Free Republic

KNOXVILLE, TN — Local Libertarian Steve Kocot was unsure about how best to invest his money and was torn between investing in shiny rocks or some of those newfangled magic computer coins. Kocot's dilemma reportedly came about as soon as he heard on the internet that the collapse of his government-manipulated fiat currency was imminent and that he needed to preserve his wealth in a more stable form before the American empire disintegrated. "It's only a matter of days or weeks or months or years or decades," he said. "Everything our government's Keynesian economic house of cards is built upon...

Forfeiture Action is the Latest Disruption of an Indicted North Korean Official’s Efforts to Generate Revenue for North Korea and its Weapons Program Through Illegal IT Worker Schemes and Cryptocurrency Theft The Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that North Korean information technology (IT) workers obtained illegal employment and amassed millions in cryptocurrency for the benefit of the North Korean government, all as a means of evading U.S. sanctions placed on North Korea. The funds were initially restrained in connection with an April 2023 indictment against...

The mayor of Panama City, Mayer Mizrachi, said the city could potentially establish a bitcoin reserve. The Mayor of Panama City, Mayer Mizrachi, is taking notes on bitcoin from the leader of El Salvador. Speaking at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on Thursday, Mizrachi said he’s been thinking of ways Panama’s capital city, which is home to the Panama Canal, could implement bitcoin payments. This includes potentially setting up a strategic bitcoin reserve for Panama City, as well as possibly taking payments — including for passage through the Panama Canal — in bitcoin, Mizrachi said. “What if you have a...

At Bitcoin 2025, economist and author Saifedean Ammous laid out a bold vision for the future of global finance, asserting that Bitcoin - not the U.S. dollar - will anchor tomorrow’s economy, with Tether as the bridge...Saifedean Ammous, CEO of Saifedean.com and author of The Bitcoin Standard, delivered a data-driven keynote at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference, warning of inevitable U.S. dollar decline and positioning Bitcoin as the only rational hedge.“Default, devaluation, or default by devaluation are inevitable,” Ammous declared, adding pointedly, “Tether can’t fix what a century of fiat democracy ruined.”Using projections and flow charts, Ammous argued that Tether’s Bitcoin...

The second suspect in the alleged kidnapping and torture of an Italian bitcoin dealer inside a SoHo townhouse was seen scowling as he was remanded without bail in court Tuesday night. After he partied it up in the Hamptons over the weekend, William Duplessie appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court, where his lawyer claimed the 33-year-old crypto trader’s criminal case will “begin to unravel” when more details come out. “The facts here are hotly disputed, his involvement is hotly disputed,” attorney Sanford Talkin claimed to Judge Julieta Lozano during his nighttime arraignment hearing. Duplessie, who sported a frown at the hearing,...

The 37-year-old Crypto trader accused of kidnapping a 28-year-old Italian man inside a luxurious SoHo apartment repeatedly shocked his victim with electric wires, held him upside down from the top of a staircase, cut his leg with a saw and threatened to kill the victim’s family — all to get the password to the man’s Bitcoin account, prosecutors said Saturday. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Eric Schumacher ordered John Woeltz held without bail on assault and kidnapping charges as police continued to search for his accomplice. He also issued a restraining order against Woeltz, so if he does get out of...

A gang of wealthy 'crypto bros' have been arrested for luring their former business partner to a stunning New York City mansion before torturing him for weeks. The group are accused of kidnapping the 28-year-old Italian man before committing sickening acts on him in the $75,000-per-month rented brownstone in Soho. They alleged to have Tazed him, pistol-whipped him and threatened to carve him up with a chainsaw if he did not give up the millions of dollars in his crypto account. But their plot was foiled when the victim - who has not been named - escaped and flagged down...

A month before President Trump’s inauguration, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff flew to the United Arab Emirates with two goals: discussing regional issues with the Abu Dhabi royal known as the “spy sheikh,” and attending a cryptocurrency conference. Less than five months later, Witkoff’s son, co-founder of the crypto venture World Liberty Financial, took the stage at a conference in Dubai to announce the company had struck a deal for the sheikh’s company to buy $2 billion of their new cryptocurrency. The expected tens of millions of dollars in annual profits would be split between the Witkoffs and their co-founders—and...

Miami International Autodrome First Grand Prix2022 Number of Laps57 Circuit Length5.412 kmRace Distance308.326 kmLap Record1:29.708Max Verstappen (2023)Track

Nothing sums up the spirit of our current times like Haliey Welch—a.k.a. Hawk Tuah Girl—becoming an overnight celebrity only to see her rapid rise lead to a meteoric downfall after she ended up at the center of a cryptocurrency scam.

Singaporean Malone Lam – arrested and charged over one of the biggest crypto heist in the US – splurged up to US$500,000 (S$665,000) a night at clubs and was seen giving Hermes Birkin bags to models and influencers in his lavish outings. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said the 20-year-old and co-accused, American Jeandiel Serrano, 21, were arrested in September 2024 and charged with “conspiracy to steal and launder over US$230 million in cryptocurrency from a victim in Washington, DC”. At today’s prices, the 4,100 stolen Bitcoin are worth more than US$450 million. In his latest court hearing last...

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are targets of choice for online criminals, who often exploit weaknesses in major trading platforms or individual users’ digital “wallets” to make major scores. A recent $1.5-billion heist of Ethereum from the Bybit platform — attributed by the FBI to North Korean hackers — is believed to be the largest yet in an ever-longer litany of thefts. How common is crypto theft? Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology, which publicly records transactions between people holding and exchanging them. That has not kept a lid on theft, with an estimated $2.2 billion worth of the assets...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson BREAKING: President Trump just announced the creation of a U.S. Crypto Reserve.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to host an event on cryptocurrency at the White House next week. The Crypto Summit will be held on Friday, marking the first-ever White House event of its kind. Trump is expected to deliver remarks during the summit, the White House said. The event will include "prominent founders, CEOs, and investors from the crypto industry, as well as members of the president’s Working Group on Digital Assets," according to the White House. The summit will be led by venture capitalist and White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks and will be administered by the...

The political rise of economist Javier Milei to the presidency was largely driven by Argentinians' hope that he could revive the debt-laden country's economic fortunes. But now the libertarian's key credentials as an economic expert have suffered a massive blow as lawyers have filed a fraud lawsuit against him in an Argentine court. What's come to be known as the "cryptogate" scandal is gripping Argentina, with the rapid rise and collapse of the $LIBRA cryptocurrency at the center of controversy. Investors — most of them reportedly from Argentina and the United States — had poured the equivalent of $100 million...

Argentine President Javier Milei could face an impeachment trial in Congress, opposition lawmakers said on Saturday, after the libertarian leader touted a cryptocurrency which crashed soon after.

Famed rapper Snoop Dogg lost more than 500,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 20,000 on X after his appearance at the Crypto Ball, a celebratory event tied to Donald Trump’s inauguration. The “Gin and Juice” singer’s Instagram dropped by 571,800 and 17,177 on X as fans accused Snoop of hypocrisy due to his past criticism of Trump. Snoop Dogg, who boasted 88.1 million followers on Instagram as of Monday, isn’t the only A-list celebrity to have followers abandon him in droves over perceived support for the Republican president. Kim Kardashian, the reality television star and entrepreneur, lost nearly 150,000 social...

Snoop Dogg has come under fire for performing at Donald Trump’s Crypto Ball just days ahead of the President Elect’s inauguration. The event took place on Friday (January 17) at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C., with a VIP reception hosted by Trump’s crypto czar David Sacks. Among the performers on the night was Snoop, despite having been somewhat vocal in his opposition to the Republican in the past. His appearance has prompted several fans to criticise him online, with some saying that it was “a bridge too far”.

This week’s Economist/YouGov poll covers the health-care system, the presidential transition, the economy, President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter, and cryptocurrency.Health careTwo-thirds (66%) of Americans with health insurance say they are very or somewhat satisfied with it; 14% say they are dissatisfied while 20% say they do not have health insurance or are not sureThe highest satisfaction levels are among Americans with health insurance coverage from Medicare (86%) or Medicaid (89%)One in four Americans (25%) say they or an immediate family member have ever had a health insurance claim denied60% of Americans who have had an insurance claim in...

Google announced on Dec. 9th that it had developed a new quantum computing chip known as ‘Willow.’ The chip performed a computation that would take a supercomputer ten septillion (1025) years in under five minutes. Google’s Quantum AI lead Neven said Willow was a major breakthrough in quantum error correction. There is speculation that the new developments could threaten crypto.