David Hoffman

Crypto wasn't created to make you rich It was created to set you free.

@ryanberckmans I hope so!

"Ethereum's new mandate means that eth/Vitalik are giving up on growth and huge impact" is a mid take on a major inflection. David is dead wrong on this. Left/right curve takes are the same here: Ethereum is going for civilizational victory. Join us

Justin Drake thinks post-quantum is an opportunity for Ethereum — not a hurdle. “It’s an opportunity for Ethereum to stand out as the very first global financial system that is post-quantum secure.” “Not just relative to its competitors... but also relative to fiat and tradfi.” “It would send a very strong message... a very natural security starting point for the world to migrate over to Ethereum.” 📆 Out on Monday, March 23 w/ @drakefjustin

@observer_kel @_choppingblock Here you go 🫡

@_choppingblock @TrustlessState What’s your skincare routine? I know you have one. Don’t lie

.@TrustlessState read is brutally simple: “the real lens for this document is it’s Vitalik telling you what Ethereum is not going to do.”

@Noahpinion @Dehartspeaks1 can we please keep the inception train going

@Dehartspeaks1 And you will lose, as Nazis always lose

lol again Noah can’t quite find his was out of a paper bag. “He Knows the bad guy and I know it” says the literal islamaphobe fascist

@hunterhhedge @IdoHalbany ty sir

the specific facility struck feeds internal energy needs of Iran. As we are seeing in Cuba, destabilizing domestic energy is one way to ensure an uprising and to smoke the IRGC rats out of their holes. This is a leverage point. Similar to the US striking kharg and threatening further destruction. (Trump ultimately threatened to eliminate the entire field in his statement here and with Kharg). detailed herein towards the middle or end of you’re interested: m.youtube.com/watch?v=WpRYvq…

I see a lot of people are confused by Trump's post. Is he throwing Israel under the bus? Did he even know about the strikes? Or is this actually a message to the Gulf states? Let's bring some order to this: To begin understanding what's happening here, you first have to understand the logic of the Gulf energy arena. What's the real problem? The Americans have no real way to fully secure massive energy infrastructure in the countries neighboring Iran. The countries themselves - Qatar, KSA, and the UAE - don't have a way to do it either. And neither does Iran. These aren't point targets. Not a single platform, not two isolated facilities, and not one refinery. We're talking about enormous stretches of territory, kilometers of sensitive installations, giant industrial monsters spread across wide, exposed, vulnerable areas. You cannot really wrap something like that in airtight defense. That's why the real protection for these facilities never rested only on air defense systems. It rested on a balance of terror - "you don't strike the heart of my economy, and I don't strike the heart of yours". This is an unwritten taboo. Everyone understands that escalation can happen in many ways, but you don't break the region's energy infrastructure. The moment that happens, it's no longer just another military round. It becomes a real threat to the global economy. Put simply; you can fight in other rooms of the house. But once someone starts playing with the main electrical panel, the whole building goes dark. That's why everyone is especially careful there: This is exactly why all players usually handle energy infrastructure with velvet gloves. "To destroy", "to demolish", "to wipe out" - those are easy words to use. But a real, systematic strike on infrastructure of this kind wouldn't only hurt the enemy. It could halt production, shake markets, send energy prices soaring, and hurt everyone. Even if Hormuz remains open, that may no longer help if the sides begin striking production capacity itself. That's where the Americans don't want this arena to go. Israel as America's attack dog: It's amusing when people claim that "Israel controls the US", because nothing could be further from reality. If anything, what we're seeing here is a partially coordinated division of labor; Washington allows, encourages, and creates tactical shocks, while preserving for itself the exclusive right to determine their strategic meaning. Trump appears willing to let Israel generate shock. It can touch sensitive points, break routine, expose vulnerabilities, and create urgency. But the actor that frames the event, sets the limits of escalation, and translates it into regional and diplomatic order is the US. In that sense, Israel sometimes serves as an operational arm of the US - It throws the system into shock, and the White House then turns that shock into leverage, deterrence, or de-escalation. We saw a similar dynamic in Doha a few months ago when Israel attacked senior Hamas officials in Qatar. So what's Trump actually doing in this post? I don't think it's reasonable to attribute one goal to this, to conclude that Israel is being thrown under the bus, or to believe that Trump is simply unaware of what's going on. In my view, those are mistaken readings. You may agree or disagree with Trump, but it's hard to ignore that he doesn't operate like a classic diplomat trying to project a single, quiet, clean line. He operates through power, ambiguity, mixed signals, and the imposition of hierarchy. Trump's post is aimed at several audiences at once, and each of them hears a different message in it. * To Iran - don't escalate against the Gulf states, and do not drag the US in: Trump is saying something very simple to the Islamic Regime: don't interpret this event as if it were a direct American war. Don't use it as a pretext to escalate against Qatar, the Gulf states, or American assets. He does this through partial public distancing of the US from the event, while simultaneously sending another message - if Iran breaks the rules, it won't face only the IDF - it'll face the strongest military in the world. The Islamic regime has already shown sensitivity in the past to exactly this kind of ambiguity. * To the Gulf states - you're not alone: To Qatar and the rest of the Gulf states, Trump is sending a reassuring message; the US won't allow this to become a free-for-all over energy infrastructure. This may be the most important part - the Gulf states are especially sensitive to energy uncertainty. That's why Trump is signaling to them that another strike on Qatar or on Gulf LNG infrastructure would cross a red line. Not because of any special affection for them, but because they're a critical node in the global energy system. --- Trump's three objectives 1. Distance the US from the initiative, while creating control: By creating the impression of distance from the operation, he creates plausible deniability. That makes it harder for Iran to frame every Israeli action as a joint American-Israeli operation. This is classic risk management. 2. Warn Iran not to touch the Gulf states: This may be the most important immediate objective. 3. Rebuild the taboo against striking energy infrastructure: This is the broadest objective. Trump wants to allow pressure on the Islamic regime while at the same time preventing it from turning attacks on energy infrastructure into a norm. That way, he preserves room for action against Iran while also narrowing Iran's response options. If Iran chooses to retaliate by attacking energy infrastructure, Trump will be able to argue: "Israel acted on its own, but you're the ones who broke the taboo and turned the confrontation into a much broader crisis". From his perspective, that creates a stronger basis for American legitimacy to escalate. --- Judging by the reactions to that post, it seems the president is succeeding in luring everyone into the trap.

What is Vitalik's new document actually telling the Ethereum community? David Hoffman says it's not a reaffirmation of values, it's Vitalik telling you what Ethereum is NOT going to be "The real lens for this document is Vitalik telling you what Ethereum is not going to do ... Ethereum is going to be a cypherpunk, super lightweight, super hardened protocol. But it is not going to be an economic engine" "A lot of people in the Ethereum community like me are here to build Ethereum the economic engine. What I hear from this document is Vitalik is not really interested in that" "I have never seen any sort of signal of support from Vitalik or the EF about a green light in that direction. It's always been yellow at best"

Ethereum Foundation dropped another vibes manifesto, so naturally the industry is beefing over whether EF is building a “sanctuary for rebels” or just LARPing as crypto monks. Spoiler: nobody changed anyone’s mind, but we did get some group therapy. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:51 EF Mandate Explained 03:23 Pragmatists vs. Cypherpunks 05:13 @tayvano_’s Middle Ground 08:54 @TrustlessState Reads Between Lines 13:51 Tom & Tarun Push Back 18:20 EF Factions & Solana Shadow 24:13 Does Ethereum Want Growth 31:01 Virtue Signaling 35:35 Where to Build Now 39:16 Solana Support vs Ethereum Stability 42:12 EF Promotion & Builder Support 47:54 Goldilocks Time Horizons 51:10 Ethereum Soul and Body 56:03 Does EF Leadership Matter? 01:02:45 Stewardship and Market Failures 🔥Stay updated with all the latest hot takes by following and subscribing to @_ChoppingBlock and @unchained_pod! 🎥 YouTube: youtu.be/6toqXRF99Qc 🎧 Spotify: bit.ly/3wiIOyy 🍎 Apple: bit.ly/3w9HQ7J 🎙 Podcast Home: choppingblock.xyz

@phtevenstrong I have no interest in entertaining the excuses you make for the practice of Jihad that is widespread across Islamic culture

Almost every major form of radical Islam was funded, in part, by Western intelligence or Western/Israeli interests. This includes the Muslim Brotherhood (post WWII funding against Soviets; see also: Operation Cyclone and ISI proxy funding). And mass immigration is the result of interventionalist policies in the Middle East (often happening in tandem with funding rebel / militant groups to overthrow threats to the petrodollar). It's also the result of NGOs, religious organizations, and government funding / facilitation incentivizing the migration. If we want to cut the head off of this without blaming the Muslims themselves, then I'd suggest focusing on those programs, their founders, and their leadership first. In short, I'm less moved by a hyper focus on the symptoms when there is a root cause we can actionably rally against. The words of the Quran are no worse than the words of the Talmud (though the Quran is much shorter). I will quote neither, because I don't want to inflame either antisemitism nor islamophobia. In short, there are genocidal and supremacist language in that are counter to Western culture. The issue is that we're living in the era of an Islamic groups radicalized by Western intelligence, Western Interventionalism, securing Israel's military dominance in an Islamic Region, and natural resource games. I also believe the rise in radical Zionism is in response to both post WWII (and post pogrom) trauma and forever bombings from Hamas (which Bibi also partially funded recently via Qatargate and who Israel propped up against the PLO decades ago). We just bombed school girls. Western/Israeli taxdollars funded the killing of tens of thousands of children in Gaza. Of course Muslims are being radicalized. The average human IQ is 100. Nuance dies to tribalism and truth dies in war. So focus on the roots. Stop funding immigration programs from non-western nations, and stop the never-ending regime change, since our batting average is absolutely terrible.

Imagine if these guys were speaking like this, except they were Jews Anti-zionists think this is what the Jews sound like In reality, this is Islamism. Far too many people tolerate talk of “world domination” in the name of Islam.

Yes, in a vacuum all religions are mirrors of each other. You can find equally heinous Jews actually trying to settle on other people's land in the pursuit of their religious dominance Same with christians/catholics, etc But saying these things does nothing to illustrate the magnitude each respective religion has here. ForJews, it is the an incredibly small and basically irrelevant minority. For Islam, we have entire countries and regions dedicated to the outcome of a global califate. The tweet im RTing in question is from the Muslim Brotherhood. This is not a fringe, marginal organization of Islam. At some point we most speak frankly about the words in the Quran, and how they explicitly promote a religion of dominance that no other religion resembles. There is no comparison here. Also a core difference is that Islam is actually succeeding at the goal of spreading a global califate. Just look at Europe.

There are videos by Rabbis, Pastors, Priests, Sufis, etc. who say things equally as damning. Representing your opposition with the most extreme members of that opposition is called "nut picking." It's a tactic used to make your opponent seem radical or irrational to discredit them and bolster support against them. Surely there is a healthy amount of radical Islam, and immigration-induced demographic shifts over the next 50-100 years in the West will be a culturally existential threat. Perpetual wars in the Middle East exacerbate this. At the same time, there are extremists in the Heredi & Lubavitch movements that see "The West" as the successor to Rome or "Spiritual Esav" who are just as much of a threat to the Christian West, and who whole-heartedly endorse (if not aid in) the facilitation of bringing anti-Western refugees and migrants into Western nations.

LIVE NOW - Tempo Mainnet: The Race to Agentic Commerce @tempo is live, and the big bet is clear: AI agents need a native payment layer. @gakonst and Brendan Ryan join Bankless to explore: - why Tempo launched with agentic payments front and center, - how MPP turns payments into auth, - why “give the agent the wallet” could unlock a new internet economy, - where MPP fits against x402, - what Tempo’s L1 design makes possible for builders. Enjoy the episode. --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Tempo Mainnet goes live 1:18 Why the launch is focused on agents 3:58 What MPP actually is 6:30 MPP vs x402 15:28 Why agentic commerce matters 20:08 The “original sin” of the internet 26:04 MCP, NLWeb, and the emerging agent stack 34:07 The onboarding flow: wallets for agents 37:11 How Tempo’s wallet security works 40:11 Tempo chain design and specs 51:13 Why build an L1 instead of an Ethereum L2? 56:10 The Ethereum tension 1:05:01 Agent identity, reputation, and ERC-8004 1:06:53 TIP20, stablecoins, and what can be built on Tempo 1:12:36 Builder opportunity in the agentic web

@shaunmmaguire I remember

Probably the craziest thing I’ve lived through Was calling Zohran Mamdani a lying Islamist And providing at least 5 pieces of evidence supporting this Then getting eviscerated by the press When it was obviously true, but they were unwilling to look into it

The Iranian regime was the main financier of Islamist narratives and propaganda. We are literally bombing the radical Islamists so that the freedom loving oppressed Iranians have a chance at joining western secular democracies in the free world. It’s not like we are indiscriminately bombing “the city” - they’re incredibly targeted and precise strikes targeting the IRGC and military apparatus that the Islamic regime uses to control and oppress its people as well as project power and destabilize the region.

@TrustlessState @JaRaNo1128 Okay so bombing a city of 9 million people gets us less radical islamists how? It’s almost like radical Islam is a response to western colonialism and is being perpetuated? Do you read any history books at all?

"Israel controls the USA" lmao even Anti-Israel narratives are guided by pro-Islamic strategy. Just reverse the roles and you'll find the truth.

The largest wealth transfer in history is underway. Whoever builds the best platform for the next generation wins.

@shawmakesmagic @JaRaNo1128 Muslim people is not what Islamism is. You’re the one equating the two, not me.

@TrustlessState @JaRaNo1128 I know and work with plenty of Muslim people who don’t want to kill me, maybe you’re the problem dude

@shawmakesmagic @JaRaNo1128 No it’s Islamism that’s calling for the death of people actually - that’s kinda its deal

@TrustlessState @JaRaNo1128 I have read the history and I can point to just how stupid Islam is But did you know Judaism was polytheistic for 4,000 years? Did you know Christ was one of two messiahs? Dude it’s the modern times, you are calling for the death of people, you know nothing so stfu

@shawmakesmagic Theres nothing more unamerican than Islamism.

@TrustlessState No there is no fucking difference dude. Get their money out of our fucking country. This is an unacceptable and unamerican view. Stop being a bootlicker.

@shawmakesmagic @JaRaNo1128 No, I’m an islamaphobe, which is a huge difference. Islamism is not a race, it’s an idea. It’s a pretty fucking terrible idea that oppresses everyone under it. In the west, we support the free critique of ideas as core pillar of a well functioning society.

@TrustlessState @JaRaNo1128 You are a fucking racist