Bitcoin News Roundup Hong Kong has Begun Implementing Beijing's new Security Law First, let's summarize how we've gotten here: The people of Hong Kong have been fighting for years to retain their economic and political quasi-independence from Beijing and mainland China. As that independence began to substantially erode a few years back, protests erupted in the city, mostly led by students. Those protests eventually rose to a fever pitch when, in the summer of 2019, Hong Kong, at the behest of Beijing, introduced the "Fugitive Offenders Amendment". The bill enabled extradition of Hong Kong residents and visitors to mainland China and Taiwan, which led to concerns that Hong Kong residents and visitors would be subjected to the legal system of mainland China, thereby undermining Hong Kong's autonomy and infringing on civil liberties. Those protests didn't really go away... until right around when Covid 19 emerged when they began to dwindle in the interest of public safety. This brings us to today with the news of the new Hong Kong Security Law. The law sets up a vast security apparatus in Hong Kong, and it gives Beijing broad powers to crack down on a variety of political crimes, including "separatism" and "collusion". A man was arrested on Wednesday after he unfurled a Hong Kong Independence flag during demonstrations. The police said (on Twitter of all places! Such painful irony here.) that he had been detained for violating the National Security Law. That made this the first official arrest in the name of the new law. This is an important story for all Bitcoiners and freedom advocates to follow and understand. Centralizing and authoritarian forces always abound, and we must support the fight for freedom wherever it exists. 83 Tons of Fake Gold Seized On a lighter, but nonetheless interesting note, 83 tons of gold bars were seized recently after it was discovered they were merely gold-plated copper bars. The bars were used by Kingold, one of the largest gold suppliers in Wuhan, China (of all places), as collateral for a $2.8 billion loan. To give context of how much 83 tons is, the space shuttle Endeavor, weighs approximately 78 tons, and a hippopotamus weights around 5 tons. So picture a hippo flying a space shuttle, and that's about how much fake gold was seized from this one loan! This should be fairly obvious, but just to hammer the point home, you cannot create fake Bitcoin. This is yet another one of Bitcoin's strengths that has been so clearly highlighted by something that has nothing to do with Bitcoin, and it makes the narrative around Bitcoin that much clearer. Thanks, Kingold, for nailing our messaging for us. |