Susie
Susie Violet Ward

Journalist

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npub1hwgw0uznr49t4gullpgfz4m5xnakl5a0l88m3k382xv7ys0tfmlsd503sg

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nprofile1qqsthy887pf36j465w0ls5y32a6rf7m06whlnnacmgn4rx0zg845alcpp3mhxue69uhkyunz9e5k7qgjwaehxw309ahkvenrdpskjm3wwp6kyqg4waehxw309ajkgetw9ehx7um5wghxcctwvsqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsq3zamnwvaz7tmwdaehgunpwvhxzursqy28wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hsqklg6e

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npub1hwgw0uznr49t4gullpgfz4m5xnakl5a0l88m3k382xv7ys0tfmlsd503sg

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Last Notes

2026-10-27 07:56:10 UTC

The government is building systems with enormous power over our lives, while making it increasingly difficult for ordinary people to understand or challenge them.
A new Guardian investigation raises serious concerns about the Home Office's use of AI across immigration enforcement, including facial recognition, phone analysis and asylum casework.
According to Open Rights Group, much of this is happening with little public scrutiny, with national security repeatedly cited to withhold information.
Britain was so concerned about the security of Huawei equipment that it ordered its removal from our 5G networks. All the technology our own government is deploying deserves the same scrutiny.
Our recent history gives us plenty of reasons to question government assurances.
In 2020, the Home Office withdrew an algorithm used to assess visa applications following a legal challenge alleging discrimination.
The Post Office Horizon scandal demonstrated the devastating consequences of trusting flawed computer evidence while dismissing the people who challenged it. Hundreds were wrongly prosecuted, with lives, reputations and livelihoods destroyed.
Britain already has extensive CCTV surveillance, expanding facial recognition, growing digital identity systems and documented cases of people losing access to banking services.
AI now gives governments the ability to analyse and connect vast amounts of information about individuals on a scale that would previously have been unimaginable.
Companies such as Palantir are already deeply involved in British public services, supplying technology to the NHS and Ministry of Defence.
Their growing role raises more concerns about how much control does the government retain when essential public systems depend on technology developed and maintained by private companies?
These technologies are being introduced for reasons that often sound perfectly reasonable, including national security, fraud prevention and improving public services.
The danger is what happens when more of our identities, movements, finances and personal information become accessible through increasingly connected systems.
I suspect many politicians truly believe they're making people's lives better. What concerns me is whether they fully understand the technology they're commissioning, the influence of the companies supplying it and the power they're potentially handing over.
A society in which people can be monitored, assessed and potentially excluded from essential services through systems they cannot understand or challenge is a frightening prospect.
Decisions made today could have consequences for individual freedom that future governments struggle to reverse.
If the government uses systems to assess people while limiting what the public can see about how they work, how are ordinary people supposed to challenge them when they get things wrong?
Read the full article here:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/27/digital-hostile-environment-ai-secretly-embedded-home-office-report
https://blossom.primal.net/80dd3e9ac789d74f3b45f684d186d98a92d3b20ffcb4933598907560fcf67843.jpg

2026-10-26 08:09:04 UTC

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Did Britain really scrap digital ID?
The infrastructure is expanding and most people have no idea how far it's already gone.
Read my investigation in Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/10/22/britain-scrapped-digital-id-so-why-is-it-still-expanding/
https://blossom.primal.net/9079754622e7a02840a4327cf1a5be9c5a3349d5e4a5d308cf2f6a69217223cd.mov
#nevent1q…whgm

2026-10-25 16:52:12 UTC

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Britain is building critical public systems on technology it may not be able to leave.
Palantir is now integrating with the NHS, defence and financial regulation.
It has hired more than 30 former senior UK officials, including from MoD and NHS AI leadership. It has led closed door reviews of how government buys software while securing large direct award contracts with limited competition.
Owning the data is not the same as being able to switch suppliers.
As Palantir becomes more embedded across government, who really controls Britain’s services and digital state?
#nevent1q…txzf

2026-10-23 11:47:46 UTC

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Apologies, I though Forbes allowed a few free articles a month.
I publish all articles on Substack 5 days (approx) after publication:
https://decentrasuze.substack.com

2026-10-23 06:25:48 UTC

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Britain scrapped digital ID. So why is the infrastructure still being built?
New figures from DCMS reveal more than 26 MILLION people have now used One Login.
Parliamentary evidence also confirms:
- Expansion towards 500 services
- HMRC joining the system
- Cross department identity matching in development
- Digital credentials for private sector use
DCMS says the system is separate from the cancelled scheme, that personal data is not linked across government databases and alternatives will remain available.
Is this a Digital ID through the back door?
https://blossom.primal.net/14b1af9e07bec28e4a08c4bfc0faa26573f75436c3a08ee868ca84a31abf9625.jpg
#nevent1q…whgm

2026-10-22 12:17:08 UTC

Britain scrapped digital ID. Or did it?
While the government says its national scheme has been cancelled, One Login is expanding.
Welfare records are already being used for identity verification, banking verification is planned and officials are developing ways to recognise individuals across government departments.
My latest for Forbes looks at what's still being built, the risks of scope creep and what happens when government systems get things wrong.
Read the full article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/10/22/britain-scrapped-digital-id-so-why-is-it-still-expanding/
https://blossom.primal.net/b9ad9349050888980c3fa9160a0492714908cccfea684b5273eabbb22eeab9c4.jpg

2026-10-22 08:26:49 UTC

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🙏🏻

2026-10-22 08:26:41 UTC

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🙏🏻

2026-10-22 08:20:38 UTC

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Does anyone know why landscape videos aren't displaying properly on Nostr?
I'm using Primal.
I've tried uploading this video several ways, including running it through Opus and downloading and uploading it again, but it keeps displaying like this, with half the preview blank.
Has anyone else experienced this or know what might be causing it?
#nevent1q…d6pq

2026-10-22 08:17:01 UTC

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https://blossom.primal.net/79e167489c2cf618780f09980513a8e3a5e9b0e3b2ac484e09bf3b76af835d1a.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/eb51ec6143da83c465482002930353a13b201ebac5cc3c7b27f11c950e7cdbb7.jpg

2026-10-22 08:16:22 UTC

The government scrapped its national digital ID scheme following public opposition but the infrastructure continues to expand.
GOV.UK One Login now has:
- 264 government services already connected
- 500 services expected within two years
- 23 million+ people already using it
The government is also working on ways for different departments to recognise the same individual across their services, rather than requiring people to verify their identity separately.
Officials confirmed this is still being developed, alongside the continued expansion of One Login and GOV.UK Wallet.
The concerns about security, accountability and what happens when these systems get things wrong haven't gone away.
The oral evidence from the 19 October parliamentary hearing is worth reading, particularly questions 12, 42 and 62.
Full transcript:
https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/18142/html/
The government's published roadmap sets out further development, including plans to introduce identity verification using banking information:
https://sign-in.service.gov.uk/about/roadmap
The national digital ID scheme may have been scrapped, but digital ID is very much alive and kicking.
https://blossom.primal.net/c8734745f333d9329ff37aff249a25cf1df23b5bf488203eb97995da505a4fb6.mov

2026-10-19 11:28:18 UTC

Hackers stole UK government records dating back to 1978. It took until October 2026 for officials to establish more of what was taken.
On 14 October 2026, the Legal Aid Agency confirmed that around 250,000 stolen records predate 2007.
Hackers gained access in December 2024, but the agency did not detect the intrusion until 23 April 2025.
By 16 May 2025, the agency knew significant amounts of personal data had been stolen but it was still identifying the extent of the theft in October 2026.
The government has confirmed that the stolen data includes records containing:
- Names
- Addresses
- Dates of birth
- National Insurance numbers
- Financial assessments
- Details of legal proceedings
- Bank details
- Probation records
The agency says it has no indication that the stolen information has been published or shared.
Andy Burnham cancelled the proposed national Digital ID scheme in July 2026, but the government is continuing to expand http://GOV.UK One Login.
The Legal Aid Agency breach demonstrates the risks of retaining personal information for decades and the consequences when government systems fail to protect it.
We have seen repeated examples of government data security failures, reinforcing the need for independent scrutiny of who can access our personal information, how long it is retained and how securely it is stored.
The closure of One Login's independent privacy and inclusion advisory group in 2025 is particularly concerning given the government's record on data security.
Stolen personal information can lead to blackmail, targeted crime and physical harm and the government is asking us to trust it with more of our identity information.
Who is holding the government accountable and what happens when the next breach occurs?
Sources:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/legal-aid-agency-cyber-security-incident-data-update-october-2026
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-10-14/hcws376
https://blossom.primal.net/667924138489c024c7584539ca1685dfbd2683a225ece0c2dc0b6fec34ecedfe.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/4a04616dec8fe287cbd12805ed6938e64386c70e800d0bf8fad7c105c8df65ba.jpg

2026-10-19 08:11:16 UTC

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HMRC wants greater access to your Bitcoin records, but what happens if that information falls into the wrong hands, along with your name and home address?
You can change a password, but you cannot change your identity or your Bitcoin transaction history.
#nevent1q…w8q6

2026-10-17 07:42:10 UTC

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HMRC recovered £477m in additional capital gains tax last year, up 82%.
“We are seeing more targeted inquiries and we understand the Revenue is using AI in reviewing statements and records,” Jeff Millington of Withers told the FT.
Advisers say HMRC has become 'more assertive' in its pursuit of untaxed gains, asking taxpayers for more information and taking increasingly aggressive positions in settlements, while facing pressure to bring in more revenue through compliance.
Combine that pressure with greater data access, more aggressive enforcement and AI-assisted review and the risks are obvious.
People can be pulled into investigations on flawed assumptions, decisions become harder to challenge, and ever more sensitive information is concentrated in systems few taxpayers can question.
For Bitcoin holders the consequences can be much more serious. A bank record stays inside a closed system. A Bitcoin address already sits on a public ledger.
Once a name, home address or tax ID is linked to that address, any future leak or disclosure turns years of activity into a permanent, searchable public record and creates lasting physical security risks.
More aggressive enforcement combined with expanding data powers needs far more scrutiny than it is getting.
Full article: https://www.ft.com/content/b4996387-0a4a-4f75-b16d-830fbc8c40c3?syn-25a6b1a6=1
https://blossom.primal.net/286d9cbcf0e19701c958588f7f29c4d8da41b2a4796787e746eae8049dbf2f7e.jpg
#nevent1q…gsyg

2026-10-16 11:28:19 UTC

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No! 🥲

2026-10-16 09:17:34 UTC

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🙏🏻

2026-10-16 09:14:44 UTC

This is still one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on the internet.
In 2006, tech journalist Guy Kewney went to the BBC for a live interview about an Apple court case.
At the same time, Guy Goma was there for a job interview.
A producer went to reception to collect Guy and they literally got the wrong Guy.
Goma was taken to make-up, miked up and put live on air. He went along with it because, as far as he knew, he was there for an interview.
Then came the question about the court ruling.
You can see the exact moment he realises something has gone very wrong.
“I’m very surprised… because I was not expecting that.”
He then just starts answering the questions and the point he made was that people would increasingly use the internet because it made getting what they wanted easier and faster.
Twenty years later, he has been proven absolutely right!!
Twenty years later this still makes me cry with laughter!!
https://blossom.primal.net/89e5d572a3a1eb4c35fdecf996376e486a3f32ea8263187c4b93297c94bbf72a.mov

2026-10-12 07:49:57 UTC

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Bitcoin is not a generic cryptoasset and “Same risk, same regulation” only works if you look at the risk.
Bitcoin has:
- no company
- no insider allocation
- no one who can change the supply
Many of the tokens sitting beside it in the FCA’s cryptoasset rulebook have all three.
In addition, classifying Bitcoin as a Restricted Mass Market Investment brings warnings, appropriateness tests and cooling-off periods built for products with promoters and issuers … Bitcoin has neither.
If the risks are different, the rules should be too.
See our open letter to the FCA, explaining why “same risk, same regulation” should work both ways.
https://blossom.primal.net/a82d8fc94799e2f71460fc056fba2abff63bb3c1dc986c13c78ef32af6450051.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/3c68c1827b5265371b0e7ecbfce3f1cf0253f983c99b529c651fba39d1204190.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/9469d374369165c69821173c7597d0b04deacb3f72ed91f132823ca008244349.jpg
#nevent1q…wthn

2026-10-09 08:10:06 UTC

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France now leads the world for physical attacks on crypto holders, and the UK is third.
@nprofile…qdca reported:
- 404 attacks across 61 countries
- attacks rose 90% from 2024 to 2025
- 35 people killed
- 95 home invasions
- 88 kidnappings
https://gart.io/stats
The attacks have closely tracked the bitcoin price, and the drop at the end of that chart is a lag in the data, not a threat that has passed.
The target is not an exchange account or a hacked wallet, it’s someone’s home.
Once a name and a home address are tied to a Bitcoin holding, that link does not expire.
That is why expanding the amount of identity and transaction data HMRC can obtain deserves scrutiny.
Tax enforcement should not create the data trail that leads someone to your home.
My latest in Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/10/08/hmrcs-proposed-crypto-powers-could-increase-physical-security-risks/
More reporting and background:
https://pressfiles.media/archive/articles/hmrcs-proposed-crypto-powers-could-increase-physical-security-risks/
https://blossom.primal.net/a16b900267976505ab0917e3ac9b52223f0a31bc27efb72f0b0bb53cf7cfcaf8.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/4616f7a22507643c95256896d20f10c675aa8bd865a86169f5691c6df3cfb72e.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/aba79530a32dc862db7e855b7dde170d2f6261d49f21ce0d10eaefcc05713401.jpg
#nevent1q…gsyg

2026-10-08 07:45:36 UTC

HMRC wants more power over financial data. The problem is that Bitcoin is not a bank account.
Once names, home addresses and tax IDs are linked to a Bitcoin address, that information can stay connected to a public ledger indefinitely.
Europe is already seeing the consequences when crypto holders’ identities and holdings are exposed.
France saw 19 verified physical attacks on crypto holders in 2025. A French tax official was charged after using government software to look up crypto investors' details and passing data to criminals.
I spoke to HM Revenue & Customs, Recap, BULL BITCOIN and Knightbridge Tax about what the UK and EU rules could mean for privacy, self-custody and physical security.
Tax enforcement should not create a target list.
My latest for Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/10/08/hmrcs-proposed-crypto-powers-could-increase-physical-security-risks/

2026-10-06 08:52:11 UTC

This is how you sleepwalk into a surveillance state.
It does not arrive overnight. It is chipped away, one ‘reasonable’ measure at a time, until proving who you are becomes a condition of participating in everyday life.
@nprofile…0e4t
https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases/big-brother-watch-on-uk-governments-plans-to-enforce-passport-id-checks-on-social-media/
https://blossom.primal.net/f36bb6f89204970805f18c8e88925e181e78ebcc8620324f9978bfc573f0e9fd.mov
https://blossom.primal.net/5f0b3e4dc613694e61b25006c64890b63d57d824173b9f8333b4d5fe79e9bdad.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/369c981ee2631af1eef8938a0afe681fb6f328ef00ee1194558bd75560a7feb6.jpg

2026-10-05 06:54:30 UTC

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https://blossom.primal.net/b03533c8d42a443b4cf51c94b3363b7178799846fc5a78e7d81fc4b1c51933b7.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/f5d6e26b00f902191d2c53eb57d7b8008be24658642987b8ae48a858b39d9bcd.jpg

2026-10-05 06:53:04 UTC

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Britain’s debt problem just got worse.
Right now:
- 6%+ on 30 year gilts, highest since 1998
By 2027/28:
- £117 billion debt interest
- £96.5 billion new borrowing
Over 5 years:
- £682 billion interest
- £58 billion above OBR’s March forecast
Britain is now forecast to spend more on debt interest than it will borrow that year.
After all of that, Britain still owes nearly £3 trillion.
https://uknationaldebt.com/
The Budget is on 28 October and the choices are brutal:
- Tax more and risk capital leaving
- Borrow more and pay more interest
- Dramatically cut spending*
- Debase the currency (although they won't call it that)
* Even savage spending cuts will barely make a dent.
Source: This is Money / Capital Economics / OBR
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-16180359/Alarm-Healey-set-spend-loan-repayments-borrowing-latest-Budget-blow.html
#nevent1q…d24j

2026-10-04 09:49:46 UTC

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❤️

2026-10-02 09:18:50 UTC

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Bitcoin has spent years being defined by people who didn’t really understand it.
Mainstream coverage focused on crime, scams, energy use and volatility.
That is how many people came to understand Bitcoin, including the politicians and policymakers now being asked to regulate it.
I don’t necessarily blame journalists. Bitcoin is complicated, newsrooms are under huge pressure, and once bad information is out there it gets repeated incredibly quickly.
That’s what I’m trying to undo through my journalism and through @nprofile…nl40, because Brandolini’s Law is painfully real. It takes an order of magnitude more energy to refute bad information than it does to create it in the first place.
I spoke to CK about Bitcoin’s perception problem, what policymakers understand about it, and what happens when years of bad information begin feeding into policy.
#nevent1q…g5sj

2026-09-30 08:23:51 UTC

Last year Chris was using the heat from Bitcoin mining heat to make beef bits @nprofile…tzrp.
This year he’s using the heat to warm a chicken coop, dry and smoke grain and now he wants to build a fermentation silo for beer, kombucha and whisky.
In this demo in Helsinki, Chris explains how he’s using a Bitcoin miner to make whisky.
Anything that needs stable heat is a mining use case!
https://blossom.primal.net/6c3e27d0091b8ff64b318c5686c49107c1d0f402a1debfd898945c34e6f27f14.mov

2026-09-21 07:02:55 UTC

Bitcoin Policy UK is coming out of consolidation and I am resuming my role as CEO. Dr Cristina Llamas-Rey is returning as COO.
Getting here has not been easy. I have never taken a salary from BPUK, and the organisation is still run by a small team of volunteers giving their time around jobs, families and other commitments.
In January, I reached the point where I could not justify taking recurring donations when we did not have the resources to operate properly. Scaling back was the responsible thing to do.
The aim was to keep BPUK going while we cut costs and rebuilt around what we could actually sustain. That is what we have done.
Throughout consolidation, the work continued and we sent our 2026 Manifesto to all 650 MPs. We also responded to Government, FCA, HMRC and Bank of England consultations, worked on banking access, Digital ID and privacy, and continued publishing articles and practical resources.
The way we work has been simplified, with a stricter line on what BPUK can realistically take on.
We are still unfunded and our resources remain limited, so coming out of consolidation does not mean we suddenly have the capacity to do everything people would like BPUK to do.
There are a lot of worthwhile projects and great people doing important work, but we have to guard our time carefully and focus on where BPUK can have the most impact.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped keep BPUK going through this period. The people who continued giving their time, expertise and support made it possible for us to keep moving while we worked through everything behind the scenes. I am very grateful.
I would like BPUK to have a paid team and do far more. If you can help with funding, please email contact@bitcoinpolicy.uk.
Press release below.
@nprofile…arr8
https://blossom.primal.net/06ec0e089f44ae66baf1c64276e77715a806856f3eecb58d019d6d165186f69b.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/1e8705e0589be77ef9667c7befe5ddfb6a1283772631d1d93cdf6ade3fad703a.jpg

2026-09-19 07:17:26 UTC

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The clause says “within 12 months of the day on which this Act is passed”.. so Royal Assent.

2026-09-18 11:40:56 UTC

The Lords voted 194-138 to require the Treasury to prepare, publish and consult on a digital assets strategy covering cryptoassets, stablecoins, CBDCs, tokenisation and access to banking and payment services.
The FCA authorisation gateway opens on 30 September, with the new cryptoasset regime due 25 October 2027. Firms are already preparing for a detailed rulebook while what the UK is trying to build is still being argued.
@nprofile…pdfw has been working across many of these same issues, including FCA regulation, stablecoins, digital identity, CBDCs and banking access.
If the Lords amendment survives the Commons, Treasury would have 12 months to produce an overarching strategy.
Regulation is already advancing but does the UK have a joined up strategy?
The bill is here:
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4129
The amendment is here:
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4129/stages/21082/amendments/10037304
https://blossom.primal.net/9d099895289fbf697421efcc88bfd344296c9685b00ea0933527c111a6b3478a.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/36ef1bb109521927577ca1fa73de8389d3f97ff97478ed676f960ee08ede9c4b.jpg

2026-09-17 09:16:22 UTC

KYC is framed as protection, but when identity data is required to use a service, the information collected for safety can later be used for extortion.
One of the points I made, quoted in Cointelegraph was:
“We need to stop treating identity verification and surrendering your identity as though they are the same thing.”
Revolut released identity files after requests were sent from a legitimate Italian law enforcement address. The piece looks at:
- what went wrong
- why collecting documents is not the same as proving a fact
- how we can verify without storing so much personal data
Efrat Fenigson of You're The Voice warns: “When regulators keep mandating a model that guarantees this outcome, while the technology to verify without storing already exists, it raises a red flag.”
Lyudmyla Kozlovska of the Open Dialogue Foundation highlights another weakness: “EU AML law imposes no verification duty on the bank and provides no meaningful mechanism to check who is really behind an authenticated state request.”
Evin McMullen of Billions Network sums up the wider problem: “This is a governance and standards problem wearing a technology costume. You cannot lose what you never held.”
This is a really important piece from Christina Comben, bringing together the risks around how identity data is collected, stored and shared and the possible alternatives that already exist.
Read the full article here:
https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/revolut-id-thefts-highlight-kycs-dangers-heres-how-to-fix-it
@nprofile…sqyr @nprofile…mps0 @nprofile…xzud
https://blossom.primal.net/4c64f1a9d701cf484c719f0b2d4290982378e2ad774b27346b6583350d9ec292.jpg
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2026-09-16 08:12:33 UTC

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100%

2026-09-16 07:57:57 UTC

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The same pattern in the private sector:
https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqsys2wxnecs8l0nlwh0t3tlzznkkzz2lfmy5sygfqc0zzvmrkercmg8lld3s

2026-09-16 07:55:52 UTC

The government said national digital ID was cancelled in July. The work around GOV.UK Wallet, digital driving licences and One Login carried on.
GOV.UK Wallet is still live, the Veteran Card is already digital and the driving licence is next. The government’s own technical documentation was updated again on 1 and 3 September, including work on issuing and revoking test digital driving licences.
One Login is still growing as the gateway into government services, with more than 23 million users. This week, licensed premises in England and Wales can also accept certified digital proof of age for alcohol sales.
What was taken off the table was the politically visible product. The systems for issuing, storing and checking digital credentials kept developing.
Some of the government’s data incidents:
- Electoral Commission: around 40 million people affected by a cyber breach.
- MoD: data linked to more than 18,500 Afghan applicants exposed.
- PSNI: details of 9,483 officers and staff published online.
- HMRC: stolen identity data used to reach about 100,000 online tax accounts.
If more of our official documents and identity credentials are going into reusable digital systems, I want to know:
- who can request them?
- what is recorded?
- when they are used?
- how is it stored?
- who has access?
- how long that information is kept?
- whether people who refuse the digital route will still have an equivalent way to access the service?
The public was told “digital ID cancelled”. The government’s own development record shows the digital identity work carried on.
The technical documents for GOV.UK Wallet, including the September updates on digital driving licences, are here:
https://docs.wallet.service.gov.uk/
https://blossom.primal.net/f7a68e1abc86241724e7613b34d4fee7c32b782097e07a0122b9f69d744d4b3d.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/cdf891f5274dff7f30d5a3194e7fa4802094a42f3be297689f8b9fa17e603787.jpg

2026-09-15 12:16:11 UTC

Today England and Wales put digital ID on the bar.
Licensed premises can now accept certified digital proof of age for alcohol, allowing someone to confirm they are over 18 through an app rather than handing over a passport or driving licence.
The government says the venue does not need to see details such as your name or address, with services including Yoti and Post Office EasyID operating under the UK digital verification trust framework.
This is separate from the digital driving licence and GOV.UK Wallet.
That sounds privacy friendly at the point of sale because the pub only sees the proof. The identity provider behind the app is still responsible for verifying and handling the underlying data, which is where the privacy and security questions sit.
Digital identity becomes normal when it gets built into everyday life, one convenience at a time.
The more we rely on that infrastructure, the harder it becomes to question how far it should go.
That debate needs to happen before convenience becomes dependency.
Press release:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-pave-the-way-for-businesses-to-adopt-digital-proof-of-age-for-alcohol-sales
BBC article:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm4gl6j53w19o

2026-09-15 07:46:32 UTC

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KYC requirements keep expanding while the systems holding our personal data repeatedly fail to protect it.
A few recent incidents:
- Revolut: ID and account histories sent after fake official requests.
- Swiss Bitcoin Pay: emails, IBANs and transaction data accessed
- Pocket Bitcoin: data on 5,411 people exposed
- SafePal: almost 40,000 customers affected
Global context:
- 43% of UK businesses hit by a cyber breach or attack last year.
- Average data breach cost: $4.44m globally
- FATF effectiveness scores ~28% globally
The policy response remains more KYC, more collection and more sharing.
We are building ever-larger stores of identity and financial data without clear evidence that this level of surveillance is delivering proportionate results, while the systems holding that data continue to fail.
You can check whether your data has been caught up in a breach at Have I Been Pwned:
haveibeenpwned.com
https://blossom.primal.net/5a9641af2fc78718ac62ec92bd112849296b34a7199c4616223b78d0b6893b69.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/d156a9a1b2f150ab34a0bfa367ed71273809af6ba630160e6971ceca087e3dc6.jpg
#nevent1q…8fjs

2026-09-14 10:00:23 UTC

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We should be careful about expanding surveillance in the name of safety. Decades of extra data collection have not eliminated financial crime.
With Bitcoin, 'more data' can mean permanently linking people to visible stores of value on a public ledger.
That is a different risk from banking, and it is hard to unwind once it is done.
https://blossom.primal.net/a2a0e5bf32cb66f0d34c888328dbea364101715e238b2eef816297a371cfe73d.mov
#nevent1q…xx3h

2026-09-04 07:39:32 UTC

Britain’s biggest investment platform has listed Bitcoin.
The route here has been extraordinary:
- 2021: FCA bans retail crypto ETNs
- 2024: UK-listed ETNs return, but professionals only
- 8 Oct 2025: FCA lifts the retail ban
- 6 Apr 2026: HMRC blocks new crypto ETN buys in standard ISAs
- 3 Sept 2026: HL opens Bitcoin ETNs to SIPPs and Fund & Share accounts
HL spent much of the past year arguing that Bitcoin was “not an asset class”, even after the regulator had reopened the market.
After an appropriateness test and a 24-hour wait, a SIPP or Fund and Share account on HL can take listed Bitcoin exposure, even though you still do not hold the coins and a standard Stocks and Shares ISA remains closed to new buys.
That is real progress for anyone who has been stuck with risky proxies.
It is also a reminder of how long the UK made people wait for a product that was already legal.
Read the full article:
https://www.ft.com/content/a0d34842-a49c-47ae-b1cc-3fadd8af9d43?syn-25a6b1a6=1

2026-09-03 09:20:00 UTC

The US government said you already have enough privacy and then 153 million driving licences went up for sale on the dark web.
In the Tornado Cash trial, prosecutors told the jury a bank account or a Coinbase login was 'privacy enough'.
Their expert said the responsible version of the software was a login screen and a database linking every user to every transaction.
That is the same architecture used by the company that scans licences at hotels, rental desks and dispensaries.
Scans of ordinary people and senior officials appeared for sale on the dark web, along with data that could expose people hiding from abusers.
Storm built software with no middleman holding the data:
- no company
- no server
- no identity file
That was treated as the crime.
Data collection is not the same thing as safety. You cannot leak what was never collected.
https://lnkd.in/epsYvSQB

2026-09-03 07:47:11 UTC

London is putting AI behind the wheel while lawmakers debate the kill switch.
The Guardian reports London’s first Wayve robotaxis are now live on Uber, while the BBC reports lawmakers are considering emergency powers to shut down powerful AI systems if they become a threat.
There is still a human safety driver in the front, Wayve says the technology is “still maturing,” and fully driverless approval is not expected this year.
Once cars can scan, identify, track, geofence and remotely respond to instructions, transport starts to look a lot like a mobile surveillance system with wheels.
We are embedding adaptive AI into physical infrastructure before we have properly settled who controls it, who can override it, how its decisions are audited or who is accountable when something goes wrong.
Once software is physically moving you through a city, this is no longer about transport, it's about control.
Who can stop the car? Who can redirect it? Who gets the final say when you are sitting inside it?
We’re racing to hand AI the keys while still arguing about where to put the emergency brake.
I’ll be keeping my hydrocarbon-powered campervan. It has privacy, autonomy and an off-grid escape plan in one.
Clip: Leave the World Behind (2023)
Read the full Guardian and BBC articles.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn9wv80j9w9o
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/03/london-first-self-driving-taxis-for-hire-wayve-uber
https://blossom.primal.net/a7430f05be1a49bcfcc7326bb7b0e0e0999ac09c5d528144cfd71b718e3488b1.mov

2026-09-02 07:59:46 UTC

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FATF is an intergovernmental body, not an elected legislature. The standards agreed around its table form financial rules across more than 200 jurisdictions.
That is an extraordinary amount of influence over how ordinary people are allowed to move money.
https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/the-fatf/who-we-are.html

2026-09-02 07:58:39 UTC

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FATF built the Travel Rule for a banking system where money laundering is still estimated at around 2-5% of global GDP.
A figure that has been cited since 1998 despite nearly three decades of expanding AML rules, KYC requirements and data collection.
The same surveillance architecture is now being imposed on Bitcoin. Unlike the banking system it was built for, Bitcoin runs on an open, auditable ledger.
Once identity is attached to a wallet, that information can expose far more than a single payment. It creates a lasting link between a person, their address, their transactions, counterparties and potentially their holdings.
Nearly three decades of expanding financial surveillance have not eliminated money laundering in the banking system.
The FATF’s response is to extend the same model into Bitcoin.
We already know what happens when sensitive personal and financial data is concentrated, shared across institutions and eventually breached. With Bitcoin, that data can become a map of who owns what.
When the surveillance architecture creates a target list, the thing being sold as protection has become part of the threat.
#nevent1q…pfj9

2026-09-01 07:46:17 UTC

Britain is trying to escape the Palantir problem by building a British version of the same problem.
The government wants to spend £100m backing homegrown AI firms and embedding them across healthcare, defence and public services under the banner of “sovereign AI”.
There is one huge problem sitting underneath that ambition: energy.
AI needs compute, compute needs huge volumes of electricity and Britain has some of the highest industrial electricity prices in the developed world.
Building a sovereign AI ecosystem becomes much harder when the basic economics push compute towards cheaper infrastructure elsewhere.
That creates a scenario where British AI companies win government contracts but still rely on foreign hyperscalers, overseas data centres and external infrastructure to run the systems.
The lock-in problem does not disappear. Once AI becomes embedded across the NHS, defence and public services, those systems can become difficult to audit, difficult to replace and increasingly powerful in influencing institutional decisions.
A British supplier can still become indispensable. A British model can still be opaque. A British system can still become too embedded to challenge.
Britain wants sovereign AI, while the economics of energy make sovereign compute difficult and the rush to embed AI risks creating a new generation of dependency.
The country could rebuild the same problem with a Union Jack on it.
Read the full article:
https://www.ft.com/content/5a10fc78-9a3e-4f12-81e3-dc843b529948?syn-25a6b1a6=1

2026-08-27 07:30:46 UTC

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I always think that too whenever I hear Jackson’s hole 😂

2026-08-27 06:33:36 UTC

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Jackson Hole starts today. A few words from the Fed can move bonds, the dollar and Bitcoin.
Bitcoin went back above $80,000 after its strongest August in years, helped by:
- renewed ETF inflows
- a weaker dollar
- Treasury bond buybacks
- a huge short squeeze
Now markets are waiting for Kevin Warsh.
He has suggested higher bond yields may already be doing some of the Fed’s tightening for it, while Treasury has stepped in with larger buybacks after long dated yields pushed towards two decade highs.
If Warsh sounds hawkish, yields and the dollar could push higher again.
If financial conditions keep easing, the second half of 2026 could get very interesting.
Full article:
https://www.reuters.com/business/anxious-investors-hope-clarity-warshs-fed-plan-jackson-hole-2026-08-26/
#nevent1q…8ler

2026-08-26 08:02:35 UTC

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If $80,000 is the start of a new bull run, the $120,000 to $170,000 forecasts from January could still play out.
Every January I write a “What will Bitcoin’s price do this year?” piece.
Eight months into 2026, this is how it has played out:
- January open: $88,000
- June low: $58,000
- Weeks stuck under $67,000
- $65,000 downside case played out
- $80,000 this week, first time since May
- A third below the October 2025 high
- Down on the year from the January open
What has aged well is that price is being driven by macro conditions, institutional flows and market structure rather than retail speculation.
The second half of 2026 could look very different from the first.
I’ll come back to this in December.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/01/01/what-is-bitcoins-price-prediction-for-2026/
#nevent1q…ul3s

2026-08-25 09:26:34 UTC

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AI is increasingly influencing decisions about military targets, access to public services and outcomes that can directly affect people’s lives.
Last week I wrote about Palantir’s expanding role in Britain’s digital state and the risk of vendor lock-in across critical systems, including the NHS and MoD.
This week Britain becomes the first foreign country to gain access to Ukraine’s Avengers Labs battlefield dataset.
It is built from millions of real combat observations used to train AI for targeting and defence. The MoD is reportedly particularly interested in the acoustic sensor data.
This is another major dataset feeding into the UK’s rapidly developing defence AI capability.
When AI starts influencing decisions with consequences this serious, what happens when someone says the system is wrong?
How do you challenge an AI-assisted decision if you can’t see how it reached its conclusion?
How do you prove an error when the institution relying on the system may understand it better than you do, or may not fully understand it either?
Who has the power to overturn the decision?
If the technology becomes too complex, too embedded or too dependent on outside suppliers to meaningfully audit or replace, control has already shifted.
AI capability is accelerating fast, but will accountability keep up?
Read the full article:
https://www.ft.com/content/063dbdd2-fb5a-4ece-9152-74e791e4835c
#nevent1q…w9az

2026-08-24 09:05:57 UTC

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UK banks blocked almost £1 billion in lawful Bitcoin and crypto payments at one exchange in a single year.
The overall picture isn’t much better:
- 40% of transfers blocked or delayed
- 80% of exchanges say it’s getting worse
- Half of firms can’t open or keep bank accounts
- 70% say UK banking is more hostile
These are lawful payments, including transfers to FCA registered platforms.
Banks still lump Bitcoin in with the riskiest parts of crypto.
Bitcoin is not crypto. It has:
- No CEO
- No issuer
- No company controlling it
- Fixed supply
- Decentralised global network
@nprofile…sfsu is calling for an end to blanket restrictions, proper risk-based decisions, and a clear reason plus a real route of appeal when a payment is blocked.
This has been getting worse for years.
So much for the UK’s ambition to be a global crypto hub.
#nevent1q…mln0

2026-08-21 08:37:38 UTC

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Britain is building a digital state…
…but a handful of private companies may end up holding the leverage.
Parliament has already called it an “unacceptable point of weakness.”
My latest in Forbes!
https://blossom.primal.net/d64cca3c7f941c8da0af07f3edc573a5061ef5768a71a87e8f9b197ba6908895.mov
#nevent1q…w9az

2026-08-20 11:58:46 UTC

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🧡

2026-08-20 07:27:16 UTC

Palantir’s role in Britain’s digital state is expanding.
- £182m NHS data platform (£330m potential)
- £240m MoD operational deal
- Up to £1.5bn UK defence investment
- Former senior officials at Palantir
- £50m Met deal blocked over procurement
Parliament has already called Palantir’s growing presence an “unacceptable point of weakness”.
The real danger is lock-in. Once critical systems become too difficult to move, the supplier gains leverage.
My latest for Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/08/20/who-is-gaining-control-of-britains-digital-state/

2026-08-19 07:09:09 UTC

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Who actually receives the UK’s £109.7 billion debt interest bill?
Roughly:
- 33.4% overseas investors
- 21.1% UK pension funds and insurers
- 18.5% Bank of England APF
- 27% Banks & other holders
As long-term gilt yields hit their highest levels in nearly two decades, the cost of rolling over and adding to the £2.9 trillion debt keeps rising.
British taxpayers are funding this interest bill. That money could be going to defence, the NHS or schools.
Instead a large share goes to overseas investors, pension funds and banks.
Every extra pound spent on rising debt interest is a pound taken from the things people actually want government to fund.
Source: UK Debt Management Report 2026-27, Chart A.9
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/debt-management-report-2026-27
https://blossom.primal.net/6053ca54b468085fafc32951aa18cefb422c9791fac8465339d04001a0d940de.jpg
#nevent1q…d24j

2026-08-18 07:16:04 UTC

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The US national debt is on track to pass $40 trillion within days.
This is the trajectory of the UK national debt.
It took America over 200 years to reach $10 trillion.
It took 15 years to climb from $10 trillion to $40 trillion, and the line still points sharply upward toward $50 trillion by 2029.
This chart offers a glimpse of the future because once national debt reaches these levels it almost never improves.
The burden compounds through higher interest costs, more borrowing, and the debasement of the currency as governments create more money to keep the system going.
Live US Debt Clock:
https://www.usdebtclock.org/
Chart source: BofA Global Investment Strategy, Bloomberg
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-national-debt-about-to-reach-bleak-40-trillion-milestone-and-its-likely-hit-50-trillion-soon-0f10df2d
https://blossom.primal.net/73b41feb8b21c6c0db8c1fcfcd08719b19f320835cf5d5e6950e8c6007ce0196.jpg

2026-08-18 07:14:30 UTC

Britain will spend £109 BILLION on debt interest this year.
That is more than:
- The entire Education budget
- The entire Defence budget
- Nearly 4× the Transport budget
- More than 5× the Home Office budget
- Nearly 8× the Justice budget
- Roughly half the Health and Social Care (NHS) budget
That is the equivalent of around £3,220 per working person per year, or £268 a month, just to service the national debt.
The debt is rising by roughly £4,000 to £4,300 every second.
At a time when people are already being squeezed by the cost of living, a huge amount of the tax they pay is being swallowed up by interest on old debt rather than paying for the services they actually use.
After all that, the £2.9 trillion debt is still there.
https://uknationaldebt.com/
Snapshot of the live UK National Debt Clock taken at 7:12 am on 18 Aug 2026.
https://blossom.primal.net/758ed7533ad6a7caae880f9b00805275e119d4e80ef7105da4267d9a623682a2.jpg

2026-08-16 11:17:21 UTC

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Another KYC honeypot breached. FFS!
#nevent1q…22eq

2026-08-13 08:25:50 UTC

I told Tom Swarbrick on LBC that I pay my beautician in Bitcoin for my eyelashes.
It was not the answer he was expecting.
She understands the utility, the value and holds it in self custody.
https://blossom.primal.net/7569ef6e7e9e32d82e7b4619c7aca310d771f74533b9e2703d4b89cb487ae808.mov

2026-08-10 19:01:39 UTC

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Probably 95% of what you believe now.

2026-08-06 12:17:50 UTC

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Nailed it!

2026-08-06 11:26:00 UTC

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Fair criticism on the writing. It is far too long and repetitive. I still think the underlying technical finding is important and worth taking seriously, even if the report badly needs a ruthless edit.

2026-08-06 09:09:34 UTC

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🫡

2026-08-06 07:51:31 UTC

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Durov built his reputation defending privacy and told the Oslo Freedom Forum in June 2026 that exchanging essential liberty for temporary safety was “always a scam,” while Telegram continued to expose users to persistent network tracking through a conscious architectural choice.
Coinkite built its reputation on security, while cryptographic evidence now links its own CTO to the pseudonymous account that maintained the library at the centre of Coldcard’s catastrophic entropy failure.
Together they expose a pattern that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Powerful founders and executives build public identities around freedom, privacy and Bitcoin, while the technical systems and incentives of the companies they lead tell a more complicated story.
There are many more examples hiding in plain sight, but the scale of the money and incentives makes exposing them extraordinarily difficult.
Full Telegram Report:
https://symbolic.software/pdf/gnmx-01.pdf
https://blossom.primal.net/ba80fedb5358c2fc2b8e80b1d0f6c9e551dcbfd315da3291f07bdcaa838c207e.mp4
https://blossom.primal.net/ad2bc674f1ea0944d67ca6bb61004882a83af75324f61802655c5ee3536f3f29.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/c552c7120bc68ef1e1c41962d70ac3f788fc953cbba6ddbc03dd956a9a1f5682.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/7a444ca6201dbaf8fb16498bf2c3b263352eda872738eed61948ab856cb32770.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/1ddb191905ba741fc2daada7c4842a0735d2255551e93a522fc93e30daf807be.jpg
#nevent1q…lx06

2026-08-05 05:45:18 UTC

Another government database has been breached.
Attackers stole data relating to around 31,000 companies, foundations and trusts from Liechtenstein’s beneficial ownership register.
The register was created in 2021 to meet EU anti-money-laundering requirements. It is now offline, and the government has activated a crisis unit.
A database built to fight money laundering became a high value honeypot.
These registers concentrate sensitive information about the people behind legal entities in one place.
When that central system is breached, the consequences fall on people who had no choice about submitting their data.
Centralising sensitive information does not remove risk. It concentrates it.
Link: https://www.regierung.li/medienportal-medium/16444/234654/medienmitteilung
https://blossom.primal.net/f52bb68db266961fd956b1f686a95170cab18aadf6b173aae855ec8e5f72f335.jpg

2026-08-03 15:59:47 UTC

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🧡

2026-08-02 10:18:52 UTC

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This is a difficult moment for Bitcoin and above all, for the people who have lost their savings.
The failure of a wallet does not mean Bitcoin has failed. The reasons Bitcoin is important have not changed.
Traditional finance still lets people down through compliance rules, sanctions and third-party risks that can freeze, block or redirect funds.
Intermediaries can stop money reaching people even after it has been raised, leaving families stranded in crisis zones. These barriers remain real and ongoing.
It can still provide a vital alternative through direct wallet payments, financial access for the unbanked and a way to move money when the traditional system cannot reach those who need it.
Bitcoin remains an important lifeline, but the systems built around it must earn people’s trust through transparency, accountability and far stronger security.
@nprofile…3e0d @nprofile…npkw @nprofile…87ng
#nevent1q…85qk

2026-08-01 09:09:02 UTC

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Sending you so much love. I lost my dad 10 years ago, and before that I thought I understood what it would feel like to lose a parent. It was only when it happened to me that I truly understood the depth of that pain. I’m so incredibly sorry. 💕

2026-07-31 14:02:25 UTC

A $38 million Bitcoin hardware wallet failure and Russia’s terrorism charge against Telegram’s founder point to the same uncomfortable reality.
Much of what we call digital safety still rests on reputation rather than verification.
Coldcard stood as one of the most security conscious devices in the industry until a four year old firmware flaw compromised the seed generation process designed to protect users.
Telegram and its founder built a reputation around privacy until researchers uncovered a tracking vulnerability.
When independent verification disappears, trust is all that remains.
My latest piece in Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/07/31/a-38-million-theft-a-global-manhunt--the-illusion-of-digital-safety/

2026-07-30 08:07:30 UTC

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NESO’s Future Energy Scenarios 2025 model households and businesses cutting peak electricity demand by as much as 54% by 2050, largely by turning heat pumps and other loads down or off when the system is under pressure.
While overall electricity demand is still projected to rise sharply because of electrification, the core strategy remains one of managing scarcity through behavioural flexibility rather than building abundance.
History shows that prosperous countries have always been those that used more energy, not less.
UK policy continues to prioritise demand reduction and peak-shaving over the denser, more reliable power that underpins real economic growth.
This approach is one more example of how successive governments have locked the country into managed decline instead of the high energy, high productivity path that every successful economy has followed.
https://www.neso.energy/document/364541/downl
https://blossom.primal.net/75295cc879694ebe0c66e4a15f96b5d5131dc811c58ed9bb5ce3bd34027126d5.mov
#nevent1q…94qn

2026-07-28 07:51:36 UTC

Lebanon showed what happens when banks and currency policy fail the public.
Although the worst of the hyperinflation may have eased, banking distrust, poverty and reconstruction needs remain.
So too does the need for self-custody, low friction remittances and money that cannot be arbitrarily devalued.
Published in early 2024, the lessons have not aged.
Read the full article here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/02/02/lebanons-economic-rebirth-through-bitcoin/

2026-07-23 07:31:27 UTC

If you’re unhappy with the Bitcoin price, stop looking at the chart and start reading the congressional trading disclosures.
Nancy Pelosi’s household portfolio has been beating the S&P 500 and the average hedge fund for years.
A $174,000 congressional salary and a fortune estimated at $250 million. *
Maybe the real alpha was public service all along.
The numbers: https://vertdata.com/blog/nancy-pelosi-stock-portfolio
Track the disclosed trades: https://www.quiverquant.com/congresstrading/politician/Nancy%20Pelosi-P000197/net-worth
* Estimates vary, with some placing the Pelosi fortune at more than $400 million.

2026-07-22 11:48:38 UTC

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Quantum mechanics keeps forcing me to question what 'reality' even is … and where consciousness fits into it.
I’ve tried to articulate some of my recent thoughts in this article.
What's your take on this?
#naddr1qp…kh30

2026-07-22 08:55:36 UTC

What is the best way to post an article on Nostr?

2026-07-21 11:33:31 UTC

Yikes ... we should all be worried!
The Trump team privately warned Andy Burnham against giving Ed Miliband a top economic or foreign policy role.
Steve Bannon said they called him a "red diaper baby and self-described socialist" who would damage the special relationship. Ouch!!
A senior Trump official also described Miliband as a major point of friction in the transatlantic alliance.
Steve Bannon then went on to say:
“Burnham could not care less – he appointed this twit anyway.”
Full article:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/07/21/white-house-deeply-concerned-miliband-foreign-secretary/

2026-07-20 07:03:20 UTC

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GoFundMe responded to my article after publication, despite multiple requests for comment before it went live.
I have now replied asking them what safeguards exist when funds raised for someone in a crisis zone are paid to a nominated beneficiary but do not reach the intended recipient.
Their statement referred to the need to protect donors' generosity.
I have asked how this applies when the person the money was raised for is left without it.
Full article with footnote added:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/07/16/when-the-financial-system-cant-reach-people-in-crisis-bitcoin-can/
@nprofile…730q @nprofile…juxm @npub18am…p424
https://blossom.primal.net/55631a54f2562ea863b67d061e7ccf7fdbef639a90f6dda64bf1905f516107e7.jpg
#nevent1q…t92x

2026-07-19 08:00:01 UTC

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Exactly right ….it makes no difference to whether someone has the right to work.
The checks, documents and immigration records are already in place, and many are already digital.
This only centralises them through a new digital identity system.
Selling that as a solution to illegal migration was an utter load of bollocks.

2026-07-19 07:15:41 UTC

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This is the concern. 🙁

2026-07-19 06:49:13 UTC

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https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqs90juh4nnrdx335l4jkhhdq3qn2agea7dwsxp5fz3skse9ul3u2dqds3gfn

2026-07-19 06:45:37 UTC

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https://www.ft.com/content/8f5445ab-dacb-4908-909f-277853ad0f50?syn-25a6b1a6=1

2026-07-19 06:45:07 UTC

Andy Burnham is scrapping the Labour government’s digital ID scheme as one of his first acts as prime minister.
The policy was never included in Labour’s 2024 manifesto. Despite this, Keir Starmer announced it last September as a tool to combat illegal migration, following strong encouragement from Tony Blair and former Conservative leader William Hague.
Blair has been the persistent driving force behind this undemocratic push for two decades.
As prime minister he tried to introduce national ID cards through the Identity Cards Act 2006. Billions were spent before the scheme was abandoned in 2010. His Tony Blair Institute then continued lobbying heavily for digital ID, publishing reports and recommendations that helped shape the Starmer government’s plans.
The public response was overwhelming. Nearly three million people signed a petition opposing the scheme, while a four hour parliamentary debate saw MPs from across the political spectrum warn that it threatened privacy, civil liberties and the principle of public consent.
The government was eventually forced to drop the compulsory element for workers, but it continued trying to advance the broader digital ID infrastructure under a softer, rebranded model.
That disregard for manifesto commitments, parliamentary concern and enormous public resistance was deeply troubling.
Burnham is now ending the programme, with hundreds of millions of pounds in projected annual costs redirected towards cost-of-living support rather than another expensive, centralised state project.
That money will not solve the cost-of-living crisis, and whether families feel any meaningful benefit remains to be seen. Even so, choosing immediate help for ordinary people over a controversial national identity system is a major and very welcome decision.
Tony Blair has pushed this idea relentlessly for years, despite repeated rejection from the public.
This is a victory, but I would not assume the battle is over.
Why do I suspect digital ID will return under another name?
https://blossom.primal.net/847639ecca222991b1adb4cef2d5d38f1a8b9da0cb83db485d0b49fe2b61d44f.jpg

2026-07-18 10:36:40 UTC

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/01/07/new-eu-rules-threaten-your-security--what-you-need-to-know/

2026-07-18 10:36:17 UTC

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https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqsq6tzlpv3kt3uasgey8mcck4pcnxxv39ckt0jz6s58stanq4cfatssrtde9

2026-07-18 10:35:24 UTC

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https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqspc89ghncftg7qh56pyvf09rnxf2eqthuhpewya5g5r0xgejrd76s78h960

2026-07-18 10:34:47 UTC

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The Travel Rule is not about stopping crime.
It didn’t work in TradFi and now they’re forcing the same failed surveillance architecture onto Bitcoin.
Once they link every tx to real IDs, self custody and privacy are gone.
Efrat’s piece explains how this fits into the bigger 'Digital Cage' rolling out in 2026.
We either fight for financial privacy now or watch Bitcoin become another tool of control.
See links below for key excerpts from the article and relevant posts.
#nevent1q…mzss

2026-07-17 07:11:18 UTC

El Salvador’s government has the power to tap phones and read private messages without a warrant, while branding itself as the ultimate Bitcoin freedom project.
The reality is that self-censorship has become normal for anyone who dares question the government.
Chivo collected biometric data from millions of Salvadorans, creating a national honeypot. More than 80% of the population’s private information was later reportedly leaked onto the dark web, including facial images, addresses and dates of birth. Chivo denies that the leak came from its systems.
Top-down narratives sold as sovereign and decentralised can erode the very principles they claim to champion.
When a government wraps mass surveillance in the Bitcoin flag, it becomes more dangerous by borrowing the language of freedom to disguise control.
Joe’s latest video asks the questions much of the space refuses to confront.
Awesome work @nprofile…mtx5.
Full video here:
https://youtu.be/ebwdRjXWVKs?si=1242h9TaV2EEDBU_

2026-07-17 06:27:36 UTC

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🙌

2026-07-16 06:50:53 UTC

A GoFundMe campaign raised more than £55,000 for a Gazan family trying to escape the war.
Most of the money raised never reached them.
Banking rules and sanctions prevent direct payouts in Gaza, so the funds had to go through an intermediary. When that arrangement collapsed, the family was left without the support raised for them.
Bitcoin platforms like Agora and Geyser send funds directly to recipients’ own wallets, using community verification instead of giving control to a single intermediary.
Read how these tools are helping people in crisis.
My latest piece in Forbes featuring @nprofile…4f77 @nprofile…erlj @nprofile…485v @npub1zhq…h0dw @nprofile…4s58.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/07/16/when-the-financial-system-cant-reach-people-in-crisis-bitcoin-can/

2026-07-15 09:56:01 UTC

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🧡

2026-07-15 07:56:03 UTC

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https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqs0pmavfhrtm3p07uu86hn0ky5f5zpg0mn8ls43pntthx7hvpck0cg9cs42p

2026-07-15 07:55:47 UTC

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https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqsvl6kgux7pckulsatt3eyg82g0jlc9kh28409c7svx4jj5s8qu3jswu3cvq

2026-07-15 07:54:23 UTC

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Privacy has become a dirty word, but it remains something profoundly normal.
Fraud is real and so are the risks created by linking identity, transaction history and bitcoin ownership.
Privacy is the reasonable expectation that your personal life, your movements and your finances are not automatically open for inspection.
FATF’s new fraud roadmap calls for more data to be collected on more people and shared across more agencies.
We already know where this can lead:
- exchange breaches
- doxxed customers
- wealth linked to home addresses
- physical attacks
All involving people whose details were sitting in compliance databases.
You cannot leak what was never collected. Bigger databases do not stop criminals and more data does not equal greater safety. They create larger honeypots, with ordinary users often becoming the easiest targets.
Data collection is now set to expand under the UK’s FATF Presidency. I wrote about where this roadmap could lead for Forbes.
#nevent1q…pfj9

2026-07-14 11:03:57 UTC

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I can’t delete it.. you know the photo. ;-)

2026-07-14 11:03:23 UTC

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That screwed up… sorry!

2026-07-14 11:02:47 UTC

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This reminds me of our Mauritius talks. 🥰
https://blossom.primal.net/4bd2dfb16db89149c0b715b951363575a446d98d7ae8c29717015c11961f73a5.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/2bc908d4b496e9c453bbd8acaa47bec9ccad5b6783783e44babf8d7cace3c99f.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/83050ffb83dc90b6cff739454181a95687ae7fad7908c575129c83b55a8c587f.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/c5cd941d243598295e13505c6d11078c73cd41e2665831e019dd49625a2584f8.jpg
https://blossom.primal.net/ee37c11d5ae90dfa97721264f723ddd9e34efbc61a3f464f55ab98276fe93055.jpg

2026-07-14 10:56:45 UTC

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I didn’t realise how much I'd written until I pulled it all into one place.
150+ articles across bitcoin, energy, freedom and CBDCs!
Great suggestion @nprofile…6w6f!
https://blossom.primal.net/19df1e5241e5fea78474f5fc8f406390fb078e2ac44a495150480a88ec1685e9.jpg
#nevent1q…ty9v

2026-07-14 07:50:58 UTC

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https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqsrnzw332a27z866cpt257awgsjgpn9smn62wmx9902a9wewfnvkscd68zcz

2026-07-14 07:49:32 UTC

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https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqs0pmavfhrtm3p07uu86hn0ky5f5zpg0mn8ls43pntthx7hvpck0cg9cs42p

2026-07-14 07:48:51 UTC

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Watch the full talk here:
https://youtu.be/ovRr9BKfPH0
@nprofile…wqgt @nprofile…h5tf @npub1mft…rkl3

2026-07-14 07:47:35 UTC

When governments shut down your communications or a platform debanks you, what’s your backup plan?
Listening to activists at the Oslo Freedom Forum describing surveillance, censorship and financial exclusion, one thing stood out. For nearly every problem they raised, builders were already working on solutions.
It became the opening to my talk at @npub167n…zu3r. In this clip, I explain why CBDCs may not arrive in the form people expect and why stablecoins can carry many of the same risks.
Full video, article and practical tools linked below.
Freedom depends on having money that no government, bank or platform can switch off.
Bitcoin gives us that option.
https://blossom.primal.net/02c7d702f5b8bc1ddd0728ebe6982af34b8e042ba4f9f63afc1c28991c8731f9.mov

2026-07-13 10:31:45 UTC

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Thanks, Gigi! I loved not having to use a template and being able to build whatever popped into my head.
It’s so nice having everything in one place and it’ll be fun adding more little sprinkles! 🤗

2026-07-13 10:26:46 UTC

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Thank you!!! The light and dark options are so cool! I actually prefer the black background, even though I know it’s probably better with the white. So clever!!

2026-07-13 09:00:15 UTC

What you can build in a week now is actually insane. I’ve prompt built a website and I’m blown away by what was possible.
Everything I’ve done across Bitcoin, policy and journalism is now in one place.
If you have time I would appreciate some feedback. What works? What doesn’t? What did I miss?
Constructive criticism very welcome!
Full website:
https://pressfiles.media
Link also in bio!
#ProofOfWork #Bitcoin
https://blossom.primal.net/5f4bff71233d3354ebc963bae8ae1cc698ee690b948327af8486bd90aec1fe6b.mov

2026-07-03 08:59:15 UTC

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💕💕💕💕