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To an extent, I wonder if this is the fear of the unknown. Here is a guy, who actually seems to understand the 'magic' of crypto. God only knows what he could d

To an extent, I wonder if this is the fear of the unknown. Here is a guy, who actually seems to understand the 'magic' of crypto. God only knows what he could do with dangerous knowledge like that. I am not foreign policy, NK, crypto, or national security expert, but it is not about safety. It is about sending a message at a time when US engages in very heavy sanctions effort ( currently against Russia ). From that perspective, as sad as it sounds even as I type it, Virgil is a sacrifice government makes to send a message. I too feel his mind locked behind bars is a terrible waste.

water-your-self 5y ago
What 'magic' is there in crypto. Besides, cryptography as a munition is a known meme in the right circles. This is textbook what not to do.
- samhw 5y ago
  > What 'magic' is there in crypto. Well, there's magical thinking, does that count? ;) (Also, perhaps it's just me, but I really dislike the term 'crypto'. Cryptography is a genuinely valuable field. Maybe we can call them 'waste-backed internet tokens' or something. When they actually implement Moxie Marlinspike's suggestion[0] of using cryptography rather than distributed consensus as proof of validity, then maybe they can call themselves cryptocurrencies.) [0] "We should accept the premise that people will not run their own servers by designing systems that can distribute trust without having to distribute infrastructure. This means architecture that anticipates and accepts the inevitable outcome of relatively centralized client/server relationships, but uses cryptography (rather than infrastructure) to distribute trust." (https://moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-first-impressions.html https://moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-first-impressions.html)
mattnewton 5y ago
His mind behind bars is a total waste but I don't see anything magical about what he did. Replace "unit of cryptocurrency" above with "duffel bag of diamonds" or any other store of value and it's transparently illegal.
beaconstudios 5y ago
He's helping an enemy state to avoid sanctions - countries will always prosecute cases like that. If he didn't want his mind locked behind bars, he probably shouldn't have done what he did. I'm sure he's a smart guy, but this was not a smart move.

water-your-self 5y ago

What 'magic' is there in crypto. Besides, cryptography as a munition is a known meme in the right circles. This is textbook what not to do.

samhw 5y ago
> What 'magic' is there in crypto. Well, there's magical thinking, does that count? ;) (Also, perhaps it's just me, but I really dislike the term 'crypto'. Cryptography is a genuinely valuable field. Maybe we can call them 'waste-backed internet tokens' or something. When they actually implement Moxie Marlinspike's suggestion[0] of using cryptography rather than distributed consensus as proof of validity, then maybe they can call themselves cryptocurrencies.) [0] "We should accept the premise that people will not run their own servers by designing systems that can distribute trust without having to distribute infrastructure. This means architecture that anticipates and accepts the inevitable outcome of relatively centralized client/server relationships, but uses cryptography (rather than infrastructure) to distribute trust." (https://moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-first-impressions.html https://moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-first-impressions.html)

mattnewton 5y ago

His mind behind bars is a total waste but I don't see anything magical about what he did. Replace "unit of cryptocurrency" above with "duffel bag of diamonds" or any other store of value and it's transparently illegal.

beaconstudios 5y ago

He's helping an enemy state to avoid sanctions - countries will always prosecute cases like that. If he didn't want his mind locked behind bars, he probably shouldn't have done what he did. I'm sure he's a smart guy, but this was not a smart move.