But the US government keeps selling theirs in auctions.
That cake sure looks tasty!
Similar situation to many humans.
As a non-US person I cannot understand why Americans should worry about China eavesdropping on them - if indeed they even do. Of much greater concern should be the fact that their own government is doing it.
If China is gathering info on what you, as an American, do on TikTok, what can they do with that info and how can it impact on your life?
On the other hand, the US government knowing such things is a different matter entirely because it's your government and they can mess up your life if they wish.
Only for viewing profiles apparently - as that was all I could do.
For the drummers amongst you - Senri Kawaguchi drums up a storm. One of the most impressive young drummers I've ever witnessed.
I prefer to keep the ultimate access to my wallet in my head, not via a physical card. I did explore this option though, using Tangem - which is a good product. But I kept coming back to the fact I didn't feel comfortable storing any large amount on a card I could lose or misplace - which might be consumed by a fire.
With regard to planning for my eventual demise or emergency of some sort, I have created a password-protected document which resides on a USB stick - and nowhere else.
This document includes the access info for all my financial accounts - both ordinary banking and investments, as well as my bitcoin info. However, it does not include the recovery words for any of my wallets. Instead it reveals where this information can be found.
Both my son and daughter are aware of this USB stick and where it is, and have been told the password needed to unlock the document it contains.
I regularly update this document as required, to reflect any changed information.
I spent the first 20 years of my adult life wasting it in "political action". I stood for parliament in New Zealand, was part of a group of three who wrote the founding philosophy of another party (still existing), and finally ended up forming my own party.
However, in the mid-90s, after reading "How I found freedom in an unfree world" by Harry Browne, I entered a period of intense self reflection which ended up with me abandoning political action completely. In fact, the last time I voted was in 1997.
Since then I have come to realise that democracy is a charade, a sham - a smoke and mirrors operation.
We are offered the opportunity to vote every three to five years, casting our lot for typically one of two political parties. The belief is that by doing so we have a meaningful say - via our elected representatives - in the future of our country.
Of course all this is tosh. It doesn't really matter who we vote for or which party wins. At the end of the day no meaningful change ever happens - just fiddling on the margins.
Over the years I have come to realise the real power is beyond public politics, beyond voting and beyond accountability. In particular, since Covid there has been an obvious global coordination of policy - at least in the West. None of this policy ever reaches the ballot box and changing parties doesn't undo any bad policy.
The most infuriating thing is how we are propagandised into believing we live in "free" societies when the truth is the absolute opposite.
The revolution must continue. It started with the separation of church and state. We are now in the separation of money and state phase, closely followed by the separation of communication networks and state.
But to be fully free we must also acknowledge that the way we are currently governed is unsustainable and contrary to all the requirements of a free society.
We live in exciting times.
Some thoughts on hardware wallet security.
One of the things that's confusing for anyone new to this space (or even not so new) is to determine "best practices" when it comes wallet security.
Everyone knows the phrase "not your keys, not your coins", but even when you have the keys there is still another "rabbit hole" for you to explore - that is, what is the best way to manage such keys.
Over the last couple of years I have given a lot of thought to this, primarily based on my own long term experience and an awareness of my own human fallibility.
The basic premise is that if you secure your 12 or 24 word seed/recovery words then all is well - whether it be a hot or cold wallet.
The next step is to understand the security advantage of using cold wallets - i.e. independent hardware devices.
Once you have successfully deployed the above, the search for enhanced security is not over. You will now be presented with such options as "single signature" vs "multi-signature" setups - adding more confusion to the mix.
There's also multi-signature collaborative custody to consider, via third parties.
Over time I have learned that everyone is different and each of us has certain personal considerations to take into account.
Having explored and played around with multisig set ups I found myself feeling less secure, due to the complicated information you had to maintain in addition to securing the private key.
When I considered collaborative multsig third party custody I found myself worrying about the nature of trust in such a relationship and didn't feel comfortable dealing with "joint custody".
So what is the best practice? Well, it depends entirely on you and what you are comfortable with. It's a given that you need control over your private key, but beyond that you need to choose enhanced security that does what you want - without unnecessary additional complexity.
Too much complexity, in my opinion, is also a security risk as you may get "lost" in all the details and screw things up.
Anyway, a couple of months back I implemented what I believe to be "all the security" I personally need and what I can manage without stress.
What I do may not necessarily appeal to you, then again it might, so I'll share it here.
I have three hardware wallets. Two are used to hold long term holdings and the other is used for medium term. I also have a couple of hot wallets for easy access on smaller amounts.
When I first got into bitcoin in 2011, there was only one wallet option - Bitcoin QT, which is now known as Bitcoin Core. A couple of years later Electrum was released, which I immediately moved to, to avoid all the blockchain download and syncronisation issues that came with QT.
Later still, with the arrival of hardware wallets, I purchased the very first edition of Trezor - which at the time could only be paid for in bitcoin, 1 BTC to be precise, which based on today's bitcoin price was an extremely expensive buy!
More recently I purchased the BitBox02 and later Blockstream's Jade.
All this time I have relied on the simplest methods of securing my keys, which I consider to be reliable. This consists of recording my seed/recovery words in such a way as to be virtually impossible for anyone else to find. However, there is always the risk of such being discovered, however small.
Then at the beginning of this year I read about the use of additional passphrases to create a hidden wallet - an additional and optional function which was added to both Trezor and BitBox02.
I spent a good three months studying this option and pondering over its implications before deciding to implement it.
Essentially, it works like this. You can create an additional layer of security by the use of a "secret" phrase (which you commit to memory), which is required at login to your wallet.
What this means is even if someone found your private key (stored as best as you can), they still cannot access your funds.
The process is simple enough. I plug in my Trezor or Bitbox02, enter my PIN and am then given the option to open either the default wallet or my hidden wallet. When I choose "hidden wallet" I'm prompted to enter my secret passphrase. This can be anything, from one word to a phrase - even a sentence.
When I first learned about this option, the first thing that concerned me was "what if I forget this secret phrase?". Writing it down would undermine the whole point, so it wasn't until I came up with a viable and memorable secret passphrase that I felt comfortable implementing the strategy.
When choosing such a word/phrase you have to seriously ask yourself if you could possibly forget it - and that's the difficult part.
For me, the search for the perfect phrase was to look back at my life and think of things that have been very important to me, things I will never forget, no matter what. It could be a childhood experience, it could be a traumatic event, or a once-in-a-lifetime happening. If you can find a word or phrase that's linked to that, or defines it in some way, you will find you have the confidence in your own memory and will be able remember it.
Since implementing this strategy I have felt an increased peace of mind. I have also accessed my wallets numerous times and realise how simple it is, and also a sense of how I will never forget my secret phrase.
So, given the choice between multisig and an additional secret phrase, I personally find the latter simpler and it sits better with me. I always stressed about the setup complexities required for multsig and now feel I have the optimum security that fits my personal profile.
My advice is not to be swayed by other people's advice, but to spend the time understanding your own needs and finding a solution that provides both optimum security AND peace of mind - for YOU.
Climate change is real. Climate emergency is not.
I think your question implies another "can AI become conscious?" This is debatable and I don't have a firm enough grasp of the inner workings or ultimate potential of AI. Clearly Elon Musk believes AI is potentially dangerous, but he didn't say to what extent and by what mode of ability (conscious or not).
What makes you think Russia Today is any different from US or any other western media? Fact is, I'm inclined to rate it higher.
There are always concerns about path-breaking new technology. Fact is, most tech can be used for both good and bad purposes - witness the splitting of the atom and nuclear power.... or the nuclear bomb.
Also, it's impossible to stop new tech once it's out in the wild. Even if control is attempted or even banning, there's nothing to stop such research and development going underground.
I believe AI has both good and bad possiblities.
Depends upon your definition os "sufficient"
As usual, Bitcoin surprised with a quick surge to US$30,000 plus, which seems to be holding well. This has to be seen against a background of majority bearishness.
Where to from here? Optimistic opinion would suggest a maximum of $50K this year, while pessimists are still looking for "one more correction" in the hope of buying more at a cheaper price. A fool's game.
Meanwhile, most of us are fixated on the 4 year halving cycle which, as we all know, delivers all time highs near the end of the year following a halving. The next halving is 2024 so there's the expectation we won't see any dramatic price action until the latter part of 2025.
I think it would be a mistake to always assume bitcoin will move in accordance to pre-ordained plans and cycles. There are too many variables at play, not least of which is the economic turmoil all around us.
I'm of a mind to believe a new ATH will happen this year, when people least expect it. It could even exceed $100K. And I say this as someone who has been actively involved and invested in bitcoin since 2011. Call it my gut feeling.
Of course no one is forced to use it. 😎 You're right, there is some useful technical stuff here and people are willing to help, that's one of the good points.
Unpopular opinion: Bitcoin Nostr needs to mature and grow up. It's still primarily a "pat each other on the back" platform with a near-constant flow of one-liner comments and memes.
Don't get me wrong, I love the potential of Nostr, but to be honest I still find more useful and thought-provoking content on Twitter. So for the time being I will still need to continue using both.
Short term it's annoying of course, but long term it's all good!