Rolling out our first billboard campaign!

What do you guys think!

mandibles, if you haven't yet read

How many times have you flirted with death?

I can count 2 times for me - once I was almost ran over by a trolly at 4yo and the other time I almost drowned while sailing a stormy lake.

The Truth of Suffering (Dukkha): Life is inherently filled with suffering and dissatisfaction.

The Truth of the Cause of Suffering (Samudaya): Suffering is caused by attachment, desire, and ignorance. When we cling to people, objects, or ideas, we create a cycle of craving and dissatisfaction.

The Truth of the End of Suffering (Nirodha): By overcoming attachment and desire, one can achieve liberation from suffering.

I think the buddhists got it figured out.

Good day! This is #InkblotArt, the note that lets your imagination fly!

Today is July 6, 2024. Block height of 850927

What do you see in the blot? Comment and get a zap!

It's mostly not employees or better. They are not stupid. They are scared. Scared by bank and bank is scared by regulators who issues huge fines for any "wrong doing" which by very wide definition of EU regulations can be basically anything.

I had a chance to see a EU bank training for AML. Let's say I'm surprised there is any business going on...

EU the leader in regulations 😍

A sufficiently oppressed citizenry will revolt. Ruler and subject are always in a power balance.

The universal law preceeds written law and is what all other laws are derived from.

False, The Law is apriori to the state.

Currently chilling at a cafe at midnight in some Red Sea coastal town five hours south of Cairo.

A doctor from Syria recognizes me and comes to talk. He is briefly here in Egypt but works in Syria treating people.

He and his colleagues use the informal Hawala system to move money for legitimate purposes, because Syria is sanctioned by the US. The Hawala system is ancient, stretching back to the medieval Silk Road and prior, but is still used today in many regions. He’s a fan of Bitcoin obviously.

So many people in the developed world take money for granted. But people in developing regions or conflict regions often have a better appreciation of permissionless money, undebaseable money, etc.

Another great hack for saving money is realizing a $5,000 modern motorcycle will outperform nearly every sports car on the market.

Another great hack for saving money is realizing a $5,000 modern motorcycle will outperform nearly every sports car on the market.

What we need is a verifiably fair lottery.

Not for gambling, mind you.

For choosing our public servants.

I bet we'd get a better outcome with randos selected for short terms than with people elected in a popularity contest.

Mood.

Need best name 😍

My words: buy #bitcoin & hodl 😃

My Experience with nostr:npub1ex7mdykw786qxvmtuls208uyxmn0hse95rfwsarvfde5yg6wy7jq6qvyt9

**TL;DR Strike is garbage.**

I started using Strike in the middle of March this year.

My first impression was that it was a great app. It had Lightning integrated, on-chain withdrawals were free, and the setup was pretty easy, even though I had to do a full KYC. After all, they are regulated and that is to be expected.

I began using Strike to send and receive BTC and buy gift cards directly within the app. I was pretty amazed at how easy everything worked. I loved the app. I even recommended it as an onboarding app for pre-coiner friends. Well, not anymore.

One day in May, about two months later, I wanted to send some BTC to an exchange or buy a gift card (which was basically all I did with the app in those previous two months). However, the app denied access to my BTC. All I got was a cartoon lightning bolt saying, “We need to review your account. Contact support.”

At first, I was shocked. I didn't have my life savings in the app, but it wasn’t a trivial amount of sats either. So, there it was, right in my face for the first time: Not your keys, not your coins. I got angry with myself and with Strike too.

I contacted support.

Support wrote that to comply with regulations, they needed additional information (remember, I already did full KYC), like a pay stub, signed employee agreement, or tax statement.

This was my response:

Hey, the Bitcoin with which I funded my Strike account are savings from the past. I don't work currently, and I also have no tax statement because I just moved to Brazil last year. What exactly is the problem? I didn't do anything illegal or wrong. I expect this issue to be resolved immediately or you will lose a customer. I already regret using your service. I'm very disappointed.

Yeah, I was really pissed because I couldn’t access my sats. They locked me out. Just like that.

Strike answered:

Dear User,

Upon careful review, we have determined that your account has engaged in prohibited use. We regret to inform you that we can no longer provide you with access to our service.

At this time, your account has been permanently disabled. Please withdraw all remaining assets from your account within one week from receiving this message, and confirm with us when the withdrawal has been completed. After this timeframe, the account will be closed permanently. Please be advised that this decision is final.

Best regards,

The Strike Team

Okay… So now Strike accused me of “prohibited use” of their app.

I asked them to be kind and specify what prohibited use I engaged in. Because obviously, I don’t want to get in trouble or do anything illegal.

Their answer:

This decision is based on an assessment of different qualifications. Our customer support team can only confirm that we sent this message and assist with technical issues only. Support cannot reverse this decision, nor can they share any more details related to this matter.

Thank you for that great answer. I can really see you care about your customers and their experience. But I guess at that point, I wasn’t their customer anymore anyway.

Still, I sent them another message and asked who I could talk to. If there was anybody who could clarify what I did wrong. Remember, all I did was send and receive BTC and buy gift cards.

Their answer? Well, they never answered again. Just like that. That was it.

After this beautiful experience, I posted about it on Nostr.

And guess what? nostr:npub1cn4t4cd78nm900qc2hhqte5aa8c9njm6qkfzw95tszufwcwtcnsq7g3vle answered.

Woohooo!

He said I should send him a DM and he would happily look into the issue.

Cool! Now that’s what I call customer service.

So, I did. No answer.

I sent him another one. Again, no answer.

I sent another one or two. Still no answer.

This was 5 weeks ago.

I guess he is very busy.

What a joke Strike is.