FreeRossDAO
FreeRossDAO — DAOs are really getting interesting
Ross Ulbricht is auctioning off the “Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection“ NFT. This is a hand-drawn collection of art depicting and drawn from different stages of his life (including his time in prison), which his supporters have minted into an NFT.
Ulbricht is well known in the crypto space for his role in the online market place (Silk Road), his subsequent arrest, and what many consider a sham trial and travesty of justice.
Ross has been fighting for 8+ years for some sort of clemency regarding his double life +40 years jail sentence, and proceeds from the sale of the NFT collection will help him and his family continue this fight. Ross is also launching a cause of his own: “Art4Giving” is a charity that will be “dedicated to relieving the suffering of the incarcerated and their families”, the the NFT collection will help it launch.
The Auction takes place Dec. 2nd - 8th on the Superrare platform. You can also read about it in Ross’s own words here.
While many were excited to see a top bid surpassing $1 million a day ago, hopes are even higher now with the creation of the the FreeRossDAO. Similar to the Constitution DAO, the FreeRossDAO aims to pool a much larger pot of money than any one individual might be able to contribute, to win the auction. If FreeRossDAO succeeds, the NFT ownership will be fractionalized into $ROSS governance tokens, weighted by contribution.
If you’d like to participate, visit FreeRossDao or FreeRoss.org
The FBI’s Cheat Sheet
A leaked document from the FBI surfaced this week that reveals just how vulnerable our supposedly “private” messages really are to surveillance. The leak came from (of all places) Rolling Stone Magazine, and features a previously unreleased FBI document comparing the privacy of iMessage, Line, Signal, Telegram, Threema, Viber, WeChat, WhatsApp, and Wickr.
Some of the biggest takeaways:
WhatsApp seems to be able to deliver limited message content and other information in real time.
The most popular “private messaging” apps are the least private.
Signal comes out on top with regards to privacy.
Telegram appears to come out really well, but a BIG PSA:
Normal telegram messages are not as private as many think. Group chats on telegram are NOT end-to-end-encrypted, and p2p chats not end-to-end-encrypted by default. If you want e2ee you have to specifically select "secret chat", and most people don't do this because they don’t even know about it.
Be careful with the messaging apps you use, and for a deeper dive see our 2 videos on this:
Jack Dorsey Resigns as Twitter CEO
Jack Dorsey, the long-standing face of Twitter, has flown the coop. After 16 years of leadership, Jack resigned his position in an open letter stating “it is important that a company can break away from its founders”.
The letter states that the newly appointed CEO, Parag Agrawal (formerly CTO), has his “bone deep” confidence. Jack will remain on the board until May to help with transitions but afterwards will leave the company completely because he believes “it is critical a company can stand on its own, free of its founder’s influence or direction”.
Jack concluded the letter by sharing that he tweeted his resignation email on purpose because it is his one wish that “Twitter be the most transparent company in the world”. His optimism is not widely embraced by the public at large, though, with many citing fears that Agrawal’s appointment will mean increased censorship on the platform.
And, indeed, on Agrawal’s first day as CEO, one of his first actions was to release a slew of updated terms and conditions related to what users can share publicly.
So what’s next for @Jack (henceforth referred to as Dorsey)?
Dorsey and his digital payments company, Square, have announced a new name: Block. The idea is that “Block” has many different meanings: building blocks, neighborhood blocks, and, of course, blockchain. Dorsey said:
“Block is a new name, but our purpose of economic empowerment remains the same. No matter how we grow or change, we will continue to build tools to help increase access to the economy.”
Interesting that as Square adds new dimensions to its business in the form of Blockchain integration and usage, its name Square also gains a 3rd dimension to become Block.
A Snake Amongst the Badgers
BadgerDAO, which enables Bitcoin to be used as collateral across DeFi applications, was hacked on Wednesday night. According to sources at PeckShield, a security and data analytics company, approximately 2,100 BTC and 151 ETH were drained from user wallets by way of malicious contract permissions, which may have been setup weeks prior to the attack.
Via Discord, Badger core contributor Tritium wrote:
“It looks like a bunch of users had approvals set for the exploit address allowing [the address] to operate on their vault funds and that was exploited. Once we noticed we froze all the vaults so nothing can move and are trying to figure out where the approvals came from, how many people have them, and what next steps are.”
While the investigation is underway, depositors are being advised by community members to revoke permissions for the malicious contract with tools such as Debank and Unrekt.
Why Wyoming Won’t Quit
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis (R), expressed her frustrations over Jerome Powell and Dr. Lael Brainard’s nominations for Chair and Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in an Op-Ed for the Wall Street Journal this week:
“I believe both are smart and qualified. But while Mr. Powell and Ms. Brainard have said they want to promote responsible financial innovation, when Wyoming provided a perfect opportunity the Fed instead inexplicably chose to ignore its legal obligations. I want to know why but haven’t received an answer.”
“Why,” indeed. Wyoming began efforts to integrate digital assets into the US banking system in 2019, including the creation of the Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI).
“Wyoming checked every box, holding more than 100 meetings with the Board of Governors and Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The Fed doesn’t seem to care, however. Two Wyoming SPDIs, Kraken and Avanti, received their bank charters in 2020. They applied for master accounts with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City shortly after. Over a year later, the Fed hasn’t started processing these applications, indicating it’s still determining whether SPDIs are banks—which is not a serious legal question”.
Lummis pointed out that the Fed is actually breaking the law in their actions (or inactions):
“In 1994 Congress required the Fed to act on all applications within one year. Numerous federal courts have stated that the Fed has a duty to give payment system access to all banks and credit unions conducting legal activities. The Fed itself has said its payment services will be available ‘to all depository institutions on an equitable basis . . . in an atmosphere of competitive fairness.’”
Sen. Lummis’ letter reminds us of how much control unelected bureaucrats have over our lives by controlling (and inflating) the money supply and blocking entire industries from having access to the country’s financial rails.
The cryptocurrency revolution is breeding a whole new era of permissions, and we’re here for it.
By Will Sandoval, NBTV Associate Producer, and Naomi Brockwell.