Operation Chokepoint goes just as far as we think. I own a small business and my payroll company won’t direct deposit into my Fold Card account. We checked the numbers several times, confirmed it with Fold and the payroll company still says it’s an invalid routing number. They are lying.

I tried to get my teenage sons set up on Fold, Strike or Swan so they could start DCAing a few dollars a week. We tried each app one by one and the text confirmation never came through. We tried several times over the course of a month or so, following solutions posted in each app’s FAQ and changing settings according to what I found on the internet, with no success. Eventually, after spending several hours researching the problem I discovered that the phone service provider, AT&T, was blocking conformation texts from companies that are not on its approved list.

We had to physically call AT&T and sign a document to allow text confirmations from companies our service provider didn’t think were “safe” for us.

My response to the whole thing “Congratulations boys, I think you are on your first government watchlist.” and “Guess whose going to get a hardware wallet for Christmas?!”

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If you’re interested in hardware wallets. Checkout the nostr:npub17tyke9lkgxd98ruyeul6wt3pj3s9uxzgp9hxu5tsenjmweue6sqq4y3mgl project. They can build their own hardware wallet and learn about multisig and really help them understand private key management. Also uses off the shelf non proprietary hardware.

🧡

Oh yeah, I saw y’all on Nostr the other day. Looks pretty cool. They both put together their own gaming PC’s so I think this could be a fun family project.

If they are building gaming PCs this would be a perfect ‘winter’ project! They can build the device and learn the ins-and-outs of UXTO management and PSBTs. Then get some stainless steel washers and a some letter punches and make offline backups!

why do you trust a hardware company anymore than any other company?

Bitcoin-only. The others have bloatware that introduces potential attack vectors.

that doesn't answer my question

You asked a simple question. I wouldn't use a hardware device from any company that contains non-bitcoin firmware because they send frequent updates to install, which can expose the device to malicious code. I also simply don't trust companies that depend on shitcoin products for a revenue stream. Their motives are not aligned with my values.

I don’t, which is why I look for open source

I don’t, I’m teaching people how bitcoin works. First we buy KYC, next I’ll teach them about software watches and moving their bitcoin off exchanges. Then we’ll move on to hardware wallets. I’ll explain why o but pen source and bitcoin only. Then we’ll get raspberry Pi’s and build our own nodes. One step at a time.

If you take a newby and start using unfamiliar language and technical jargon you will stop the learning process because they don’t understand. If you start with the basics and teaching by doing people tend to become curious about the next steps.

I appreciate that, rock on. #smij #zapd

my concern remains with people, hardware & software. people are putting a lot of trust in people they don't know, selling software &/or hardware "solutions" to secure their btc. its a recipe for disaster

I'm not saying i have the answer, but i have trust issues #tno

It's great that you're educating them. Keep it coming. 🚀🚀🚀

There's also hidden a great first lesson into why you don't want to be on any government white/black lists.

Go teach them how to hunt for the freedom sats without KYC. There's lot of options, and learning about them can be pretty rewarding and educative by itself.

They can even buy some coinjoined sats from yourself. (If they are fine with the Dad-KYC 😅)

If you are on NOSTR you are on a list. If you have a bank account, drivers license, government ID you are on a list. Birth certificate? Social Security number? Both lists. Own a gun, list. Buy a house or car, list list and list. Ever been to a doctor, have health insurance? Own a smartphone? Not only does that put you on several lists but you are transmitting gigs of data about yourself to your service provider and the companies that developed every app you installed.

It’s not about being on a list, we are all on a bunch of government lists. It’s about not giving a fuck and living one’s life regardless. It’s also about teaching them about government overreach so they can work on limiting government as they become adults. Oops, I said “limit government” now I’m on another list 😀