I first threw my public support behind Bitcoin in August 2012 after finding out that it had been used to donate funds to whistleblower group Wikileaks in the wake of a payment blockade by large financial institutions. I explained my rationale in the post: Bitcoin: A Way to Fight Back Against the Financial Terrorists?
It was this event that really sparked my interest in Bitcoin and resulted in me spending much of my time in the subsequent months learning as much as possible about the revolutionary payment system. The more I learned, the more excited I became. In fact, learning about Bitcoin and its freedom unleashing potential is what made me more encouraged about the future of humanity than anything else over the past couple of years. It became evident to me early on that the large financial institutions and the statists they are in bed with would ultimately panic if Bitcoin ever took off. In early 2013 I wrote the following in the post, Bitcoin Goes Parabolic: My Updated Thoughts:
Based on intuition, psychology and nothing more I suspect the Bitcoin market will hit a total value of about $1 billion before experiencing a severe pullback. That would put the price at around 92. At that point, it is likely to be all over the financial press and I think “the state” may be tempted to threaten it. Supporters of Bitcoin should not only expect such an attack, we should embrace it. Just think about how ridiculous the government will look if they attack Bitcoin. I mean, these guys can’t put a single banker in jail, but when citizens decide to freely exchange goods using a currency of their choice that is where they draw the line! Bitcoin’s purpose is to both show us the way forward and to make the authorities look foolish as they spastically and irrationally respond to it. I suspect it will be highly successful in accomplishing both objectives.
One of the key points I was trying to make in the above passage is the notion that governments would look ridiculous in their attempts to attack Bitcoin. We have seen this in droves ever since then, with the most amusing being Senator Joe Manchin’s ridiculous and short lived campaign to “Ban Bitcoin,” which I highlighted in the post: U.S. Senator Wants to Ban Bitcoin – To be Followed by Book Burnings and Witch Hunts.
Every attempt to demonize Bitcoin has demonstrated an increased level of desperation and ridiculousness. However, the most recent example is the most absurd yet. According to Sky News, an “ISIS-linked blog” has posted about how Bitcoin can be used to “fund global jihad.” Coindesk has covered the Sky News article, in which it notes:
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has proposed using bitcoin to fund global jihadist efforts.
Sky News reported that a blog post entitled ‘Bitcoin and the Charity of Violent Physical Struggle’ outlines a use case for bitcoin as a vehicle for terrorist financing, noting that its pseudonymous transaction capability fits well within the needs of jihadist organizers. The news site received the article from sources claiming to be members of the Islamic State, the so-called jihadi nation established by the ISIS leadership.
The blog said:
“This system has the potential to revive the lost sunnah of donating to the mujahideen, it is simple, easy, and we ask Allah to hasten its usage for us.”
The blog author wrote that, as a result of anti-terrorism financial restrictions and cooperation between governments on these efforts, jihadist funding has all but dried up. Only the wealthiest supporters are able to contribute by using traditional currencies and payment methods.
This entire meme is so fucking stupid I don’t even know where to start. I think I summarized my overall sentiment in the following tweet:
If you are a real terrorist organization and you plan on terrorist attacks, are you really going to publish a blog saying to use Bitcoin?
— Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) July 7, 2014
The answer is, of course not. That’s assuming that anyone actually believes ISIS is a bunch of ragtag terrorists operating without state backing, which of course is ridiculous. So who is behind ISIS? It seems to be mainly Saudi Arabia, something I outlined in my post: America’s Disastrous Foreign Policy – My Thoughts on Iraq. In that post, I also noted the strong connection between the Saudis and the attacks on September 11, 2001.Notice a trend here? The Saudis fund radical, violent groups that are being used to take away all our freedoms yet they remain a close ally. What the heck is going on here?
It seems to me that the authoritarians have learned quite well since 9/11 that nothing leads Westerns to puke up their civil liberties more than the threat of Islamic terrorists. With Bitcoin a serious threat to the global status quo, the demonization tactics are becoming increasingly desperate. As I mentioned earlier, if you had more than two braincells to rub together you’d recognize the absurdity of a real terrorist group broadcasting to the world that they are going to use Bitcoin. Also, recall the following passage from the Coindesk article:
The blog author wrote that, as a result of anti-terrorism financial restrictions and cooperation between governments on these efforts, jihadist funding has all but dried up. Only the wealthiest supporters are able to contribute by using traditional currencies and payment methods.
Well, hold on a second here. I seem to recall that ISIS recently stole as much as $400 million in cash during a raid in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Recall the Washington Post reported that:
Islamist insurgents may have seized millions of dollars in cash as they looted banks while seizing the Iraqi city of Mosul this week, a windfall that the al-Qaeda-inspired group could use to expand territory and fund further attacks, U.S. officials said. News reports citing Iraqi regional governor Atheel al-Nujaifi, whose province includes Mosul, indicated that ISIS may have made off with as much as $500 billion Iraqi dinars, more than $400 million. U.S. officials and experts questioned whether branches would keep such amounts on hand, especially as violence has spiked in the country.
So ISIS has what may be $400 million in cash and it is going to decide to use Bitcoin, with a total market capitalization of $8 billion and every transaction recorded on the blockchain? Give me a fucking break.
The good news is that the global oligarchy is clearly terrified of Bitcoin. The bad news is that a lot of people are so brain-dead and incapable of critical thought they may actually believe this ISIS-blog post nonsense. It’s up to us to expose this meme for the ridiculous desperation it is.
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G
Follow me on Twitter.
Man I really want to help get the word out about bitcoin and alternatives to fiat money, along with so much more but whenever I even make an exploritory statment or ask a question to determine the state of consiousness of my freinds, aquantances, relatives, just anyone all I get are blank stares. How does one start to wake people up? They just don’t seem interested and look at me like I’m some kind of nut. I really pay attention to what is going on out there and the only other “nuts” are on my computer, are there so few of us and why is it so dificult to initiate a conversatio0n of substance with anyone?
Ask people who you own money to if they will accept an unsecured note from a private bank. Then offer them dollars and see if they change their minds….
ISIS is the latest target for the fraudulent never ending “war on terrorism” the criminal stooges in Washington are going to regurgitate about. Can’t reload the troops in Iraq for the same old propagandized stale reasons now, can we? Nope. Just need more snow to sell the sheeple eskimos who believe anything they are told as long as it dispenses with the physical laws of the universe.
Saudi Arabia is just the proxy. The usual terrorist organizations (CIA, MI5 for the banksters, military industrial complex and the rest of their cronies) are always behind it all. Trillions spent for the NSA and CIA to snoop on everything and they can’t figure out that a new army of radicals (which is what the fake war on terrorism was supposed to be about) were carving out part of Syria and Iraq with our weapons training and funding? These agencies don’t deserve a dime of funding of anyone’s money.
Time for the fraudulent white house and Obama-bot to get back from vacation and bankroll (billions and trillions) for another military effort to eradicate the latest invisible bogeyman in the “war on terror”.
But don’t worry, it’s good for world GDP. To make sure you’re not involved, the TSA will be checking your cell phone on your next trip to see your relatives just in case you made a call to one of these ISIS members in Iraq and Syria. How would they know you are calling an ISIS member? They don’t. Just another excuse to invade your privacy and treat you like the sheeple slave that you are. If by accident they also find your BTC wallet on your phone, oh well, it was a honest mistake.
Upset about this? Then talk to the guy in the mirror who has been bending over for years and years and years and allowed this to happen.
Yes, I think it’s time to WAKE THE FUCK UP.
Welcome to the new world.
You aren’t very informative.
Here’s my proof:
OK, Neo, so lets say I just woke up.
What, exactly, do you have in mind in the form of a plan that might actually affect the outcome?
What is your point in commenting on this blog?
Depends on the comment.
In *this* case it was to find out if you had anything useful to say.
I see by your pathetically incompetent attempt to turn tables that you don’t.
Thanks for clearing that up; I’ll be sure to stop giving you the benefit of the doubt until you learn better.
This is a ploy to do just as you say, make the government look ridiculous…by the government. Yes you heard me right.
Why would the government do this? For the very same reason you basically mentioned, to lend bitcoin an air of legitmacy.
The thing is, bitcoin records *every* transaction. Even with mixing it is very difficult to cover your tracks entirely. It is, put simply, a financial forensics expert’s *wet dream*.
And you think the NSA didn’t have a hand in this?
Childs play. A fool and his money soon parts ways.
Unlikely, if the NSA had a hand in this, why on earth would they make it both decentralized and open source? Now any hacker in the world can copy and paste their own version of it and compete against the so-called Trojan Horse Currency. Doesn’t pass the stupid test. If the NSA was behind this, they sure wouldn’t have given the keys of its creation to the world to reproduce at will, thereby giving up complete control of their money creation. If what you’re saying is true, the NSA just made central banks obsolete and showed the world how they can start their own currencies if they so desire. It would go down as the stupidest decision by a tyrannical government in the history of the world
No one needs a “ploy” to make the gov. look ridiculous. They are doing it all on their own.