Red Mosquito

Hey I'm just asking questions like why don't we assassinate the leader of a sovereign nation.

And I hope they're fucking not because it is a *monumentally* stupid idea.

I have the answer.

We send *Dennis Rodman*

Mickey wrote:Hey I'm just asking questions like why don't we assassinate the leader of a sovereign nation.

Careful, Spotify will give you a $200 million contract.

Sweet, I’m gonna get me a super yacht!

Take That seriously. A bunch of oligarchs yachts have left US harbours. Just on the news.

They must have heard about the guy working on one of them in Spain and he opened the valves to sink it.

He got arrested and explained to the judge it was a Russian oligarchs yacht.
Released on bail

BurtReynolds wrote:

I was today years old when I learned they have updated laws of the sea since 1776 and letters of marque and reprisal are no longer kosher.

simple schoolboy wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:

I was today years old when I learned they have updated laws of the sea since 1776 and letters of marque and reprisal are no longer kosher.

They're really more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules.

AHA!

Jesus Christ

Of course

Green Habit wrote:If you want a written version of what hlniv is talking about, here you go:

http://www.vox.com/2015/6/29/8845913/russia-war

Shit, Section VII was quite the trip to re-read.

dimejinky99 wrote:AHA!

Jesus Christ

Of course

"my job is punching people i'm smart"

tragabigzanda wrote:Read the article, they discuss a certain currency that’s already got a hold on both Russia and Western Europe. Apparently the exchanges are done in-person, at specific places that you can find out about via the block.

“Wallets are traceable” isn’t really the case, not practically speaking. But I think it a great point you have about markets mooning!

dude i thought you were further along in your crypto jedi training in this wtf

'russia to evade sanctions using crypto' means their government, or sanctioned individuals, would seek to transmit large sums of money via crypto

The russian central bank has approx $670 Billion in foreign assets frozen that they can't move. 'using sanctions to evade crypto' would mean using traditional assets (likely rubles) to buy crypto, sending it to someone, who then receives it and keeps the crypto or converts it back to fiat currency (the latter more likely)

To transform fiat into crypto and vice-versa ('on ramps', 'off ramps') are only capable via centralized exchanges which have connectivity to banks. Those centralized exchanges on board individuals and institutions, not anonymously (for amounts greater than $10,000). Centralized exchanges (CEX) can be monitored, exchanges can be shut down. Exchange owners can be indicted or subpoena-ed or sanctioned themselves. Centralized exchanges are necessary to on/off ramp fiat. They are not anonymous.

Every transaction between crypto accounts is on a public ledger, you can see where it comes and goes - the question becomes 'what person owns this account' (string of numbers and letters) - even for 'hot wallets' (not on an exchange) you follow the transactions far enough and it gives you some clues as to who it might be, because it ultimately ends up 'somewhere' and is used for something. But to get it back into fiat, it has to go through a CEX, and CEX's mean you lose anonymity.

The size of the entire crypto market right now is $2 Trillion, most of that is BTC sitting in cold wallets with legacy whales, not being traded. Any $670B buys would make the market explode. And any $1B, or even $100MM buys, would be very visible - given how closely traders and technical analysts watch crypto markets, how segmented the markets are (all exchanges are their own siloed ecosystem and own market makers), and given how weak crypto markets have been since November (any whale dropping 9-figure+ tickets is noticed)

no one is moving any meaningful amount of 'sanctions money' and getting away with it using crypto

(edit) and this Treasury official agrees:

Treasury officials say they aren’t overly worried about crypto undermining the effort to choke off the Kremlin’s access to capital. Laundering large amounts of money through a dizzying array of digital wallets and exchanges is expensive, time-consuming and would likely be visible in the broader crypto market, given the massive investment portfolios of individuals and institutions named in the sanctions.

“The scale of what they have to move, and where they have to move things from, [crypto’s] not necessarily going to be that concerning,” said Todd Conklin, counselor to the deputy Treasury secretary. Any attempt to move that much money through exchanges would contribute to “a bit more of a spike in the crypto market, in my view, than has been observed lately.”

dimejinky99 wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:I’ll rephrase: explain to me how wallets are traceable, because I don’t see how that plays out in the real world

Reputable exchanges (the only ones of any size) already have to follow sanctions requirements (they have to interact with banks for on/off ramps).

This was a request for centralized exchanges to block 'all russian accounts', which is ridiculous. They are right not to start querying their database for anyone with a russian tax id / name and blocking them, that's absurd.

Right now the ruble is being destroyed. For regular people who's savings are evaporating, and their bank is out of US dollars or Euros, logging into a crypto account and converting into a USDT / USDC stablecoin would make a TON of sense. And based on market action the last couple days, it looks like some of those people may be doing that, or buying ETH or BTC.

"President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address Tuesday, promising to “inflict pain” on Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

“We are choking off Russia’s access to technology that will sap its economic strength and weaken its military for years to come,” said Biden."

Speaking directly to members of Russia’s kleptocratic ruling class, Biden pledged that the U.S. will “seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/01/joe-bid ... dates.html