Is Google Coming For Your Cryptos

Authored by Tom Luongo via TomLuongo.me,

The big boys, Apple and Google, are now actively developing a payment API for cryptos to use within their browsers.  This is a double-edged sword and possibly indicates a shift in tax policy.

I don’t trust either Apple or Google at all.  The news from Coindesk about Apple and Google developing a payment API on the heels of multiple avenues of officaldom cracking down on cryptocurrencies is enough to give you whiplash.

The work, started by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) with the help of Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple and Mozilla, is a tangible step forward for a currency-agnostic web payment standard first conceived in 2013. Equally, as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies gain more momentum, the launch signifies the growing recognition of cryptocurrency as a payments technology.

Indeed, the W3C has gotten more interested in blockchain technologies over the years, hosting its first ever blockchain workshop in June last year. But while participants were left with interest in standardizing and democratizing the technology’s use, no formal work was decided upon then. That, however, has changed.

Announced on Thursday, the API is currently being implemented in browsers including Google’s Chrome, Microsoft’s Edge, Apple’s Webkit, Mozilla’s Firefox, the Samsung Internet Browser and Facebook’s in-app browser. When activated, the Payment Request API will allow new payment types, including bitcoin, ether any any other available cryptocurrency (as well as more traditional online payment methods) to be stored directly in the browser.

The last thing anyone should want is for their cryptos to be held in their browser knowing that all code developed in the U.S. is subject to government intelligence oversight.

Trust Big Google

This is absolutely a Trojan Horse designed to look like it legitimizes cryptos like Bitcoin but immediately puts them at risk of seizure by anyone with malicious intent.

First, it’s not like any code developed by these people is exploit-proof.  Let’s get serious, security on Android, iOS and Windows is a joke.  Google took Linux and made it worse than Windows.  It’s actually an astounding feat of bad engineering.

Microsoft, Apple and Google are all very tight with the U.S. government.

It’s part of the reason why Russia continues to crack-down on use of their software.  Putin knows it’s all spyware.

Second, if your cryptos are stored in your browser then they can be stolen from you.  Forget petty thieves.  I’m thinking much bigger than that.  Do you really think any of these companies would not comply with an IRS decree to seize your assets directly off of your computer?

If you do, then I have a nice piece of water-spanning real estate to sell you connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Moreover, let’s see how this “standard” develops.

Will it support third-party hardware wallets like a Trezor or Ledger?

Will it accept any crypto in payment, including the anonymous ones like Monero and Dash?

If the answers to these questions in no, then that’s your sign that this API isn’t simply another backdoor way to maintain control over everything.

Cause I’m the Tax Man

This announcement makes me believe that the recent bill introduced by House Reps Jared Polis (D-CO) and David Schweikert (R-AZ) will likely sail through Congress.  The bill would exempt cryptocurrency transactions under $600 from capital gains taxes.

While this bill is an unqualified good thing as it will radically improve liquidity it is also the prerequisite needed to jump start this API development. So, while the U.S. will continue to fight the crypto-market officially for as long as it can, it is also bowing to the pressure from its corporate partners to free them up for commerce to begin.

The IRS rule is actually choking off a significant amount of money velocity in the world economy.  This will only get worse if it doesn’t change.  Bitcoin was designed to put purchasing power back in the hands of the people themselves and take it away from the banking system who demand their vig on every transaction.

So, there will be a trade-off to using this API when it is finally released if it doesn’t support the part of the crypto-market the government doesn’t have control over yet.

*  *  *

And finally, don"t forget, "don"t buy bitcoin... it"s going to crash!"

Free State Bitcoin Shoppe: Interview With Co-Owner Derrick J. Freeman

Via The Daily Bell

Can you give me the rundown on your shop?

Derrick J: Free State Bitcoin Shoppe is a place for people to level up on their cryptocurrency knowledge and trade their digital cash for unique tech and freedom-themed souvenirs. Our mission is to help people use better money.

To a backdrop of dance-punk and electronic music, we offer one-on-one assistance to the bit-curious to help spread the crypto-economy in New Hampshire. It"s packed with seditious propaganda like libertarian art and literature, books on programming, and freedom tech like hardware wallets and USB thumb drives with TAILS Linux loaded on them (the operating system Edward Snowden uses to protect
his privacy online).

When we"re not busy teaching tourists and passers by about Bitcoin, the shoppe is an office for [co-owner] Zyler and me: where we do coding, writing, and video production. The Shoppe is right on the edge of New Hampshire at 56 State St in Portsmouth -- so close that both the water and Maine"s coast are visible from our front door.

What do you sell at the shop? Is there specific merchandise you hope to add?

Derrick J: We sell things you won"t find anywhere else: Doge curtains and pillows, 3D-printed combination locks to protect USB keys, Tesla T-Shirts, laser-cut wood boxes with secret compartments, BipCot Licenses, Bitcoin clocks, an Aztec calendar, build-it-yourself 3D-printer kits, and various New Hampshire-themed gifts. Next week, a unique Bitcoin vending machine will arrive at our store, offering the opportunity for people to trade in their Federal Reserve Notes for Bitcoin, Dash, and Monero.

Besides Bitcoin, what forms of payment do you accept?

Derrick J: Monero is preferred. We take all forms of cryptocurrency and offer 20% if you pay for the merchandise with that currency. Yesterday, a customer bought $85 of doge-themed merchandise with Doge-coin.

We don"t take Federal Reserve Notes, credit cards, or metals. (Sorry, silver bugs. Time to realize the silver thing is never going to happen.)

Since the value of Bitcoin fluctuates, how do you set the prices?

Derrick J: It"s easy. We set prices in Bitcoin. The bitcoin wallet on your phone will convert instantly so you can see how much things cost in terms of dollars or any other currency.

How did you choose the location for your shop?

Derrick J: We had been scouting locations for a retail shop for a month or two. While walking downtown in the Portsmouth Pride Parade this June, we passed some empty windows where a small boutique had been.

We said "This would be perfect!!" It"s 100 feet from the biggest park in town, where musical theater and concerts play daily and nightly, visible by the water, plenty of parking across the street, and adorable tourist-trap stores nearby that attract lots of foot traffic from international guests. It"s one of the busiest corners in one of the wealthiest and most happening places in the Shire. It"s the perfect location to draw in people to learn about Bitcoin.

You have long been a liberty activist. You have committed acts of civil disobedience (Derrick J"s Victimless Crime Spree), challenged unjust laws in court, and even spent some time in jail. Does this shop mark a shift in tactics for gaining individual freedom?

Derrick J: Yes, totally. I"ve learned through trial and error what works and what doesn"t.

Civil disobedience may be moral and make me feel good, but it is ineffective at achieving more freedom unless others participate en masse. Good luck with that -- most people aren"t courageous enough to take any risks and would prefer comfortable slavery to dangerous freedom.

Instead, I am taking the entrepreneurial route: offering political art and freedom-enhancing tools in exchange for cryptocurrency. The mission isn"t as much to "make money selling merchandise" as it is to grow the value of my cryptocurrency holdings by growing the network. As more and more people use bitcoin, the value of the crypto-economy grows, and the power of the central banks shrinks.

This is the best way I"ve discovered to empower myself and others, by taking a small, low-risk baby step toward more financial independence (which is the most important type).

Do you consider Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies the best hope for freeing individuals from the unjust power of the state?

Derrick J: Oh, lord no. Philosophy is the best hope for freeing individuals from the power of the state, because the power and the state only exists in their heads. Without philosophy, people are doomed to continue on whatever path their ancestors" trajectory put them on.

Fortunately for New Englanders, our ancestors placed us on a slow vector toward ever-increasing respect for property rights, which continues today (in New Hampshire especially).

Bitcoin is packed with philosophy, whether users are aware of it or not. Bitcoin empowers the individual with privacy over their money (if they want it), reduces the power of international central banking cartels with every dollar that exits into the crypto-economy, and ultimately helps end wars as people quickly become accustomed to a deflationary currency (rather than the inflationary currencies used to finance the wars of the 20th century).

[caption id="attachment_23891" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A mug depicting Bitcoin smashing the Fed.[/caption]

Do you have any advice for people who want to be free, but feel it is impossible? What can people do to free themselves in your opinion?

Derrick J: Read books that inspire you. Fill your brain with ideas that energize you. Pursue happiness through a virtuous life. Challenge yourself. No matter my current situation, behind bars or on a deserted island, my journey to freedom has been one of personal growth.

So far, what is your favorite part of running the shop?

Derrick J: My favorite part of running the shop is seeing libertarians walk in and watching their faces light up as they realize what the store is. They see Ayn Rand, Ron Paul, and Ludvig Von Mises, a Bitcoin symbol, Gandhi, Thomas Jefferson, and "Live Free Or Die" signs plastered everywhere, and they all say some variation of "I"ve never seen a store like this before!"

Those interactions make my day.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

Derrick J: Thank you for asking!