administration is committed to these international standards, including those commissioned by the G20 and FATF, and that the US has a leading role in developing and adopting these international standards on digital assets.33) Despite all this, it is still unclear what the regulatory landscape in the US will look like. Regardless, US-based companies with clients in other countries (i.e. most of them) will have to implement these policies. It is hard to imagine the US government not wanting to have this information for itself, especially since the legal framework is largely in place. But we will have to wait and see. What Will Be the Outcome of These Regulations? The outcome of these new international standards will be full transparency towards tax authorities. The aim of these standards is to get automatic insight into all your trades, even laying the foundation to prevent you from spending coins anonymously with retailers that use a third party payment provider. This means in practice that although you can hold coins in your private wallet, you cannot easily spend or exchange them anonymously. In short: no more privacy when you use third party services. One might say this will be the death of third party services, because accepting online payments is as simple as installing a piece of code on your website and taking the payments yourself. But most companies do not have the capacity to run their own payment system, and are likely going to require payments through a regulated merchant. As long as there isn’t a Bitcoin standard, meaning accounting and payments regularly done in Bitcoin, there will be a need for fiat on- and off ramps. As such, even when you do business in crypto, your suppliers or clients are likely to make use of a service provider with reporting obligations. As a result, expect far more scrutiny on transactions; from exchanges, but also from the people and businesses you are dealing with in everyday crypto activity. Even if you do not need to report on certain transactions, they might be forced to do so. You might be okay with accepting direct peer-to-peer transactions, but could run into issues later when you are obliged to prove where the payments came from. Regulators Are Out of Control The reality is that these regulators are out of our control. Without (direct) democratic mandates or oversight they are flooding the world with regulation. Just like totalitarian regimes, they effectively force private parties to police each other. The service providers, forced into unpaid financial surveillance, carry the rising compliance costs. Obliged to make hard decisions as to whom they can take on as customers, they are likely to cut services to those they consider not worth the compliance costs, such as small or “high risk” businesses, and people in developing nations. The cost of compliance might become so great that at least some of them might want to facilitate transactions only with fully-vetted wallets tied to a digital ID, such as the EU is implementing.34) New Precedent: Centralized Surveillance of Individual Transactions This is a good example of regulations being built on top of one another, and raising the bar with each step. It should not come as a surprise if at some point regular financial service providers are forced into similar obligations to get in line with these new “international standards.” This step might be taken with the introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies, currently being developed all around the world.35) Door Open to Further Monitoring and Restricting of Payments It is not hard to imagine that once all transactions are transparent, more actions can be taken as to which type of payments and type of persons are allowed or not. We can see this financial “cancel culture” already happening around the world.36) As a result of all this surveillance, it is not only privacy that is at risk right now; this starts to touch the very idea of maintaining a payment system where you can freely transact and engage in economic activity. Only a massive and radical decentralization movement away from third party service providers can prevent this dystopia. Stay tuned for a next report and a roadmap for just that… TLDR; Governments at the highest level (G20) commissioned an organization called the OECD to come up with international tax transparency rules for crypto. They are using international law frameworks that supersede national legislation and will demand that every country in the world complies. The OECD issued their guidance last week, Oct 10, 2022. They propose that Virtual Asset Service Providers are to be required to annually report, on your trades and transactions, to the tax authorities of your country of residence. Reporting on transaction information is a major extension of reporting obligations as they exist for regular financial institutions. The US is also looking to expand its own reporting frameworks. Sources: 1 FATF, “Updated Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers,” (FATF, Paris, 28 October 2021), https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfrecommendations/documents/guidan… 2 Thysse W., “FATF Global Crypto Regulations Summary – June 2021,” (Decentralized Legal System, June 22, 2021), available on: https://decentralizedlegalsystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FATF-Global… 3 “Further EU and UK Developments in Financial Crime Regulation of Cryptoassets,” (Ropes & Gray, August 4, 2022), accessed on Oct 11, 2022, https://www.ropesgray.com/en/newsroom/alerts/2022/August/Further-EU-and-UK-… 4 “OECD – About,” (OECD), accessed on 3 Oct 2022, https://www.oecd.org/about/ 5 Ibid. 6 OECD, “Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters,” (OECD Publishing, Paris, July 2014), https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/taxation/standard-for-automatic-exchange-of-f… 7 Ibid., page 26 8 OECD, “Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information in Tax Matters – Implementation Handbook – Second Edition,” (OECD, Paris, April 2018), http://www.oecd.org/tax/exchange-of-tax-information/implementation-handbook…: 1st edition since replaced by a 2nd edition, which is now found at this link]. 9 KPGM, “The Common Reporting Standard: Are you ready?” (KPMG UK, March 2016,) https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/03/the-common-reporting-stand… 10 “Giant Leak of Offshore Financial Records Exposes Global Array of Crime and Corruption,” (The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, April 3, 2013), accessed on Oct 3, 2022, https://www.occrp.org/en/panamapapers/overview/intro/ 11 HM Treasury, G5 letter to G20 counterparts regarding action on beneficial ownership, (G5, 14 April 2016), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/g5-letter-to-g20-counterparts-re…: “The UK has initiated a ground-breaking deal to tackle tax dodging and illicit finance, alongside Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Ministers from each country have co-written a letter to G20 counterparts to urge further international cooperation.” 12 IMF, “Communiqué: G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting,” (Washington, April 15, 2016), https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2015/09/28/04/51/cm041616 13 UN, “United Nations Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities,” (Vienna, 2 March – 14 April 1961), accessed on June 10, 2021, https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf 14 OECD, “Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amendments to the Common Reporting Standard,” (Paris, 10 October 2022), https://www.oecd.org/tax/exchange-of-tax-information/crypto-asset-reporting… 15 OECD, “Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amendments to the Common Reporting Standard – Public Consultation Document,” (Paris, 22 March 2022), https://www.oecd.org/tax/exchange-of-tax-information/public-consultation-do… 16 [Author note: for comparison, the actual regulations page 15, and the public consultation document page 10] 17 OECD (2022), Public Consultation Document, pages 8-10 and 62-63 18 OECD (2022), page 6 19 Ibid., page 11 20 FATF (2021), page 22 21 OECD (2022), page 10, and page 12 22, 23 Ibid., page 12 24 Ibid., page 15, Section II: Reporting requirements, A.3. 25 Ibid., page 32, Transfers to External Wallet Addresses 26 Ibid., page 13 27 Ibid., page 19 28 “CRS by jurisdiction,” (OECD), accessed on Oct 11, 2022, https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistan… 29 “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA),” (IRS), accessed on October 11, 2022, https://www.irs.gov/businesses/corporations/foreign-account-tax-compliance-… 30 Department of the Treasury, “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2023 Revenue Proposals,” (Department of the Treasury, Washington, D.C., March 2022), https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/General-Explanations-FY2023.pdf, page 101 31 FinCEN, “Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) Filing Requirement for Virtual Currency, FinCEN Notice 2020-2,” (FinCEN, Washington, December 18, 2020), https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/Notice-Virtual%20Currency… 32 IRS, “Form 1040 and 1040-SR Instructions,” (Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, 2021), https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf, page 17. 33 Joseph R. Biden Jr., “Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets,” (White House, Washington D.C., March 9, 2022), accessed on Oct 11, 2022, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/09/ex… 34 “eIDAS Regulation – eIDAS is a key enabler for secure cross-border transactions,” (European Commission, Brussel), accessed on 11 October 2022, https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/eidas-regulation 35 “Today’s Central Bank Digital Currencies Status,” (CBDC Tracker), accessed on Oct 11, 2022, https://cbdctracker.org/ 36 [author note: this week alone famous artist Kanye West saw his bank closed for this views, and Paypal contemplated fining their customers for spreading what they considered misinformation.] https://old.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/y6gwph/the_war_on_bitcoin_privacy… https://bitcoiner.guide/nokyconly/

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Cryptocurrency: Great Resistance: Story of Bitcoin
by grarpamp 27 Oct '22

27 Oct '22

A lyrical interlude... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIuMdj_FE_E Great Resistance: Story of Bitcoin

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Re: Your Freedom of Information Law Request FOIL-2022-089773-018375
by Gunnar Larson 27 Oct '22

27 Oct '22

Thank you. Gunnar Gunnar Larson xNY.io - Bank.org 646-454-9107 On Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 12:42 PM <Carmen.Garrett(a)dfs.ny.gov> wrote: > > Good Afternoon: > > Attached, please find correspondence from the New York State Department of > Financial Services pertaining to your FOIL request. > > Thank you. > > Tracking Number:FOIL-2022-089773-018375 >

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Million Matt March
by professor rat 27 Oct '22

27 Oct '22

In 2001 I published a recipe for crypto-anarchy - ’ Everyone an anarchist " Fast forward over the illegal aggressive invasion of SW Asia. In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published a method for everyone to run a database, thus inventing “crypto.” Matt Helm https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2022-the-crypto-story/?leadSource=uverify wall Repost old cypherpunk lists - honor thy Matt and Vader

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MATIC for the people
by professor rat 27 Oct '22

27 Oct '22

Augur Originally built on Ethereum, Augur is the first decentralized prediction market in history. This is by no means a small feat. Traditionally, prediction markets had to be centralized. We had to custody our assets and trust a central authority to act as an honest actor (lol), and not to run off with our funds. Augur, on Polygon, is literally turbo-charged. ("Augur Turbo." It's in the name.) See, on Ethereum, Augur functioned by incentivizing "reporters" to report off-chain data accurately. They were rewarded for doing so until consensus was achieved, thus confirming an off-chain event. Now, pretty much anyone can create prediction markets super quick, and for super cheap. And with Chainlink integration? The oracle enables off-chain data to be fed on-chain in a secure, accurate and timely fashion. (Talk about composability.) https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/polygon-top-10-biggest-projects

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Augur (REP) is designed to harness the mad-wisdom of crowds through prediction markets
by professor rat 27 Oct '22

27 Oct '22

Augur is up 7.11% in the last 24 hours. https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/augur/ Augur (REP) is meant to harness the wisdom of the crowd through prediction markets on a protocol owned and operated by holders of the Ethereum-based Reputation token. In these markets users are said to be able to bet on the outcomes of events such as company performance, election results or even natural phenomena by purchasing shares that would either support or refute the proposed outcomes of such specified events. . . " Reposts not sales-pitches

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Ethereum, the balance is tilting towards fully see-through plain text transparency?
by professor rat 27 Oct '22

27 Oct '22

"... crypto’s origins are built upon the cypherpunk values of cryptographic protection of personal information and web activity, with the option to selectively reveal oneself. Presently when it comes to Ethereum, the balance is tilting towards fully see-through plain text transparency. However, countercultural groups, such as the lunarpunks, have emerged to address issues inherent in the public nature of Ethereum, attributing the issue of see-through plain text transparency to a corruption in the original crypto-anarchist values that first motivated the development of blockchain technologies. In essence, the lunarpunks are intent on bringing back elements of the original cypherpunk spirit . . . " https://nexus.blacksky.network/zine/00000001/anon-guide Technically good reposts are not necessarily politically good ones - esp from these fascist lunatics

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Mixnets emerged as a response to Tor's vulnerability
by professor rat 27 Oct '22

27 Oct '22

https://nexus.blacksky.network/zine/00000001/cypherpunk-your-adversaries No time for reposts

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