China surges ahead in the energy revolution, achieving stable operation of a thorium molten salt reactor producing 2MW of power. Chinese scientists are already working on scaling up to 10MW and pioneering thorium-powered ships.
Since these types of reactors use molten salt, they don't have to be built near large bodies of water as is the case with traditional uranium based reactors.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has resoundingly rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to block an order requiring it to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
'The relief the government is requesting is both extraordinary and premature.
It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done.
This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.
The Executive possesses enormous powers to prosecute and to deport, but with powers come restraints. If today the Executive claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home?∗ And what assurance shall there be that the Executive will not train its broad discretionary powers upon its political enemies? The threat, even if not the actuality, would always be present, and the Executive’s obligation to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” would lose its meaning. U.S. CONST. art. II, § 3; see also id. art. II, § 1, cl. 8.'
[Yikes. No personal info is a rule I live by. This creeps up to the line]
Okay, so, yes; me being “me”—artist turned scientist turned educator turned social justice lawyer turned writer/analyst??? [I know.→talk to my shrink🖕🏻]—
I have, predictably, been a graphic novel consumer for many years.
[Personal aside: my forever bestest best friend Stef; who I will NEVER let go; RIP; was a brilliant graphic novelist]
tcj.com/day-three/ [brief 🧵 purleeeease feel free to disregard my meanderings]
The amazeballs Garth Ennis / Steve Dillon “comic book series” #Preacher is in my top 10.
+ I gotta say, most comic book adaptations suck…! but the Sam Catlin, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen adaptation rocked.
Back to my normal #law & #politics coverage, h/t to #SethRogen who took time during the 2025 Breakthrough Prize ceremony aka the “Oscars of #Science,” to point out the messed up shit that #Trump is doing to the scientific community [+ the artists/illustration professionals].
Hero. I don't have a subscription to the NYT but hope this article talks about the profound impact Seth Rogen and his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, have had on Alzheimer's research and especially support for caregivers. Their foundation, established in honor of Lauren's mother, Adele, who died of early-onset Alzhiemer's, is a gift to all of us. It is called HFC (originally, Hilarity for Charity).
@AdminKirsty Okay, I just read it. Many thanks again. I wish the NYT had taken the opportunity to talk about the Rogens' (Seth and Lauren) amazing charity, HFC, which supports caregivers and provides funds for research into Alzheimer's. Funds that RFK & his henchmen are cutting, destroying the work of decades. They created HFC in honor of Lauren's mother, Adele, who died of early-onset Alzheimer's. My dad died of this, too, and my rage was so eloquently voiced by Rogen's courage.
ich mag den Begriff „perished“ nicht in Bezug auf den #Holocaust. Er suggeriert unglückliche Umstände. Die inhaftierten Menschen wurden jedoch geplant ermordet und zuvor schuldlos erniedrigt, gequält, gefoltert und würdelos behandelt. Man darf oder kann diese Tatsache so nicht nur benennen, man sollte es auch. #Shoah #auschwitz #niewieder
Trump's "Counterterrorism Czar" now saying that anyone advocating for due process for Kilmar Garcia is "aiding and abetting a terrorist" and could be looking at being federally charged. This is just ... civil war 2,0
Meloni bei Trump: Lob, Schmeicheleien und demonstrative Zuversicht
US-Präsident Trump und Italiens Ministerpräsidentin Meloni gaben sich bei ihrem Treffen gut gelaunt - und betont zuversichtlich in Sachen Handelsabkommen. "Selbstverständlich" werde es einen Deal geben, sagte Trump. Von C. Kühntopp.
Vielleicht gibt's einen Deal. Italien und Ungarn treten den USA bei und die EU bekommt Zuwachs von Kanada, Mexiko und Kalifornien. Letzteres gehört ja genau genommen eh zu Schleswig-Holstein. 😏
Rassismus, Faschismus und extreme Rechte die die Demokratie abschaffen wollen rotten sich zusammen, was setzen wir dem entgegen? Wir wählen den Rechtsaußen Merz 🤦
I used to celebrate when after a week, a video of mine would get 1000 views. With a little luck we will reach 1000 views on the first day of my latest video, “Why Trump lies about Ukraine”.
I am truly grateful to everyone who has shared it, commented, or given it the 👍🏼 on YouTube. Your help makes all the difference — thank you! ♥️
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.
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Newsletter: Inside the Trump family’s sprawling crypto empire — from memecoins to mining — and how Trump is using presidential power to dismantle the regulators who could stop it.
Inside the Trump family’s sprawling crypto empire — from memecoins to mining — and how Trump is using presidential power to dismantle the regulators who could stop it
This Trump family crypto empire is set to profit precisely because Trump is gutting the regulations that would normally constrain it — brazen self-dealing that represents perhaps the most flagrant exploitation of presidential authority in American history.
Before I continue: I’m a completely independent researcher and writer, and it is contributions from people like you who make my work possible. Consider signing up for a pay-what-you-want subscription to help me keep doing this: citationneeded.news/signup
Trump has received at least $20 million in publicly reported political contributions from crypto benefactors, plus the over $100 million in Congressional spending, and the benefits to these companies in return have been substantial.
But far from only doing favors for his crypto industry benefactors, Trump and his family are working fast to personally cash in as Trump now holds the power to shape industry policy and oversight. Here’s an overview of the Trumps’ crypto conflicts:
Trump receives 75% of protocol revenues and owns a 60% stake in the World Liberty Financial crypto business. This has already netted him almost a $400 million claim on token sale revenue, even though no platform has been launched yet.
The project has already faced accusations of insider trading, and is reportedly in talks to work with Binance as Binance is simultaneously petitioning the US Treasury department to remove the compliance monitor as a result of the company’s criminal conviction.
Trump owns 53% of the Trump Media company, which has recently announced it’s getting into crypto. Three days after Trump Media announced a partnership with Crypto.com, Crypto.com got the news that the SEC was dropping its investigation into their company.
Trump is reportedly exploring launching a crypto game, which is a sector that has faced regulatory scrutiny. SEC lawsuits naming crypto gaming tokens as securities have been dropped, and Rs in Congress just voted to overturn a CFPB consumer protection rule for game assets.
Two of Trump’s sons are involved in a new bitcoin mining venture called American Bitcoin in which an existing bitcoin mining firm, Hut8, essentially donated 20% of their company to the Trumps in exchange for getting in on their profitable self-dealing.
The Trumps have cashed out around $390 million from their memecoins. A month after their launch, the SEC stated that memecoins do not fall under SEC authority.
There’s of course also the NFTs, the bitcoin branded sneakers, and the Trumps’ personal crypto holdings, which are not well known.
And there’s also the substantial risk of insider trading in crypto, mirroring similar concerns we’ve seen raised recently about insider trading in traditional assets surrounding Trump’s tariff announcements.
While there have been some attempts by Democratic Senators to sound the alarm with various agencies, these agencies are largely under Trump’s control. If there’s been any action on their letters, it hasn’t publicly materialized.
This is a dangerous convergence of the president’s financial interests and his power to shape policy, and it poses serious risks to all of us.
For those who prefer it, don’t forget there’s an audio version of these newsletters! There’s an embedded player in the article, or find it in the Citation Needed audio feed wherever you get your podcasts. 100% real human voice, no text-to-speech. pod.link/1719025552
Keep up with the happenings in the tech world without all the boosterism. Cryptocurrency critic, technology researcher, and software engineer Molly White publishes Citation Needed, a newsletter that features weekly explainers of developments in the c…
A imagem apresenta um gráfico com o título "Mais goleadas sofridas no Brasileirão por pontos corridos 2003-2025". No topo, há uma lista de clubes brasileiros, ordenados por número de goleadas sofridas, com o Goiás em primeiro lugar com 65 goleadas, seguido pelo Vasco com 62 e o Flamengo com 58. Cada clube tem seu logotipo e o número de goleadas sofridas. Abaixo da lista, há um jogador de futebol em um uniforme azul e preto, com o logotipo da Alfa no peito, em uma pose com as mãos nos quadris. No canto inferior esquerdo, há um logotipo com a inscrição "derrotas por 3 ou mais gols de diferença". O fundo da imagem é cinza escuro, destacando o texto e os elementos gráficos.
Fornecido por @altbot, gerado localmente e de forma privada usando Ovis2-8B
it'll improve... but yeah, for some reason the AI you get in search is worse than the one you get at gemini.google.com. Hopefully at some point it will truly be worth it for a lot of people, even (or in particular) those who care about sustainability. Fingers crossed I guess, there is *some* probability...
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Outrage as Starmer and media collude over Gideon Sa’ar’s unannounced visit and UK Zionist group welcomes him Israel burned babies in Gaza today. The occupation regime bombed the tents o…
In this talk, David Wraith shares the psychological benefits of social nudity. He is a Saint Louis native,writer, filmmaker, sex educator, activist, and co-founder of Sex Positive St. Louis... youtu.be/wibRJJQmitE
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.
Das Bild zeigt eine Person auf einer Bühne, die sich in einem schwarzen Calvin Klein Unterwäscheträger befindet und mit beiden Händen gestikuliert. Der Hintergrund ist dunkel, mit einem violetten Licht, das die Person beleuchtet. Auf der linken Seite des Bildes ist ein Text in weißer und roter Schrift zu sehen, der lautet: "Does social nudity have benefits?" (Haben öffentliche Nacktheit Vorteile?). In der unteren linken Ecke befindet sich das TEDx-Logo. Die Person scheint eine Rede zu halten, möglicherweise im Rahmen eines TEDx-Events, und diskutiert die Thematik der öffentlichen Nacktheit.
Bereitgestellt von @altbot, privat und lokal generiert mit Ovis2-8B
Gaël Duval has spent years attacking GrapheneOS, our team and our community with false claims like these. He directly participates in extreme harassment towards on team and boosted content from Kiwi Farms users. He has used both /e/OS and Murena accounts for this.
Gaël Duval, /e/OS, Murena and the surrounding communities heavily targeted DivestOS in the same way. Their attacks on DivestOS including harassment played a major role in the project being discontinued. Now that DivestOS is gone they're increasingly focused on targeting GrapheneOS across platforms.
/e/OS and Murena devices have atrocious security AND privacy. They're not only highly insecure but highly non-private. They go years without applying High/Critical severity security AND privacy patches. They rip apart the standard security model and disregard basic privacy/security best practices.
They use their personal, project and corporate accounts to mislead people about GrapheneOS to promote unsafe products completely unfit for purpose. They mislead people into believing GrapheneOS is hard to install/obtain, not usable and not compatible with apps. They claim us debunking it is toxic.
In the replies to him, you can see one of his supporters posting harassment content targeting one of our developers with fabricated stories aimed at directing more harassment towards them after they were swatted. Gaël Duval directly supports and participates in this harassment. That's what is toxic.
Continuing to spread false claims about our team, our community and GrapheneOS will not help them market their products. It will only bring attention to how /e/OS and Murena are selling highly insecure and unsafe devices without patches and pushing non-private, non-E2EE services gathering user data.
@Tuenn Murena sells devices at a steep markup for profit. They largely buy used devices, flash their highly insecure software with tons of missing privacy/security patches and scam people into buying them who are misled into believing their safe devices protecting their privacy better than a mainstream device. In reality, it's the opposite. They're highly insecure devices and people would have a far higher level of privacy using an iOS device and Apple services with Advanced Data Protection.
We recently posted another thread responding to him using both his personal accounts and their project accounts across X, Mastodon, Bluesky, their forum and elsewhere to mislead people about GrapheneOS in conversations about it with a few examples from X:
Murena sells highly insecure devices without basic privacy/security patches or the standard privacy/security model intact. Direct opposite of GrapheneOS in regards to privacy and security. It also lacks the stability and app compatibility of GrapheneOS...
We're responding to them trying to mislead people about GrapheneOS, including by spreading fabricated stories about our community and team. They clearly want to direct more raids and harassment towards us. Unfortunately for them, it won't go the way their attacks on DivestOS did.
Shipping privacy and security patches is the bare minimum. See the "Security update speed (AOSP subset of ASB)" and "Full patches on fully supported devices" rows in eylenburg.github.io/android_co…. The table unfortunately doesn't show the many other ways privacy/security are reduced.
Would it be problematic to expand grapheneos on smartphones like fairphone? What would be the caveat one would need to accept if you were to open the OS to just this single brand, for example?
Well, can Software avoid hardware spying measures that hardware designers could include in its processors? And, if yes, how? (explaining it in a very basic way).
Why not just ignore them? The GrapheneOS community is already large enough to promote the project on its own. There's no need to respond to these fabricated stories.
Murena is a company—they need more users to stay sustainable. That’s why Gaël is putting on a show to discredit GrapheneOS.
But at some point users will notice that Graphene is just better...
@benoit /e/OS is putting people in danger through them not having basic privacy and security patches while misleading people into believing it's a private platform. Exposing that is a public service.
We want them to understand that if they engage in misleading people about GrapheneOS and attacking us with fabricated stories about our team and community, we're going to respond to that by exposing their false marketing and scamming. We can make longer form content with lots of references.
@benoit If they stop attacking us, then there won't be these threads responding to the attacks. If they continue, longer form content with more work put into it will be published on our site and elsewhere. Others attacking us have stopped because they paid a cost for doing it and would prefer to simply have long term peace with us by not attacking us and therefore not having us debunk it and criticize what they do honestly and accurately. We deal with tons of attacks and have little to lose.
From looking at the link you provided he's not making false claims. Because the proof of his words about attacks on him are right under that post. And it's quite unfortunate. It's bad to see FOSS communities fight each other rather than uniting efforts in the fight against corporates. It's not a weakness to admit that part of your community is toxic. Because it's true. GrapheneOS is a great project, a gem in the FOSS world, and it will be healthy and will help the project long-term to work on the problem of toxicity of some members rather than trying to point finger at others.
I've just watched that video. He says he still likes GrapheneOS and thinks it's a cool project, but feels uncomfortable running the code of this developer on his phone after an argument with him in a Matrix chat (which he shows in the video) where he is accused of supporting swatting. He claims this was after he merely made a YouTube comment where he criticized the type of communication and refused to delete it.
Can you point out which part of the video is fabricated? I'm curious.
@jomo The video consists almost entirely of spin and fabrications. Even the title of the video claiming he was deleting GrapheneOS because of it was a complete lie. He continued using it for many months as his daily driver and was caught doing so by his own community, who then went back and confirmed he was clearly using it as his daily driver. In the video, he knowingly lies about the context, what has been said / done in the past and what was said in that conversation where he was trolling.
@jomo His interactions in the conversations were trolling, while he was live streaming it to his audience. It was an act aimed at provoking someone being targeted with extreme harassment, which he was actively supporting. He did far more than leaving a comment in support of a video consisting entirely of harassment content towards one of our developers based on fabrications. He regularly made public jabs towards them and supported it. He was also already a regular Kiwi Farms user at that point.
I'm not saying I don't believe you guys, but siting these events is always a good practice in these type of situations (screenshots, links, videos.. etc)
@ba0e2f4a250b03a2e32bad889383bd748f2315450d19c873554a8a762292467b The linked thread has examples, and we've made previous threads with other examples. This is a response to a specific attack from them rather than long form content collecting a bunch of examples of their attacks and also demonstrating how they're misleading and scamming people. The linked post shows them claiming they're giving people privacy and yet they lack critical severity privacy patches and important basic protections.
@TuxOnBike Murena is harming people with an extraordinarily insecure and non-private mobile OS. They're harming people and scamming them for profit, not helping them. They aren't improving device longevity by convincing people to use devices without the basic privacy/security model and features intact or extremely important privacy/security patches. They do not provide current patches on any device regardless of whether it's still supported by the vendor. It's the direct opposite of our work.
@TuxOnBike /e/OS and Murena are opposed to what we're trying to accomplish. They're reducing people's privacy and security. People would be far better off using iOS devices and Apple services which are far more private and secure than what's provided by /e/OS and Murena. They also have real long term support instead of simply misleading people into using highly insecure devices without basic privacy/security patches long after their end-of-life, without providing a substitute for vendor support.
@TuxOnBike Regardless of what Louis Rossmann has done for the right-to-repair movement, he's incredibly dishonest and abusive. He's a Kiwi Farms user who uses his platform to target people with their style of fabrications, spin and harassment. That includes targeting one of our team members with harassment after they were swatted by the community of another YouTuber engaging in harassment towards them which he was supporting. It's an astounding level of dishonest, harassment and bullying.
@synonymon@social.tchncs.de Ah yes. Of course yes. Google has excellent security and 0 privacy.
The confusion between privacy and security is always used by security zealots who do not care about privacy but want to surf the wave.
@jomo @TuxOnBike /e/OS does not provide current privacy and security patches. They provide partial privacy and security with an extreme delay. Android provides partial privacy and security backports to older releases. /e/OS incorporates the AOSP portion of these updates and ships them with a substantial delay. They do not provide most driver, firmware or other device related patches even when the device has them available. They lag far behind on OS updates and providing full patches to the OS.
> You should collaborate to have a good alternative to Google. You should not fight
/e/OS and Murena are scammers doing the direct opposite of our work. They massively reduce people's privacy and security by convincing them to buy highly insecure devices without basic privacy/security patches from them. Their services lack basic privacy/security protections. They also lack end-to-end encryption like much safer services from Proton and many others. Apple services are far more private.
@qualcu The thread we linked is an example of their community engaging in harassment and Gaël Duval supporting it. He has supported and spread that content from a Kiwi Farms user making content catering to them himself. We've made several previous threads about Gaël Duval's attacks on GrapheneOS including providing links to examples of how they jump into threads about GrapheneOS and try to mislead people. We've also responded to previous attacks on GrapheneOS and our team like this one.
@qualcu They're already blocked from grapheneos.social. They're banned from interactions with us or participation in our community.
Trying to bring people involved on attacks on our project and our team here is not appreciated. If it results in them making further attacks on GrapheneOS, we'll just post another thread about it and perhaps a longer post with more examples of their attacks and also assorted links demonstrating their scamming. If they make more attacks, we'll defend ourselves more.
@ba3785a05ec14c4e7133aef7f04e245c4cbcebdb366e4fad4e4c3e7cb43d37a3 @jomo @TuxOnBike There's someone else trying to harm us who is a much better fit for the Craig Wright comparison due to misleading people into believing he created GrapheneOS when he didn't while selling people a closed source project based on forking our code, falling incredibly far behind and then forking it again repeatedly without ever doing any significant privacy or security work. We don't want to get into that here.
@adrianyyy @jomo @TuxOnBike It's a high quality comparison with a high level of accuracy and is in no way misleading. There are many other high quality sources from privacy and security researchers/engineers where people can read about the lack of basic privacy/security patches and standard privacy/security features being kept intact in /e/OS. They do not properly sign their releases, do not properly secure their builds or updates and lose many of the standard protections provided by AOSP.
@adrianyyy @jomo @TuxOnBike Murena is selling people highly insecure devices lacking many Critical and High severity privacy/security patches. They do not provide the full set of backports and the backports are not the full set of privacy/security patches. They ship the backports to older releases with a substantial delay and without most device-related patches. That table shows the typical delay for them shipping the full set of AOSP backports and a separate row with delay for full patches.
@adrianyyy @jomo @TuxOnBike Those rows are only misleading in the sense that it shows how they handle updates for the devices they support best rather than the average case. Most of the devices they support including the ones they're selling are far worse and go years without full patches if they ever get them. They're missing tons of firmware, driver and other device-related patches along with having huge delays for shipping the full AOSP patches requiring keeping the OS updated.
@thestrangelet They're also missing tons of important Android privacy patches even aside from the missing security patches. There are blatant privacy holes remaining wide open. They're also reducing the standard privacy and security model, introducing new problems. Providing low quality domain-based filtering for ads/trackers doesn't at all make up for this and people would be better off using apps like RethinkDNS doing it better. It's a very weak and unworkable privacy approach regardless.
If you take kind words towards GrapheneOS and an advice from the heart as harassment and toxicity - go ahead and ban me. Because I don't see this discussion to be any close to productive.
@nico198X @andrearastelli @Fairphone Fairphone devices don't currently meet our basic security requirements. They main issues are the lack of a secure element, are still based on an ARMv8.2 SoC from 2021 with the Fairphone 5 without MTE/PAC/BTI, have 1-2 month delays for security backports and much longer delays for full updates.
Aside from technical issues, the fact that they're officially partnered with a company engaging in attacks on us and harming people with false marketing is a problem.
@light @benoit They are in fact engaging in personal attacks on our team. Gaël Duval has repeatedly targeted the founder of GrapheneOS who is one of the core developers with personal attacks including name calling. He has helped spread/amplify Kiwi Farms style harassment material targeting them with fabricated stories and spin to direct harassment towards them. How exactly is the ongoing harassment towards our team including repeated swatted attacks not a personal attack on our team members?
Exactly, and people who actually come to participate in the GrapheneOS community can quickly realize that we're not at all a toxic community, contrary to what liars and fraudsters like Gaël Duval claim, people can soon realize that they mislead their users.
@nico198X @Fairphone thanks for the details. I get the point and I appreciate there are difficulties in creating partnerships sometimes. The idea of a secure and sustainable device is still something worth pursuing, if possible. Hopefully this ideal product can exist at some point.
Anyways, thanks for the work you do, and stay secure 😁
@nico198X I would LOVE to see GOS partnered with an OEM that isn't Google, but which will design hardware that meets GOS's needs. I generally don't like giving Google money.
"/e/OS has never been a security-hardened OS. Hardened security is not our business, we are into privacy." 😆 How the fuck does that work? It's "private" until someone tries to break into it?
@TheGreatLlama /e/OS is extraordinarily non-private. It does not provide current privacy and security patches. It does not keep the standard Android security model and features intact. Their claim to privacy is that they provide filtering of DNS requests based on blocklists for domains solely used for ads and tracking. They provide non-private services largely missing end-to-end encryption, which they claim must be private because they're not Google. None follows privacy/security best practices.
Curiously, "secure elements" via hardware generally are more a security problem than a security enhancement.
Generally, a lot of hw secure elements not only doesn't help to update os, but the opposite, except, for example, if we are talking about free/libre hardware (like, supposedly, is RISC V).
@181f334d46f8ec615ff12c0c987055ae8dc003a18967205baeeb27d41fe7d9f3 He misleads people about GrapheneOS with false claims including personal attacks on our team and then claims it's toxic to respond to that with accurate, factual information about what /e/OS and Murena provide. What they provide are extraordinarily insecure and non-private devices without basic privacy/security patches and privacy/security best practices. They do not keep the standard privacy and security protections intact.
Vincenzo moaned and uttered romantic language in Italian, breathing deeply and slowly descending into me and back out, distorting me with his huge cockhead at my sphincter’s tight ring. He was driving me wild with excitement!
![When Trump was inaugurated, he dropped the pretense and took majority control of the company with a 60% stake.2
The project hasn’t launched a trading platform, but the Trumps have discussed a decentralized finance platform for crypto financial services with promises of “democratiz[ing] finance”.2 Recently, World Liberty announced its own stablecoin, USD1 (despite Trump’s past warnings about similar cryptocurrencies, which he described as currencies that “would give a federal government — our federal government — absolute control over your money” [I80]).
And not having any actual platform to speak of has of course not limited World Liberty Financial from raking in money — it raised $550 million in its initial $WLFI token sale, putting Trump’s 75% cut at almost $400 million. $75 million came from Justin Sun, a crypto entrepreneur with a shady past [I71] who, as a foreign national, couldn’t contribute to Trump’s campaign. He was, at the time, facing a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging fraud. Recent reporting also suggests he was under investigation by the Justice Department, at least as of late 2024.3 With his investment, he earned an advisory position with World Liberty Financial, and shortly after Trump was inaugurated, the SEC case against him and his company was stayed pending potential resolution [I78].](https://poliverso.org/photo/preview/640/43496115 "When Trump was inaugurated, he dropped the pretense and took majority control of the company with a 60% stake.2
The project hasn’t launched a trading platform, but the Trumps have discussed a decentralized finance platform for crypto financial services with promises of “democratiz[ing] finance”.2 Recently, World Liberty announced its own stablecoin, USD1 (despite Trump’s past warnings about similar cryptocurrencies, which he described as currencies that “would give a federal government — our federal government — absolute control over your money” [I80]).
And not having any actual platform to speak of has of course not limited World Liberty Financial from raking in money — it raised $550 million in its initial $WLFI token sale, putting Trump’s 75% cut at almost $400 million. $75 million came from Justin Sun, a crypto entrepreneur with a shady past [I71] who, as a foreign national, couldn’t contribute to Trump’s campaign. He was, at the time, facing a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging fraud. Recent reporting also suggests he was under investigation by the Justice Department, at least as of late 2024.3 With his investment, he earned an advisory position with World Liberty Financial, and shortly after Trump was inaugurated, the SEC case against him and his company was stayed pending potential resolution [I78].")
![Allegations of insider trading and quid pro quo deals [I76] have plagued the project, particularly amid reports of unusual token swaps with other cryptocurrency companies. For example, a World Liberty deal to acquire around $2 million of a Movement Labs token coincided with rumors of Movement’s talks with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency about integrating blockchain technology into government operations. (Both World Liberty and Movement Labs denied these allegations.)4 But an April 8 memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, citing Trump’s executive order on crypto, dismantled the Department of Justice’s cryptocurrency investigations team and directed the Market Integrity and Major Frauds Unit to “cease cryptocurrency enforcement”. This may well have eliminated any remaining chance of a federal investigation into allegations of malfeasance in a business venture controlled by the president and his family [I81].
As for the stablecoin, the timing is significant: World Liberty Financial announced plans to issue USD1 on March 25, and just ten days later the Securities and Exchange Commission published a statement declaring that "covered" stablecoins fall outside its authority, and that companies issuing stablecoins need not register.5 Meanwhile, a Trump-aligned Congress is working to pass new, friendly stablecoin legislation [I79] with substantial direction from the cryptocurrency industry, which spent over $130 million installing crypto-friendly legislators](https://poliverso.org/photo/preview/640/43496122 "Allegations of insider trading and quid pro quo deals [I76] have plagued the project, particularly amid reports of unusual token swaps with other cryptocurrency companies. For example, a World Liberty deal to acquire around $2 million of a Movement Labs token coincided with rumors of Movement’s talks with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency about integrating blockchain technology into government operations. (Both World Liberty and Movement Labs denied these allegations.)4 But an April 8 memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, citing Trump’s executive order on crypto, dismantled the Department of Justice’s cryptocurrency investigations team and directed the Market Integrity and Major Frauds Unit to “cease cryptocurrency enforcement”. This may well have eliminated any remaining chance of a federal investigation into allegations of malfeasance in a business venture controlled by the president and his family [I81].
As for the stablecoin, the timing is significant: World Liberty Financial announced plans to issue USD1 on March 25, and just ten days later the Securities and Exchange Commission published a statement declaring that \"covered\" stablecoins fall outside its authority, and that companies issuing stablecoins need not register.5 Meanwhile, a Trump-aligned Congress is working to pass new, friendly stablecoin legislation [I79] with substantial direction from the cryptocurrency industry, which spent over $130 million installing crypto-friendly legislators")
![Truth Social and Truth.Fi
Trump Media & Technology Group, behind Trump’s Truth Social platform, is also newly exploring the cryptocurrency world. Trump owns about 53% of the shares, estimated to be worth around $2 billion, in the publicly traded company, which recently submitted filings to allow the trust holding his shares (controlled by Donald Trump Jr.) to sell them [I81].
In January, the company announced it would enter the fintech space with a brand called Truth.Fi, focusing on “America First investment vehicles”.6 On March 24, TMTG announced a partnership with Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com — a company under SEC investigation, that had in August 2024 received a Wells notice informing them of an impending enforcement action [I68]. On March 27, only three days after the partnership announcement, Crypto.com revealed that the SEC had dropped its investigation [I81].
Simultaneously with its announcement about entering fintech, TMTG announced it would allocate up to $250 million of its cash reserves into investment vehicles including bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.7 By investing in crypto, the company (and thus Trump) stands to profit from Trump’s own actions to pump crypto prices, including announcing a bitcoin strategic reserve to “elevate this critical industry”, and exploring avenues to use government money to buy bitcoin [I80].](https://poliverso.org/photo/preview/640/43496105 "Truth Social and Truth.Fi
Trump Media & Technology Group, behind Trump’s Truth Social platform, is also newly exploring the cryptocurrency world. Trump owns about 53% of the shares, estimated to be worth around $2 billion, in the publicly traded company, which recently submitted filings to allow the trust holding his shares (controlled by Donald Trump Jr.) to sell them [I81].
In January, the company announced it would enter the fintech space with a brand called Truth.Fi, focusing on “America First investment vehicles”.6 On March 24, TMTG announced a partnership with Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com — a company under SEC investigation, that had in August 2024 received a Wells notice informing them of an impending enforcement action [I68]. On March 27, only three days after the partnership announcement, Crypto.com revealed that the SEC had dropped its investigation [I81].
Simultaneously with its announcement about entering fintech, TMTG announced it would allocate up to $250 million of its cash reserves into investment vehicles including bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.7 By investing in crypto, the company (and thus Trump) stands to profit from Trump’s own actions to pump crypto prices, including announcing a bitcoin strategic reserve to “elevate this critical industry”, and exploring avenues to use government money to buy bitcoin [I80].")
![A crypto game
Fortune recently reported that Trump plans to release a blockchain-based real estate-themed game similar to Monopoly.8 Unlike many traditional games where players use in-game currencies that can’t be transferred outside of the game, crypto games often aim to use cryptocurrencies for game economies, attracting players with promises of earning real money simply by playing a video game. Blockchain games, sometimes dubbed “play-to-earn” games, have a troubled history, struggling to balance in-game economies where wealthier players can simply pay to win, poorer players can’t afford to play at all, and more and more new players must constantly join to sustain token prices.b Games like Axie Infinity, which surged in popularity in late 2021, spawned a form of digital sharecropping where wealthier individuals leased in-game assets to those in the Philippines and other lower-wage areas, who were promised they could earn more playing these video games than from other local jobs.9 Other moral issues arose from children playing games with gambling-like mechanics, where they were encouraged to spend (and often later lose) real money on new characters or items. Then, of course, there was the record-breaking $625 million Axie Infinity exploit by North Korean hackers in March 2022 [W3IGG], which caused players’ tokens to plummet in value and never recover.
Before the second Trump administration, play-to-earn games faced new regulatory scrutiny. In its lawsuits against Coinbase](https://poliverso.org/photo/preview/640/43496147 "A crypto game
Fortune recently reported that Trump plans to release a blockchain-based real estate-themed game similar to Monopoly.8 Unlike many traditional games where players use in-game currencies that can’t be transferred outside of the game, crypto games often aim to use cryptocurrencies for game economies, attracting players with promises of earning real money simply by playing a video game. Blockchain games, sometimes dubbed “play-to-earn” games, have a troubled history, struggling to balance in-game economies where wealthier players can simply pay to win, poorer players can’t afford to play at all, and more and more new players must constantly join to sustain token prices.b Games like Axie Infinity, which surged in popularity in late 2021, spawned a form of digital sharecropping where wealthier individuals leased in-game assets to those in the Philippines and other lower-wage areas, who were promised they could earn more playing these video games than from other local jobs.9 Other moral issues arose from children playing games with gambling-like mechanics, where they were encouraged to spend (and often later lose) real money on new characters or items. Then, of course, there was the record-breaking $625 million Axie Infinity exploit by North Korean hackers in March 2022 [W3IGG], which caused players’ tokens to plummet in value and never recover.
Before the second Trump administration, play-to-earn games faced new regulatory scrutiny. In its lawsuits against Coinbase")
![Since his inauguration, Trump has been hard at work bulldozing regulatory or legal barriers for crypto companies that could require registration with financial regulators, more burdensome oversight, customer support programs and recourse for players whose in-game and/or crypto assets are stolen, and limits on gambling mechanisms in games — all things that would cut into crypto gaming companies’ profits. The Securities and Exchange Commission has practically broken the sound barrier in its race to drop investigations and enforcement actions (including the lawsuits involving Binance and Coinbase naming the gaming tokens as securities). They’ve also declared most cryptocurrency assets exempt from its authority, and invited crypto executives and lobbyists to write their own rules. The Trump administration has been working to shut down the CFPB entirely, with vocal support from crypto industry executives [Debanking]. Meanwhile, Congress is chipping away CFPB regulations where both the House and Senate recently voted to overturn the CFPB’s rule on crypto games, which also would have applied broader protections for crypto holders outside of the gaming sector. These votes fell along party lines, with all Democrats and Independents opposing the removal of the rule and all Republicans except for one token Senator supporting its nullification.1213 All that remains is for Trump to sign the bill eliminating the rule, in a move that will personally profit him.](https://poliverso.org/photo/preview/640/43496151 "Since his inauguration, Trump has been hard at work bulldozing regulatory or legal barriers for crypto companies that could require registration with financial regulators, more burdensome oversight, customer support programs and recourse for players whose in-game and/or crypto assets are stolen, and limits on gambling mechanisms in games — all things that would cut into crypto gaming companies’ profits. The Securities and Exchange Commission has practically broken the sound barrier in its race to drop investigations and enforcement actions (including the lawsuits involving Binance and Coinbase naming the gaming tokens as securities). They’ve also declared most cryptocurrency assets exempt from its authority, and invited crypto executives and lobbyists to write their own rules. The Trump administration has been working to shut down the CFPB entirely, with vocal support from crypto industry executives [Debanking]. Meanwhile, Congress is chipping away CFPB regulations where both the House and Senate recently voted to overturn the CFPB’s rule on crypto games, which also would have applied broader protections for crypto holders outside of the gaming sector. These votes fell along party lines, with all Democrats and Independents opposing the removal of the rule and all Republicans except for one token Senator supporting its nullification.1213 All that remains is for Trump to sign the bill eliminating the rule, in a move that will personally profit him.")
![Bitcoin mining
In late March, Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. announced their investment in a bitcoin mining company called American Bitcoin [I81], where Eric Trump also took the Chief Strategy Officer role. The company was created through a deal with existing American bitcoin mining firm Hut8, which contributed “substantially all” of its bitcoin mining machines. This deal raised eyebrows among observers including VanEck analyst Matthew Sigel, who commented, “I don’t fully understand the rationale of selling 61,000 miners in exchange for an 80% stake in a subsidiary that they previously owned 100% of.”14 It seems to me that Hut8 determined a 20% donation to the Trump family was worth the benefits of getting looped into the Trump crypto empire.
Eric Trump announced plans for the company to go public and hinted at a future partnership with World Liberty Financial. They also intend to stockpile some of the bitcoin they mine, again adding potential upside if Trump successfully boosts bitcoin prices.15](https://poliverso.org/photo/preview/640/43496140 "Bitcoin mining
In late March, Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. announced their investment in a bitcoin mining company called American Bitcoin [I81], where Eric Trump also took the Chief Strategy Officer role. The company was created through a deal with existing American bitcoin mining firm Hut8, which contributed “substantially all” of its bitcoin mining machines. This deal raised eyebrows among observers including VanEck analyst Matthew Sigel, who commented, “I don’t fully understand the rationale of selling 61,000 miners in exchange for an 80% stake in a subsidiary that they previously owned 100% of.”14 It seems to me that Hut8 determined a 20% donation to the Trump family was worth the benefits of getting looped into the Trump crypto empire.
Eric Trump announced plans for the company to go public and hinted at a future partnership with World Liberty Financial. They also intend to stockpile some of the bitcoin they mine, again adding potential upside if Trump successfully boosts bitcoin prices.15")
![Memecoins
Days before Trump’s inauguration, he dropped the $TRUMP memecoin, horrifying even some of his most devoted crypto industry supporters who described the cash-grab as “absolutely preposterous … plumbing new depths of idiocy” [I75]. Shortly after, the Trump family launched a $MELANIA memecoin, seemingly seeking a second windfall. While memecoin valuations are challenging to calculate accurately, the Financial Times estimated in early March that he and his team had profited at least $350 million from the stunt.16 On April 15, the Trump-controlled wallet appeared to cash out an additional $4.6 million.17
The $MELANIA token team also appeared to cash out around $4.5 million in late March and early April.17 On April 7, Bubblemaps reported insiders had moved more tokens, notionally worth around $30 million, from project’s designated “community” wallets and began selling them.18 This followed reports that the $MELANIA token team is the same group involved in malfeasance around $LIBRA, a token affiliated with Argentina’s president Milei, and a widespread insider trading scandal involving Solana-based memecoins [I77].](https://poliverso.org/photo/preview/640/43496139 "Memecoins
Days before Trump’s inauguration, he dropped the $TRUMP memecoin, horrifying even some of his most devoted crypto industry supporters who described the cash-grab as “absolutely preposterous … plumbing new depths of idiocy” [I75]. Shortly after, the Trump family launched a $MELANIA memecoin, seemingly seeking a second windfall. While memecoin valuations are challenging to calculate accurately, the Financial Times estimated in early March that he and his team had profited at least $350 million from the stunt.16 On April 15, the Trump-controlled wallet appeared to cash out an additional $4.6 million.17
The $MELANIA token team also appeared to cash out around $4.5 million in late March and early April.17 On April 7, Bubblemaps reported insiders had moved more tokens, notionally worth around $30 million, from project’s designated “community” wallets and began selling them.18 This followed reports that the $MELANIA token team is the same group involved in malfeasance around $LIBRA, a token affiliated with Argentina’s president Milei, and a widespread insider trading scandal involving Solana-based memecoins [I77].")
![Crypto holdings
While the specifics of the Trump family’s crypto holdings remain largely unknown, financial disclosures and blockchain records shed some light. In August 2024, Trump reported holding $1 million to $5 million in ETH,21 which matched with a publicly disclosed Ethereum wallet then holding around $2.28 million worth of the token. Trump later sold sizable portions of those tokens beginning in December 2024.22
The personal crypto holdings of Trump family members who stand to benefit from market movements under Trump have not been publicly disclosed. Some seem keen to experiment with moving markets themselves, with Eric Trump tweeting “In my opinion, it’s a great time to add $ETH. You can thank me later” in February, right around the time World Liberty Financial was moving a substantial amount of ETH to Coinbase [I76].](https://poliverso.org/photo/preview/640/43496221 "Crypto holdings
While the specifics of the Trump family’s crypto holdings remain largely unknown, financial disclosures and blockchain records shed some light. In August 2024, Trump reported holding $1 million to $5 million in ETH,21 which matched with a publicly disclosed Ethereum wallet then holding around $2.28 million worth of the token. Trump later sold sizable portions of those tokens beginning in December 2024.22
The personal crypto holdings of Trump family members who stand to benefit from market movements under Trump have not been publicly disclosed. Some seem keen to experiment with moving markets themselves, with Eric Trump tweeting “In my opinion, it’s a great time to add $ETH. You can thank me later” in February, right around the time World Liberty Financial was moving a substantial amount of ETH to Coinbase [I76].")
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •Back on point!
→
The amazeballs Garth Ennis / Steve Dillon “comic book series” #Preacher is in my top 10.
+ I gotta say, most comic book adaptations suck…! but the Sam Catlin, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen adaptation rocked.
Back to my normal #law & #politics coverage, h/t to #SethRogen who took time during the 2025 Breakthrough Prize ceremony aka the “Oscars of #Science,” to point out the messed up shit that #Trump is doing to the scientific community [+ the artists/illustration professionals].
(((Cindy Weinstein)))
Unknown parent • • •Kirsty
in reply to (((Cindy Weinstein))) • • •archive.ph/ptFUk 👍
(((Cindy Weinstein)))
in reply to Kirsty • • •Oh Thank you! Will read as soon as I'm done Zooming with my students.
(((Cindy Weinstein)))
in reply to Kirsty • • •Okay, I just read it. Many thanks again. I wish the NYT had taken the opportunity to talk about the Rogens' (Seth and Lauren) amazing charity, HFC, which supports caregivers and provides funds for research into Alzheimer's. Funds that RFK & his henchmen are cutting, destroying the work of decades. They created HFC in honor of Lauren's mother, Adele, who died of early-onset Alzheimer's. My dad died of this, too, and my rage was so eloquently voiced by Rogen's courage.
zl2tod
in reply to (((Cindy Weinstein))) • • •@CindyWeinstein
"It is unclear what Mr. Rogen was referring to with the $320 million."
No, Derrick Bryson Taylor, it's not at all unclear if you read the previous paragraphs in your own article.
Rogen is obviously referring to $320m underwriting the Trump campaign provided by the people you name as being in the room.
@AdminKirsty @Nonilex
(((Cindy Weinstein))) reshared this.
(((Cindy Weinstein)))
in reply to zl2tod • • •doofus journalism.