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 bankster 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.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:
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.
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
Edited by WD
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