stunning report from Hindenburg Research: Jack Dorsey's #crypto #cryptocurrency company #Block (formerly #Square) touts its business model as empowering the "unbanked."

in fact, the overwhelming "unbanked" usage is criminal activity, & Dorsey & other insiders knowingly facilitate money laundering, sex trafficking, fentanyl distribution, & even murder, while profiting hugely off the service, including through COVID-related govt relief.

hindenburgresearch.com/block/

#bitcoin #fraud ht Amy Castor

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@dgolumbia

Maybe it's for the best that we don't look to unelected private actors, particularly those with power over finances and abilities to act as gatekeepers to financial tools, to don the hats of police?

Yeah, when the bank owner isn't telling people what they can and can't do with their money, some people will do bad things with it.

But that's for law enforcement to address through transparent channels that respect due process. It shouldn't be for Jack Dorsey to go vigilante and take the law into his own hands.

@volkris @dgolumbia It'd be nice for that to be applied consistently.

It's not okay to facilitate commercial murder, but neither is it for transaction infrastructure like Paypal to block businesses because "eww sex is icky" or something similar (eff.org/issues/financial-censo).

@lispi314

Agreed!
And that's exactly part of why I think we need to be pushing back against wanting financial service providers, not to mention others, to impose particular concepts of morality in their business.

@dgolumbia

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