Brian Cohen

Bitcoin Protocol: Permanent Permissionless Trustless Transparent Immutable Irreversible Inviolable Uncensorable Distributed Decentralized

FBI New York encourages users of the Tron blockchain network to exercise caution if they encounter a token purported to be from the FBI. If you receive a token from an account with the details below, do not provide any identifying information to any website associated with such token. If you have received this "FBI token" and provided your information on their site, please file a report at ic3.gov.

@timmyhmshen *Gemini Space Station

Gemini has been hit with a class-action lawsuit in New York, accusing the firm of misleading investors about its strategy before and after its 2025 IPO. Gemini’s stock closed at $32 on its first trading day in September but has since fallen over 80% to around $6 as of Thursday. full story ⏬

Len Sassaman's 2011 reply speculates that a major disruptive event—possibly an economic collapse or geopolitical shift—won't happen imminently without a trigger like deliberate currency devaluation or escalated military conflict. Posted amid the European sovereign debt crisis and U.S. interventions in Libya and Afghanistan, the comment reflects Sassaman's cypherpunk perspective on how state actions could undermine financial stability and privacy. As one of Sassaman's last tweets before his July 2011 passing, it illustrates his blend of technical expertise with prescient analysis of global risks, echoed in later events like the 2015 Greek crisis and 2022 Ukraine invasion. x.com/i/status/68137…

This 2010 reply by cryptographer Len Sassaman to Bram Cohen discusses risks of transitioning global reserves from the USD to IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), a basket currency proposed amid post-financial crisis reforms. It references China's recent yuan appreciation policy after the G20 summit, which delayed potential USD hyperinflation but intensified talks of de-dollarization started by China's central bank governor in 2009. Sassaman's debt repudiation warning underscores prescient concerns over USD dominance, predating cryptocurrency's mainstream push against fiat instability by both tech pioneers. x.com/i/status/17701…

The link points to an old tweet from Len Sassaman (@lensassaman) on April 8, 2011: @puellavulnerata the demands a bitcoin-based economy would place on the currency, and that worries me. This was part of a conversation (likely replying to someone discussing Bitcoin's potential or early ideas around it). At that time, Bitcoin was still extremely new—launched in 2009, with its price in pennies and very limited adoption.Len Sassaman was a prominent cryptographer, privacy advocate, cypherpunk, and contributor to projects like Mixmaster and the remailer network. He was deeply involved in privacy tech but expressed skepticism about Bitcoin in several early tweets.This particular post highlights his concern about scalability or economic pressures if Bitcoin were to become a major currency—issues like fixed supply, deflationary dynamics, transaction throughput limits, and whether it could handle real-world economic demands without breaking.(For context, other preserved tweets from him around that era show similar critical takes on Bitcoin's design choices.)Sassaman passed away in 2011, so these are archival glimpses into early cypherpunk reactions to Bitcoin. The tweet ID is very low (from Twitter's early numbering), reflecting how ancient it is in platform terms. x.com/i/status/56494…

This 2010 reply from cryptographer Len Sassaman to Guido Núñez-Mujica responds to a tweet about a "wild" week, likely referencing Julian Assange's arrest and ongoing WikiLeaks cable releases amid global economic tensions. Sassaman, a privacy advocate known for Mixmaster anonymous remailer and cypherpunk contributions, highlights impending U.S. dollar devaluation as a future disruptor, reflecting his interest in systemic vulnerabilities. In 2026, with BRICS nations pushing de-dollarization and U.S. debt at $39 trillion, Sassaman's prediction underscores persistent debates on reserve currency shifts, validated by IMF data showing the dollar's share dipping below 58% in global reserves. x.com/i/status/12736…

@lensassaman If only there was some sort of decentralized storage which could lock a person's bitcoin wallet that was more secure than winXP

Len Sassaman, a pioneering cypherpunk and developer of privacy tools like Mixmaster, tweeted in May 2011 about discovering Silk Road, the first major darknet market launched in February 2011 using Tor for access and Bitcoin for anonymous drug sales. The post credits security researcher Sir Valiance for the tip and tags Bram Cohen, highlighting early tech community buzz around this fusion of anonymity networks and cryptocurrency, which Silk Road popularized despite its controversial focus on illicit trade. Sassaman's observation proved prophetic, as Silk Road grew to $1.2 billion in sales before its 2013 shutdown, but he died by suicide two months later in July 2011, leaving a legacy in privacy tech amid ongoing speculation about his role in Bitcoin's development. x.com/i/status/69301…

Stanley Druckenmiller in WSJ advocates the US Treasury default. | http://j.mp/ks04Ox cc/@bramcohen

AThis 2011 tweet by cryptographer Len Sassaman alludes to the 2004 scandal where his father, Lt. Col. Nathan Sassaman, commanded troops who forced Iraqi detainees into the Tigris River, resulting in one drowning and a subsequent cover-up that ended his military career. The "mistreatment" of families like Sassaman's reflects the personal fallout from intense public scrutiny, reprimands, and family stress following the incident, as detailed in investigations and media reports like The New York Times' 2005 profile. By noting "much more important apologies to give first," Sassaman highlights the DOD's greater debt to Iraqi victims and their families from broader war abuses, prioritizing systemic accountability over individual cases.

I hope some day the US DOD might apologise to families they mistreated like mine, but there are much more important apologies to give first.

@rileycaezar @luckygreen in a thread critiquing Bitcoin's early balance of anonymity and fraud protection, reflecting Sassaman's expertise in privacy tech amid Bitcoin's nascent vulnerabilities. Sassaman's idea prefigures modern multi-part seed recovery methods, underscoring his influence on secure key management; the post gained renewed attention post-2021 amid speculation linking him to Bitcoin's origins.

The more paranoid could do something clever such as print a random 50% of the bits, retain the rest on the device. @rileycaezar @luckygreen

This 2011 reply from cryptographer Len Sassaman to journalist Glyn Moody critiques the Electronic Frontier Foundation's abrupt halt of Bitcoin donations, arguing that while financial caution is wise, publicly questioning its legality undermines the cryptocurrency's nascent adoption. Sassaman, a cypherpunk pioneer behind tools like Mixmaster anonymous remailers, reflects ongoing privacy advocate debates on Bitcoin's security flaws and potential for centralization, as evidenced by his prior tweets noting mixed expert opinions on its value stability. Posted weeks before Sassaman's suicide on July 3, 2011, the exchange captures early tensions in digital currency discourse, foreshadowing regulatory battles that later shaped Bitcoin's evolution despite initial doubts from figures like him.

@glynmoody cautious when it comes to the money you choose to use. Casting doubt on its legality can't help matters, though.

Somehow, all these years, I've remained ignorant of the existence of Wei Dai's "Everything" list until today.

How much cash would you have to have sitting on your computer before it was worth breaking into? Maybe Bitcoin will answer that question.

@Grayscale @paulbrigner @LowBeta Zcash is not a bitcoin competor. They are complimentary to one another.

Bitcoin still dominates digital currencies (~90% market share). But if anything’s going to chip away at that over time, writes @lowbeta, Zcash $ZEC is worth watching. Why? → Privacy: $BTC is fully transparent. Zcash lets users shield transactions (sender, receiver, amount). → Momentum: Shielded usage is rising, and new capital is flowing into the ecosystem. $ZEC is only ~$4B today (~0.3% of the category). If it even reached 5% share, it's value would be 18x greater Read @LowBeta's latest article on The Stack and subscribe here: grayscale.com/the-stack/zcas…

@ValueAddedRS Yikes

UPDATE: The Steiners' prev attorney, Rosemary Scapicchio, has asked Judge Saris to hold off on dismissing eBay stalking civil suit even if settlement is completed w/in 60 days, citing outstanding legal bills & lack of cooperation from plaintiffs & their current counsel.👀 $EBAY

Maybe $UBER @uber should buy $RIVN @Rivian

The AFT corrects this. A royalty framework would apply only to frontier-scale compute activity—for example, training runs exceeding defined computational thresholds. These activities rely disproportionately on public goods: grid access, land corridors, federal research legacy, and national security infrastructure. The model is simple: A small, standardized royalty on compute or energy usage Paid directly into the Trust Distributed programmatically to token holders Crucially, this is not a tax on innovation. It is a franchise fee on scale—paired with incentives such as: expedited permitting infrastructure access and rebates for public-interest contributions The result is a system that keeps frontier AI anchored in the United States while ensuring the nation participates in its upside. IV. Tokenization and the Debt Swap The AFT issues Sovereign Participation Units (SPUs)—tokenized claims on aggregated cash flows. These instruments differ fundamentally from Treasuries. They are not fixed obligations. They are participatory claims on national productivity. Tokenization enables: Continuous global liquidity Fractional ownership Real-time, programmable distributions Transparent verification of underlying revenue The key mechanism is a voluntary debt swap. Treasury holders—central banks, pensions, insurers, households—are invited to exchange low-yield bonds for SPUs offering: Exposure to diversified sovereign cash flows Participation in AI and infrastructure growth Embedded digital-asset upside Potential tax advantages for long-term holding For many investors, this is not a concession. It is an upgrade. V. Path to Large-Scale Debt Reduction The objective is not marginal improvement, but structural reset. A credible pathway to retiring 70–80% of outstanding debt (~$27–31 trillion) emerges from three channels: $12–15 trillion: voluntary conversion of Treasuries into SPUs $8–10 trillion: capitalization of existing but under-monetized federal assets $6–8 trillion: pricing of future sovereign revenue streams (AI, spectrum, infrastructure corridors) The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve provides an additional valuation buffer—small in current size, but significant in signaling and optionality. This is not debt forgiveness. It is debt transformation. VI. Beyond Privatization This framework imught be mistaken for privatization. It is not. No core national assets are sold. No land is liquidated. No sovereignty is transferred. Instead, the United States does something it has never done at scale: it converts sovereign advantages into a formal, tradable capital structure. The public retains ownership. Markets gain access. Value is finally recognized.

The American Balance Sheet Reset: A Sovereign Equity Framework The United States faces a structural fiscal paradox. It carries a gross federal debt just surpassed $39 trillion, yet simultaneously controls one of the largest under-monetized asset bases in human history—arguably valued in the hundreds of trillions. Federal land holdings alone exceed 640 million acres. The Bureau of Land Management oversees 245 million surface acres and roughly 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate. Beyond land, the federal balance sheet includes offshore energy rights, electromagnetic spectrum, future auction proceeds, strategic infrastructure corridors, and even a growing digital reserve: approximately 328,000+ bitcoin accumulated through forfeitures as of early 2026. And yet, U.S. fiscal policy remains anchored to an income-statement mindset—focused on annual deficits and borrowing flows—rather than a balance-sheet strategy that recognizes, capitalizes, and leverages national assets. The result is predictable: rising interest costs, perpetual refinancing, and a debt trajectory that compounds faster than policy can respond. We proposes a different path. A voluntary, market-driven restructuring—the American Balance Sheet Reset—would allow Treasury holders to exchange traditional debt for tokenized claims on a newly created sovereign wealth structure: the American Future Trust (AFT). Rather than shrinking the nation to fit its liabilities, the United States would expand its financial architecture to match its true asset base. I. The American Future Trust (AFT) The AFT is a constitutionally firewalled public wealth vehicle—closer in spirit to the Alaska Permanent Fund than to a traditional sovereign fund, but redesigned for scale, transparency, and permanence. Its defining feature is separation. The Trust is: Non-appropriable: insulated from Congressional reallocation Fiduciary-governed: overseen by an independent, bipartisan board Programmatically transparent: with on-chain verification of inflows and distributions This is not another government account. It is a public capital structure. The AFT aggregates a diversified portfolio of sovereign revenue rights, including: Subsurface mineral and energy rights across hundreds of millions of acres Offshore leasing and transmission corridors Future spectrum auctions (6G, 7G, and beyond) Carbon storage and water infrastructure rights Federally enabled infrastructure royalties And critically, emerging digital and compute-based revenue streams These are not theoretical assets. They exist today—fragmented, underpriced, and largely absent from fiscal strategy. The AFT consolidates and capitalizes them. II. The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: The Digital Keystone At the core of this framework sits a novel component: the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Composed of forfeited assets rather than taxpayer purchases, this reserve introduces a non-sovereign, non-inflationary asset into the U.S. financial architecture. Its role is threefold: Collateral anchor: providing hard-asset backing to tokenized claims Portfolio counterweight: balancing long-duration cash flows with a scarce digital asset Asymmetric upside: allowing appreciation to enhance national capitalization without additional acquisition This creates something no fiat system currently possesses: a sovereign balance sheet partially anchored in a digitally native hard asset. Paired with predictable revenue streams like leases and royalties, it forms a barbell structure—simultaneously conservative and growth-oriented. III. The AI Sovereign Franchise: Monetizing the Frontier The most forward-looking component of the AFT is the AI Sovereign Franchise. The United States already dominates the physical and institutional foundations of frontier AI: Land Energy Research ecosystems Legal protections National-scale infrastructure Yet it captures little of the direct economic rent generated at scale. ..continued...

@Pledditor x.com/i/status/14571…

Call me a hater but something about Whitney Webb has always rubbed me the wrong way...at least whenever starts talking about crypto. Imagine bragging about how early you were to "calling" stablecoins in 2021... you know, after they already became a $100b+ market.