Bitcoin Blues… Are they trying to kill Bitcoin?
In case you don’t know, Bitcoin is an online, open source currency. It allows anonymity and freedom from government intervention (although there’s speculation that Germany might have plans to regulate it.) http://www.cnbc.com/id/100971898 It also provides unwelcome competition for some of our biggest banks. Needless to say, some people, particularly in some parts of the world, don’t like Bitcoin because it is currency that’s difficult for governments, and those with power in general, to control. Money is power in our society, and Bitcoin is not really money in the traditional sense of the word. It’s a form of currency accessible to the masses and an alternative to standard currency. One might say that Bitcoin creates a new way for powerless people to access financial power.
The concept of alternative currency is an interesting idea and some people are still only just learning about it… More info at the web sites below…
http://www.BitCoin.com
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/08/24/138673630/what-is-bitcoin
But, as I said, some people don’t like Bitcoin. Nope, they don’t like it at all. It doesn’t serve their best interests… Knowing this, I was a bit startled when I learned that a Bitcoin exchange CEO, Autumn Radtke, was found dead under mysterious circumstances. :
http://nypost.com/2014/03/05/bitcoin-firm-ceo-found-dead-in-suspected-suicide/
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101468694
Uh, yes, another “suicide” on the part of someone attempting to change the world for the better while bravely going against what some wealthy, powerful, influential peeps want her to do… Not that I think Ms. Radtke was bumped off or anything. Nah, governments don’t bump off activists–especially here in the USA ’cause we’re so lucky that we have freedom of speech here in the USA. We have, after all, a government by and for the people–all the people, rich and poor. Yep, we’re a “democracy” over here in the USA.
(Hey, you in the corner, stop your snickering. I’m not joking over here. The USA is a bastion of freedom and liberty. USA! USA! USA! USSA! Gosh, I’m so proud of being American. I’m so lucky that I’m an American. Those people in other countries, like Denmark and Sweden, for example, don’t know how bad they have it. It’s great here in the USSA. Stop laughing. I’m not joking. I’m telling you this country is GREAT! And I LOVE IT! So please, put the gun down, Mr. Homeland Security-NSA-Patriot Act Protector, sir. Look, I wrote what you asked me to write on my blog. I didn’t write that other thing, you know, that other thing. That thing you told me not to write–I didn’t write it. Put the gun down. If you shoot me now, it’ll be obvious to the…the… No, I’m not suicidal. Not any more than usual, that is… Please, put the gun down!
And so the man in black put down his gun and left with a sneer. He is in search of another blogger, one with a much bigger platform. But he’ll be back. They always come back. But she’ll be ready with a watered-down, noncontroversial blog post next time. Next time, she’ll write about pizza and how much homeless people like pizza. Yes, that’s it. Homeless people like pizza but a lot of pizza shops won’t let homeless people inside. What to do? Well, you’ll just have to stay tuned…)
Okay, now that guy’s gone, so I can return to my original post.
Ms. Radtke was found dead on Feb. 28th, nearly a week ago, and the cause of death is very mysterious. The fact that it is only just now being reported, nearly a week later, seems a little odd to me too. But what do I know? No matter which news report you look at, it all looks pretty spooky. CNBC says she died “under mysterious circumstances.” The report adds there have been a “rash of suicides in the financial industry…” The NY Post puts the word “suicide” in quotes, pending the results of toxicology tests.
Around the time of Ms. Radtke’s “suicide,” some strange events have occurred. According to the Daily Mail, Radtke was living in Singapore, having decided to base herself in South East Asia where there was a lot of government resistance to Bitcoin, particularly in China and Vietnam.
And coincidentally, Ms. Radtke’s death follows a collapse of Mt Gox and the disappearance of millions of dollars, apparently stolen from Bitcoin entities. Was this all due to computer hacking? Who was doing the hacking?
Also coincidentally, just following Ms. Radtke’s death is the death of Flexcoin, a bitcoin bank that just closed down due to hundreds of thousands of Bitcoins that were stolen from it. Apparently, this just happened yesterday.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101463888
Even more coincidentally, Ms. Radtke’s death follows the resignation of Mark Karpeles (who was CEO of Mt. Gox in Tokyo and who did not commit suicide but has received death threats), from the board of directors of the Bitcoin Foundation of which he was a founding member. This happened less than two weeks ago.
Additionally coincidentally, Charlie Shrem, the CEO of BitInstant, a Bitcoin exchange, was arrested and charged with money laundering. That happened less than two months ago.
http://www.businessinsider.com/report-ceo-of-major-bitcoin-exchange-arrested-2014-1
http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/27/technology/security/bitcoin-arrest/
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101366511
But there are so many coincidences… All just coincidences. It just happens that political activists and people who want to make the world a better place for everyone–rich and poor, people who want to create “a level playing field” as they say, people who want to democratize things, just happen to die young. American history bears me out on this.
Perhaps we should rephrase the lyrics to that old country song, “Mammas, don’t let your babies grow up to be activists.”
Now, can we get Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson to accompany the Chipmunks and sing these new and improved lyrics–updated for modern times? Or will they be too afraid, like everyone else (except the ones who commit “suicide”) to challenge the status quo?
http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/17779/is-someone-trying-to-kill-bitcoin
http://markmaunder.com/2013/12/05/banks-declaring-war-on-bitcoin/
Written
on March 2, 2014