Forwarded from Brian
Thanks for all the work you do on the tech end, everyone has an important role. I'm not a techie, but have been able to really transform by moving to above phone, linux, and get off google services all in just a few months with help of you, your team, and #TBOT website. It's allowing me to focus on spreading my passions in non tech things like teaching different mindfullness and meditation practices to others and learning more about plant identification, foraging, permaculture, and food. Love, Brian.
🔥8👍4❤2👏2🥰1
Here's some photos of the hemp house build this week. Going into this I never thought i could build my own house, now I know its possible with revolutionary building technologies like hempcrete!
I'll be writing up a synopsis of my experiences soon!
I'll be writing up a synopsis of my experiences soon!
❤19👍9
Let's connect in real life!?
Catch me at FloteFest end of April / early May!
I'll be giving a refined version of my TGRIII talk and previews of new content (organic technologies, crypto strats) in store for TBOT.
Of course I'll have units of Above Phone for sale, first edition #TBOT T-Shirts, and free hugs for you ❤️
Catch me at FloteFest end of April / early May!
I'll be giving a refined version of my TGRIII talk and previews of new content (organic technologies, crypto strats) in store for TBOT.
Of course I'll have units of Above Phone for sale, first edition #TBOT T-Shirts, and free hugs for you ❤️
👍7👏1
Forwarded from Thomas Freedman
I know you're very busy, but hoping you will do me a solid and get these pinned for me today if you run any IPFS nodes. Going live later today with store and products. T H A N K Y O U S I R !
Ok, I have got the final release images ready, uploaded and pinned on IPFS. Please pin them as soon as you can. I will be updating the websites next and announcing later today. I was hoping to have a day prior to announce to get maximum pins on as many sites as I could, but that would require announcing tomorrow and I'm already 2 days past when I wanted to get this done.
pStickRC2-20220403_2343.iso:
Ok, I have got the final release images ready, uploaded and pinned on IPFS. Please pin them as soon as you can. I will be updating the websites next and announcing later today. I was hoping to have a day prior to announce to get maximum pins on as many sites as I could, but that would require announcing tomorrow and I'm already 2 days past when I wanted to get this done.
pStickRC2-20220403_2343.iso:
QmbSqc9GB5XrGTM6yHx4hheWgEXk45C1MWu57gnhhAjDWK
sha256 verification: 013297cb56a544be3bd8b26bcfc2a62e1ab480de41c5668089bfca8a33a1d599
pBoxRC3-20220405_0143.zipQmeYanrbTbPD67wo6AJZGMY3JokmPJAgwDuqnmNJEM3T1t
sha256 verification: 49466c6f2dc4cbdddf1e74aa05b6c93f8f4c6f22418f623181fdea08f4b3d95eForwarded from Thomas Freedman
Also, please pin my IPFS website:
/ipns/k51qzi5uqu5dmdr312hi2slkfhc2e4dxbm55inrhdqkr0z8ly51evcyrj8tr1k
That is essentially the same content now published on https://piratebox.info/ (well, except for the footer)
/ipns/k51qzi5uqu5dmdr312hi2slkfhc2e4dxbm55inrhdqkr0z8ly51evcyrj8tr1k
That is essentially the same content now published on https://piratebox.info/ (well, except for the footer)
👍1😁1
Lets get some support for our IPFS creators by pinning his sites!
👍4
Forwarded from G3 News
Nigeria Ties All Sim Cards to National ID System
Nigerians whose SIM cards are not linked to their National Identity Number (NIN), a mandatory digital ID system, won’t be able to make phone calls, starting this week. The partial block is a tone down from the previous threat of a total block.
The National Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) released a joint statement saying they were not going to postpone the deadline again. Initially, the deadline was December 31, 2020; it has been postponed ten times since then, with the latest postponed deadline being March 31, 2022.
“Outgoing calls will subsequently be barred for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage Policy from the 4th of April, 2022. Subscribers of such lines are hereby advised to link their SIMs to their NINs before the Telcos can lift the restriction on their lines.
“Affected individuals are hereby advised to register for their NINs at designated centers and thereafter link the NINs to their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the Telcos, including the NIMC mobile App.”
➨ reclaimthenet.org/nigeria-ties-all-sim-cards-to-national-id-system
Join:👇
@G3News
Nigerians whose SIM cards are not linked to their National Identity Number (NIN), a mandatory digital ID system, won’t be able to make phone calls, starting this week. The partial block is a tone down from the previous threat of a total block.
The National Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) released a joint statement saying they were not going to postpone the deadline again. Initially, the deadline was December 31, 2020; it has been postponed ten times since then, with the latest postponed deadline being March 31, 2022.
“Outgoing calls will subsequently be barred for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage Policy from the 4th of April, 2022. Subscribers of such lines are hereby advised to link their SIMs to their NINs before the Telcos can lift the restriction on their lines.
“Affected individuals are hereby advised to register for their NINs at designated centers and thereafter link the NINs to their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the Telcos, including the NIMC mobile App.”
➨ reclaimthenet.org/nigeria-ties-all-sim-cards-to-national-id-system
Join:👇
@G3News
👍2
Apple is Still Tracking You Without Consent
https://sneak.berlin/20220409/apple-is-still-tracking-you-without-consent/
In the current version of macOS, Monterey, on every system update on a system containing an M1 chip, such as all the new shiny/fast ARM (“Apple Silicon”) macs, the update process phones home to Apple to obtain a special boot signature, known in Apple jargon as a “ticket”.
It does this in a totally unencrypted fashion, over standard plaintext port 80 HTTP (the exact same protocol they banned for use by third party app developers in the App Store when transmitting private data like unique identifiers that serve as PII) to the host gs.apple.com. The HTTP request includes unchangable hardware unique identifiers (chip serial numbers known as ECIDs) that function as a supercookie, and it is visible to your local LAN, your ISP (or hotel or coffee shop), anyone monitoring the network backbones, and of course Apple.
This permits anyone listening to see the approximate location of the device, even if they are not proximate to it, because they can observe the client IP (which is equivalent to approximately city-level geolocation) and the serial number of the device.
https://sneak.berlin/20220409/apple-is-still-tracking-you-without-consent/
In the current version of macOS, Monterey, on every system update on a system containing an M1 chip, such as all the new shiny/fast ARM (“Apple Silicon”) macs, the update process phones home to Apple to obtain a special boot signature, known in Apple jargon as a “ticket”.
It does this in a totally unencrypted fashion, over standard plaintext port 80 HTTP (the exact same protocol they banned for use by third party app developers in the App Store when transmitting private data like unique identifiers that serve as PII) to the host gs.apple.com. The HTTP request includes unchangable hardware unique identifiers (chip serial numbers known as ECIDs) that function as a supercookie, and it is visible to your local LAN, your ISP (or hotel or coffee shop), anyone monitoring the network backbones, and of course Apple.
This permits anyone listening to see the approximate location of the device, even if they are not proximate to it, because they can observe the client IP (which is equivalent to approximately city-level geolocation) and the serial number of the device.
👍13
Forwarded from G3 News
Western Dissent From U.S.-NATO Policy on Ukraine is Small, Yet the Censorship Campaign is Extreme
If one wishes to be exposed to news, information or perspective that contravenes the prevailing US/NATO view on the war in Ukraine, a rigorous search is required. And there is no guarantee that search will succeed. That is because the state/corporate censorship regime that has been imposed in the West with regard to this war is stunningly aggressive, rapid and comprehensive.
On a virtually daily basis, any off-key news agency, independent platform or individual citizen is liable to be banished from the internet. In early March, barely a week after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the twenty-seven nation European Union—citing "disinformation” and “public order and security”—officially banned the Russian state-news outlets RT and Sputnik from being heard anywhere in Europe. In what Reuters called “an unprecedented move,” all television and online platforms were barred by force of law from airing content from those two outlets. Even prior to that censorship order from the state, Facebook and Google were already banning those outlets, and Twitter immediately announced they would as well, in compliance with the new EU law.
But what was “unprecedented” just six weeks ago has now become commonplace, even normalized. Any platform devoted to offering inconvenient-to-NATO news or alternative perspectives is guaranteed a very short lifespan.
Less than two weeks after the EU's decree, Google announced that it was voluntarily banning all Russian-affiliated media worldwide, meaning Americans and all other non-Europeans were now blocked from viewing those channels on YouTube if they wished to. As so often happens with Big Tech censorship, much of the pressure on Google to more aggressively censor content about the war in Ukraine came from its own workforce: “Workers across Google had been urging YouTube to take additional punitive measures against Russian channels.”
So prolific and fast-moving is this censorship regime that it is virtually impossible to count how many platforms, agencies and individuals have been banished for the crime of expressing views deemed "pro-Russian.”
Preventing populations from asking who benefits from a protracted proxy war, and who pays the price, is paramount. A closed propaganda system achieves that.
👉 Source: Glenn Greenwald
Join us:👇
@G3News
If one wishes to be exposed to news, information or perspective that contravenes the prevailing US/NATO view on the war in Ukraine, a rigorous search is required. And there is no guarantee that search will succeed. That is because the state/corporate censorship regime that has been imposed in the West with regard to this war is stunningly aggressive, rapid and comprehensive.
On a virtually daily basis, any off-key news agency, independent platform or individual citizen is liable to be banished from the internet. In early March, barely a week after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the twenty-seven nation European Union—citing "disinformation” and “public order and security”—officially banned the Russian state-news outlets RT and Sputnik from being heard anywhere in Europe. In what Reuters called “an unprecedented move,” all television and online platforms were barred by force of law from airing content from those two outlets. Even prior to that censorship order from the state, Facebook and Google were already banning those outlets, and Twitter immediately announced they would as well, in compliance with the new EU law.
But what was “unprecedented” just six weeks ago has now become commonplace, even normalized. Any platform devoted to offering inconvenient-to-NATO news or alternative perspectives is guaranteed a very short lifespan.
Less than two weeks after the EU's decree, Google announced that it was voluntarily banning all Russian-affiliated media worldwide, meaning Americans and all other non-Europeans were now blocked from viewing those channels on YouTube if they wished to. As so often happens with Big Tech censorship, much of the pressure on Google to more aggressively censor content about the war in Ukraine came from its own workforce: “Workers across Google had been urging YouTube to take additional punitive measures against Russian channels.”
So prolific and fast-moving is this censorship regime that it is virtually impossible to count how many platforms, agencies and individuals have been banished for the crime of expressing views deemed "pro-Russian.”
Preventing populations from asking who benefits from a protracted proxy war, and who pays the price, is paramount. A closed propaganda system achieves that.
👉 Source: Glenn Greenwald
Join us:👇
@G3News
👍10👏3
#TBOT PREVIEW: Organic Technologies, Breathing, Living Homes With Hempcrete
A while back I felt called to expand outside the realm of digital technologies. Little did I know I would embark upon a journey working & building with the abundant Hemp plant.
Many thanks to River & Imani of Haven Earth for creating a safe & encouraging place for us to learn. The combined efforts & energy of 40 people over 3 weeks manifested in the beautiful Hemp structure you see behind us.
Our team will be helping them produce their first video course, in which you will learn the process to build your own Hemp House from start to finish. I truly walked away from the experience with the determination to build my own hemp house.
#TBOT will also be releasing an introductory video in the coming weeks. You'll get a quick overview of hemp technology and its numerous benefits, and a tour of the house ;)
Follow Haven Earth's email list for updates.
Follow #TBOT's mailing list for more digital & organic technologies.
A while back I felt called to expand outside the realm of digital technologies. Little did I know I would embark upon a journey working & building with the abundant Hemp plant.
Many thanks to River & Imani of Haven Earth for creating a safe & encouraging place for us to learn. The combined efforts & energy of 40 people over 3 weeks manifested in the beautiful Hemp structure you see behind us.
Our team will be helping them produce their first video course, in which you will learn the process to build your own Hemp House from start to finish. I truly walked away from the experience with the determination to build my own hemp house.
#TBOT will also be releasing an introductory video in the coming weeks. You'll get a quick overview of hemp technology and its numerous benefits, and a tour of the house ;)
Follow Haven Earth's email list for updates.
Follow #TBOT's mailing list for more digital & organic technologies.
👍13
A Youtube Protocol Update May Have Broken NewPipe
Owning our content and protecting our privacy from the likes of big companies is a constant struggle. We have to thank developers like the NewPipe team for providing an app that allows us to watch Youtube with more features & privacy, without any ads.
But in the past few days, NewPipe hasn't been able to play videos, likely due to a Youtube update.
I have just donated $100 (in BTC) to help support them as they work to fix this. Let's help them help us.
Donate: https://newpipe.net/donate/
More info about the project: https://newpipe.net/
Owning our content and protecting our privacy from the likes of big companies is a constant struggle. We have to thank developers like the NewPipe team for providing an app that allows us to watch Youtube with more features & privacy, without any ads.
But in the past few days, NewPipe hasn't been able to play videos, likely due to a Youtube update.
I have just donated $100 (in BTC) to help support them as they work to fix this. Let's help them help us.
Donate: https://newpipe.net/donate/
More info about the project: https://newpipe.net/
NewPipe
NewPipe - a free YouTube client
❤10👍6
Forwarded from Mørph€ū$
They already fixed the issue. Actually it took only a few hours for the team to release the fix...
For those using F-droid, I really recommend using their repo (it's updated faster than the F-droid's official one)
Their official repo: https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe
PS: Please, whatever you can, donate to FOSS projects that help you in a daily basis as in 99% of the cases donations are the only source of income of them
For those using F-droid, I really recommend using their repo (it's updated faster than the F-droid's official one)
Their official repo: https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe
PS: Please, whatever you can, donate to FOSS projects that help you in a daily basis as in 99% of the cases donations are the only source of income of them
GitHub
GitHub - TeamNewPipe/NewPipe: A libre lightweight streaming front-end for Android.
A libre lightweight streaming front-end for Android. - TeamNewPipe/NewPipe
👍16❤1
create.flipstarter.me: Create Trustless Bitcoin Cash Fundraising Campaigns on IPFS
Today I'd like to share an exciting project created by my friend Sahid, who is an Agorist software engineer like myself.
This project allows makes it easier to create a trustless Bitcoin Cash crowdfunding campaign that can be hosted on the decentralized web.
This application could help different organizations raise funding for projects transparently without needing to rely on a third party.
In fact, I've decided to do a test run for a small campaign for #TBOT: Reprogram Your Destiny - we're raising 3.33 BCH to help us in production of a web-comic or animation.
See a live campaign: #TBOT Campaign
Create your own campaign
Discuss in the Telegram Group
Read the Launch Article
—
Here are some quick FAQ answers that I got from Sahid:
1. is it trustless?
Yes, all contributions are signed so it never leaves your wallet until the campaign raises enough funds!
It’s basically a decentralized and trustless kickstarter.
2. What tech is it built on?
The code is open source and 100% client side javanoscript (https://gitlab.com/ipfs-flipstarter)
The create page and all created campaigns are hosted on ipfs (https://create-flipstarter-me.ipns.dweb.link)
And the pledge/contribution data is all hosted on the BCH blockchain (https://bitcoincash.network/electrum)
3. So why Bitcoin Cash?
Bitcoin Cash has already raised millions of dollars using Flipstarter technology.
This is just a fork to decentralize it while also making it user friendly.
For more info on the original non-ipfs version, check out https://flipstarters.cash
Nonetheless, fees are low on BCH, has a decent network effect, and is similar enough to other blockchains that this tech can potentially be ported to others, like Litecoin, Classic Bitcoin, BitcoinSV, ECash, etc. So it made sense to stick with BCH for now.
4. Any privacy considerations?
As a contributor you may want to be sure the client wallet is truly non-custodial. This means you may want to check the javanoscript hasn’t been altered by a malicious campaigner.
At some point I may develop an automatic solutions for this, via a bookmarklet, 3rd party service, or dedicated gateway, God willing. But for now, only donate to campaigns you trust or manually verify it’s legit!
5. When do you get your funds?
Like kickstarters, funds becore available if and only you reach your goal.
6. Can people see my campaign outside of IPFS?
Yes, and you can even link the campaign to a domain by following the instructions at https://dnslink.io using the hash of your site.
7. How do I share?
First step is to make sure the site is reachable via a public gateway. If it is, then you can share by just giving out the link!
If not, like if you’re offline or on private network, then you can download an archive of your campaign and import it to IPFS yourself or give it to a 3rd party who can (for example, https://car.ipfs.io/)
This is a necessary feature for decentralization and censorship resistance, but I apologize for the technical details!
Either way, the resulting URL should be exactly the same whether you need to do this step or not. So go ahead and share the URL esp. with your technical friends and supporters 😁
Today I'd like to share an exciting project created by my friend Sahid, who is an Agorist software engineer like myself.
This project allows makes it easier to create a trustless Bitcoin Cash crowdfunding campaign that can be hosted on the decentralized web.
This application could help different organizations raise funding for projects transparently without needing to rely on a third party.
In fact, I've decided to do a test run for a small campaign for #TBOT: Reprogram Your Destiny - we're raising 3.33 BCH to help us in production of a web-comic or animation.
See a live campaign: #TBOT Campaign
Create your own campaign
Discuss in the Telegram Group
Read the Launch Article
—
Here are some quick FAQ answers that I got from Sahid:
1. is it trustless?
Yes, all contributions are signed so it never leaves your wallet until the campaign raises enough funds!
It’s basically a decentralized and trustless kickstarter.
2. What tech is it built on?
The code is open source and 100% client side javanoscript (https://gitlab.com/ipfs-flipstarter)
The create page and all created campaigns are hosted on ipfs (https://create-flipstarter-me.ipns.dweb.link)
And the pledge/contribution data is all hosted on the BCH blockchain (https://bitcoincash.network/electrum)
3. So why Bitcoin Cash?
Bitcoin Cash has already raised millions of dollars using Flipstarter technology.
This is just a fork to decentralize it while also making it user friendly.
For more info on the original non-ipfs version, check out https://flipstarters.cash
Nonetheless, fees are low on BCH, has a decent network effect, and is similar enough to other blockchains that this tech can potentially be ported to others, like Litecoin, Classic Bitcoin, BitcoinSV, ECash, etc. So it made sense to stick with BCH for now.
4. Any privacy considerations?
As a contributor you may want to be sure the client wallet is truly non-custodial. This means you may want to check the javanoscript hasn’t been altered by a malicious campaigner.
At some point I may develop an automatic solutions for this, via a bookmarklet, 3rd party service, or dedicated gateway, God willing. But for now, only donate to campaigns you trust or manually verify it’s legit!
5. When do you get your funds?
Like kickstarters, funds becore available if and only you reach your goal.
6. Can people see my campaign outside of IPFS?
Yes, and you can even link the campaign to a domain by following the instructions at https://dnslink.io using the hash of your site.
7. How do I share?
First step is to make sure the site is reachable via a public gateway. If it is, then you can share by just giving out the link!
If not, like if you’re offline or on private network, then you can download an archive of your campaign and import it to IPFS yourself or give it to a 3rd party who can (for example, https://car.ipfs.io/)
This is a necessary feature for decentralization and censorship resistance, but I apologize for the technical details!
Either way, the resulting URL should be exactly the same whether you need to do this step or not. So go ahead and share the URL esp. with your technical friends and supporters 😁
👍7🔥1👏1
Today's Monero 'Bank Run' Sends Price Up ~10% to $260.00
Today we experienced a bank run for the private crypto-currency Monero (XMR) across many centralized exchanges.
Members of the XMR community proclaimed a 'Monerun' on the project's 8th birthday, to test allegations that centralized exchanges are misrepresenting their Monero reserves, selling what they do not hold. (remind you of anyone?)
https://decrypt.co/98023/monero-faithful-threaten-bank-run-on-centralized-exchanges
Today we experienced a bank run for the private crypto-currency Monero (XMR) across many centralized exchanges.
Members of the XMR community proclaimed a 'Monerun' on the project's 8th birthday, to test allegations that centralized exchanges are misrepresenting their Monero reserves, selling what they do not hold. (remind you of anyone?)
https://decrypt.co/98023/monero-faithful-threaten-bank-run-on-centralized-exchanges
Decrypt
Monero Faithful Coordinate ‘Bank Run’ to Test Exchanges’ Reserves - Decrypt
A group of Monero enthusiasts alleges that some central exchanges may be selling more XMR than held in reserve.
👍4🤔3
https://news.1rj.ru/str/beechatnetwork2
First phase: DigiMesh to DigiMesh long distance links. Done ✅
Second phase: WiFi and Bluetooth interconnection. In progress ⚙️
Third phase: Kademlia bridging over Lokinet. Next up ⏩
First phase: DigiMesh to DigiMesh long distance links. Done ✅
Second phase: WiFi and Bluetooth interconnection. In progress ⚙️
Third phase: Kademlia bridging over Lokinet. Next up ⏩
❤10👍4
Forwarded from Derrick Broze's Daily News
I was doing some more research on the new steps taken by Houston City Council and its part of a plan the city announced in Feb, called "OneSafe Houston". It includes a recommendation to install more cameras around city businesses as just announced. My suspicion is that the document shows the city's planned next steps.
It also recommends this FYI:
The City of Houston supports the use of data driven, evidence-based law enforcement response strategies. Accordingly, HPD will enhance our crime fighting capabilities by leveraging the following technologies:
1. Expand the deployment of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) in high crime areas to identify vehicles associated with criminal acts.
2. Leverage and expand gunshot detection technology for a more rapid response to gun crime related incidents thereby enhancing investigative leads and the possibility of quickly apprehending violent offenders in the commission of crimes involving firearms.
3. Increase community partnerships to leverage available real time video through programs such as Community Connect, Ring, Nest and other video security platforms.
4. Enhance the technology capabilities of the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) and move it toward a true Strategic Decision Support Center
It also recommends this FYI:
The City of Houston supports the use of data driven, evidence-based law enforcement response strategies. Accordingly, HPD will enhance our crime fighting capabilities by leveraging the following technologies:
1. Expand the deployment of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) in high crime areas to identify vehicles associated with criminal acts.
2. Leverage and expand gunshot detection technology for a more rapid response to gun crime related incidents thereby enhancing investigative leads and the possibility of quickly apprehending violent offenders in the commission of crimes involving firearms.
3. Increase community partnerships to leverage available real time video through programs such as Community Connect, Ring, Nest and other video security platforms.
4. Enhance the technology capabilities of the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) and move it toward a true Strategic Decision Support Center
👍4
Forwarded from Ramiro Romani's neo-network
CTemplar Shuts Down
https://ctemplar.com/ctemplar-is-shutting-down/
'CTemplar is closing and the last day of operation for this email service will be on May 26 of 2022. To transfer your contact list: - Go to https://mail.ctemplar.com/mail/contacts - Click on the button to export your contacts. - Select your preferred format (CSV or VCF). To transfer your emails: - Visit ctemplar.com/ctemplar-is-shutting-down and wait for the instructions to be updated within a day or two. We are generating a backup of each account and it will available to download soon. Remember to change your email information to your new service. Please migrate all your data out of this email service by May 26 of 2022, after this day all the stored that will be permanently erased. Please contact support to issue refunds! A huge thank you to everyone that supported us, The CTemplar Team'
https://ctemplar.com/ctemplar-is-shutting-down/
'CTemplar is closing and the last day of operation for this email service will be on May 26 of 2022. To transfer your contact list: - Go to https://mail.ctemplar.com/mail/contacts - Click on the button to export your contacts. - Select your preferred format (CSV or VCF). To transfer your emails: - Visit ctemplar.com/ctemplar-is-shutting-down and wait for the instructions to be updated within a day or two. We are generating a backup of each account and it will available to download soon. Remember to change your email information to your new service. Please migrate all your data out of this email service by May 26 of 2022, after this day all the stored that will be permanently erased. Please contact support to issue refunds! A huge thank you to everyone that supported us, The CTemplar Team'
👏3
Forwarded from Ramiro Romani's neo-network
El Salvador's Bitcoin Usage Has Not Taken Off
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w29968/w29968.pdf
A recent survey from the National Bureau of Economic Research (American non-profit) has shown a lack of Bitcoin adoption on the government's platform Chivo wallet.
1,800 households were interviewed, just over half of all respondents had installed the app, only 20% of respondents continued to use it after they received the $30 reward for setting it up.
My Analysis
Cryptocurrency cannot be strong-armed onto the public, especially a state-sponsored platform, even with incentives like BTC/dollar feeless conversion. El Salvador's implementation of this solution has failed for several reasons:
- People don't trust the government
- The wallet is custodial, users aren't actually in control of their funds
- The wallet is KYC
- The wallet already has had claims of unauthorized charges, blocked accounts, phishing, identity theft
From the study:
"The most important reason not to download the app, conditional on knowing about it, is that users prefer to use cash, which was followed by trust issues—respondents did not trust the system or
bitcoin itself"
How can other localities learn from El Salvador's failed implementation?
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w29968/w29968.pdf
A recent survey from the National Bureau of Economic Research (American non-profit) has shown a lack of Bitcoin adoption on the government's platform Chivo wallet.
1,800 households were interviewed, just over half of all respondents had installed the app, only 20% of respondents continued to use it after they received the $30 reward for setting it up.
My Analysis
Cryptocurrency cannot be strong-armed onto the public, especially a state-sponsored platform, even with incentives like BTC/dollar feeless conversion. El Salvador's implementation of this solution has failed for several reasons:
- People don't trust the government
- The wallet is custodial, users aren't actually in control of their funds
- The wallet is KYC
- The wallet already has had claims of unauthorized charges, blocked accounts, phishing, identity theft
From the study:
"The most important reason not to download the app, conditional on knowing about it, is that users prefer to use cash, which was followed by trust issues—respondents did not trust the system or
bitcoin itself"
How can other localities learn from El Salvador's failed implementation?