US Government To Bring PATRIOT Act to Digital Assets
FinCEN Director reveals that the Treasury is finalizing a ban on privacy tools, Representatives revive Special Measures to Fight Modern Threats Act
https://www.therage.co/us-government-to-bring-patriot-act-to-digital-assets/
I have a gift for seeing through the dirty tricks of people and governments.
A few days ago, I mentioned that we are being foolish about the op_return issue, this is a state attack to distract us and prevent privacy at the base layer of Bitcoin.
nostr:nevent1qqszy0988krvyhj0qcldu3xdetjy7syg7n25q2fln0mdz8dtl73lpqs9vscnd
What is being considered
1. Applying the PATRIOT Act to digital assets
The US Treasury Department, through FinCEN (the financial control unit), is finalizing new rules so that the PATRIOT Act also regulates transactions with cryptocurrencies and other crypto-assets, especially those involving "privacy" on public blockchains. 
2. The "mixer rule"
• They propose to ban or at least severely regulate tools that hide the origin of funds in cryptocurrencies ("mixers"). 
• This would include software or behaviors such as: pooling cryptocurrencies from multiple accounts, splitting transactions, using single-use wallets, deliberately delaying transfers, etc. 
• Although it is recognized that there are legitimate uses for privacy, such as protecting oneself from oppressive regimes, the official approach is that many of these features can facilitate financial crimes. 
3. Revive the Special Measures to Fight Modern Threats Act
• It is mentioned that this law, originally proposed in 2022, could be revived. It would allow the Treasury to ban certain digital transactions without public notice if they are considered significant threats. 
• Reference is also made to the use of Section 311 of the PATRIOT Act, which allows specific transactions to be restricted. 
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Potential consequences and concerns
• Reduced privacy: It could curtail tools and behaviors that enable anonymity or privacy on blockchains, some of which may be legitimate. 
• Legal liability: Individuals or entities that use mixers, unique addresses, or subdivide their transactions could face penalties if those practices are deemed "of primary money laundering concern." 
• Global impact: Given that cryptocurrencies are inherently global, the measures could also affect users outside the US or entities operating in multiple jurisdictions. 
the base layer has pseudonymity already, it's just wallets that have to be fixed.
they will certainly be going after that, as well as trying to attack protocol changes that would make privacy easier to do. it still can be done.
also, you obviously must realise that mozilla's "protecting your privacy" and the tor project also were long ago compromised. and maybe you are aware of the suspicious circumstances around the death of Ian Murdoch, the cofounder of the Debian linux distro. i also wonder about the case of Hans Reiser as well having dirty tricks involved.
for example, why did Taproot not include a proper single-payer P2PKH for the out points? if you do a big payment with them you have revealed your public key which means quantum attacks can then have plenty of time to try and break it. or for that matter, the lack of sane protocol limits on Taproot push commands, which opened up witness data, which is cheaper, to spam.
all of it smells, to me.
No you and your BTC maxi colleagues are ten years late. The subversion (thanks to fiat NGU) went unnoticed by many until now. It's almost too late.
Bitcoin could have rocked through the system, but instead it got tamed and neutralised.
"Maximalism" culture was the weapon they used to hijack the community
Who is going to be on the side of privacy? That's when we'll see who the feds really are, I suppose.
