The U.S. Department of [in]Justice has arrested the founder of BitFunder, Jon Montroll (WOT:nonperson) – better known as Ukyo – in response to an investigation by The FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission. BitFunder was an early Bitcoin "securities exchange" that saw around 6000 BTC liberated from it's coffers due to a bug that allowed attackers to credit themselves funds among other lulz. The announcement on the Department of [in]Justice website alleges that Montroll lied to SEC investigators in 2013 when questioned in regards to company finances after the hack, while depositing some of his own coins to BitFund in an effort to conceal the SFYL. Mr. Montroll has been charged with two counts of perjury and a single count of obstruction of justice.
Monthly Archives: February 2018
"Bittorrent Inc" Milks Window To Let Code Execution Bug Live
Bram Cohen's (WOT: nonperson) venture "Bittorrent Inc." has let the full 90 day window for a remote execution vulnerability revealed through Google's irresponsible disclosure program nearly expire before issuing a supposed fix to their uTorrent software. To ensure a timely upgrade panic the details and a demonstration of the vulnerability are already available (archived).
Maduro Government In Venezuela Attempts ICO
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro officially launched his own socialist shitcoin, "El Petro" today for pre-sale, and claims that each coin will be backed by a single barrel of oil. Maduro said there will be around 100 million coins total, arbitrarily valued at $6 billion USD which he promises will be "a total success for the welfare of Venezuela.” $38.4 million of that amount were up for grab during today's pre-sale at discount prices in an attempt to lure new investors into his scheme. The ICO was allegedly opened as a counter to crippling economic sanctions, the majority of which are imposed by Maduro's "Ya Socialismo", and El Presidente is hoping that it will provide a new outlet for payments of goods and services in the territory.
Having Dumped Dratel Ulbricht Continues Facing Grim Trial Aftermath
Earlier this month the three year window for Ross Ulbricht to seek a new trial through a Rule 33 motion passed. Katherine Forrest denied a motion from Ulbricht's new attorney Paul Grant to grant an extension in light of Ulbricht's previous counsel Joshual Dratel having perfomed the greatest failure in modern legal history.
Meanwhile a seperate set of attorneys retained by Ulbricht's family is seperately working to try to unravel the Dratel inflicted mess in the empire's appelate courts (archived).
India's City Union Bank Claims 2 Million USD Loss Through SWIFT
City Union Bank in India is claiming to have lost 2 million USD1 of fiat currency through the SWIFT network following what they are referring to as an attack (archived). The bank is negotiating with various other fiat actors to recover a portion of the funds, while the destination of other funds transfered out of the bank is lost in the soup of legacy fiat systems.
Universal Standard Dosidoes ↩
Former FBI Director Prepares Constitutional Crisis In United States With Indictments
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller acting as a "Special Counsel" has indicted 13 Russian nationals and one organization for engaging in political speech. The indictments are based on laws which nominally prohibit foreign nationals from engaging in US Federal Elections. Challenges to the laws which would arise from a serious legal defense citing the Consitution's protection of free speech and a free press would likely either result in their gutting to the point of uselessness or the disenfranchisement of many pantsuit supporters that happen to be undocumented foreign nationals physically present in the United States.
The indeterminism inherent in the US Courts Circus makes predicting which outcome arises, provided the case is litigated at all, a challenge, but either way the squeeze is in.
CoinBase Fiat Side Glitch Opens Butts For Hurts
An unnamed bug in Coinbase's purchasing system is responsible for multiple cases of SFYL this week, with angry redditards reporting having their bank accounts drained of filthy fiat after making a single purchase on the platform. As always, Coinbase was quick to lay the blame elsewhere, stating “We have confirmed that this is an issue occurring downstream from Coinbase, and we’re working with those parties to reach a resolution.”
The glitch went unnoticed from Jan.22 until Feb.11 and "customer service" reps from Coinbase say everyone should rest assured that they will be refunded in full. The company recently made changes to how it handles credit card purchases, listing them as "cash advances" at the point-of-sale, resulting in all the customer's cash being advanced directly to Coinbase's coffers. The front page of r/Coinbase on reddit stands as a testament to the escalating number of rubes who probably now wish they were using actual bitcoin.
Acute Pantsuit Inconsistency Shows Internal Disregard For Their Illusion of "Franchise"
On February 12, 2018:
The United States warned the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday against using an electronic voting system for a long-delayed presidential election in December this year because it has the potential to undermine the credibility of the poll. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told an informal U.N. Security Council meeting on the Congolese electoral process that deploying "an unfamiliar technology for the first time during a crucial election is an enormous risk."
Two days later:
Congressional Democrats introduced legislation on Wednesday that would provide more than $1 billion to boost cyber security of U.S. voting systems, and Vice President Mike Pence defended the administration’s efforts to protect polls from hackers…. "We cannot let the Russians laugh about and take joy in the success they had in the last election," Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, told a news conference. "Their goal is to undermine democracy."
The hidden gem, of course being:
The Democrats’ Election Security Act would allocate $1 billion in grants, overseen by the U.S. Election Commission, this year to help states buy voting machines that incorporate backup paper ballots, hire security staff and conduct risk assessments.
That is to say: a lightly-cloaked mandate for the installation of Diebold-style "user friendly" mechanisms for untraceable ballot-stuffing in place of the traditional paper-punch machines which were reintroduced in a number of U.S. states following the 2004 "hanging chads" e-voting election. And, naturally, a quite-undisguised mandate for the institution of a centralized bureaucracy which will centrally supply properly kosher voting machines, centrally networked, which are to produce properly kosher, per the DNC's lights, electoral outcomes.
It would seem that USG now pushes one voodoo in one of its Congoes, and a polar-opposite hoodoo in the other, without – unsurprisingly – much in the way of an explanation.
Shooting Outside USG.NSA Fort Meade
Reports are emerging of a multi casualty shooting incident this morning outside of the main entrance to the US NSA's Fort Meade Headquarters. The freeway around the area has been closed and local media is reporting differing numbers of casualties and other details at this time.
Unilever Prepares To Stop Feeding Facebook And Google
Consumer goods giant Unilever is preparing to cease continuing to spend bleeding marketing dollars on advertisements through Facebook, Google, and other online platforms. Unilever Chief Marketing Officer Keith Weed is offering:
"As one of the largest advertisers in the world, we cannot have an environment where our consumers don’t trust what they see online."
"And we cannot continue to prop up a digital supply chain – one that delivers over a quarter of our advertising to our consumers – which at times is little better than a swamp in terms of its transparency"
Mainstream propagandists are interpreting this as a call for "social responsibility" on Unilever's part, but the point appears to be that Unilever can't count on Facebook and Google to deliver a return on their portion of the marketing budget.