We have all been there, haven't we?
If you haven't had your Twitter account suspended at least once, then you've missed all the fun of writing Toni-Braxton-Un-Break-My-Heart letters to Twitter Support. Jack himself, has been probably tagged a billion times. Now I know, in most of the cases it was nothing personal, just the good old Twitter algorithms.
Let's dive in right away. Let's ask the question that's on everyone's lips.
WHY? And, More Importantly, WHY NOW?!
First, there was this "cryptic" tweet. Pay attention to the word cryptic because it's going to become very important for the whole why Jack hit the road story.
Then, Jack simply tweeted his "technical" resignation letter.
Now, here's an eye-browsing line from this letter:
I want you all to know that this was my decision and I own it.
You don't say. You own your decision, but according to Bloomberg, not your company. Dorsey owns 2% of San Francisco-based Twitter, according to the company's 2021 proxy.
Both Jack and Twitter will be just fine. No sweat. No tears. The Twitter CTO is taking the wheel. When I had my own suspension episode, I asked a question here on Hacker Noon in 2020 that's still relevant: Did The Coronavirus Push Twitter Into Auto-Pilot Mode Or Is It Only Now That We're Noticing It?
Talking about tweets that precede unfortunate events, let's go back to Jack. I think this one is to blame we couldn't see the forest for the threes.
What Was That All About, Jack?
Here's a link to a lengthy article about Bitcoin, the dollar, the gold standard, the Treasury Bill standard, and especially about the US "Super Imperialism" that was so important to Jack, he had to share it with the world.
Long story short, the article is based on “Super Imperialism,” a radical critique of the dollar-dominated world economy written by the financial historian and analyst Michael Hudson. You don't have to guess twice what's the book about taking into consideration it was published "in 1972, one year after President Richard Nixon defaulted on the dollar and formally took the United States off of the gold standard for good." When you put it like this, it does sound like the end of the world (era), doesn't it?
Fast forward 30 years, and you hit the headline that says it all: BITCOIN VS. SUPER IMPERIALISM.
If governments cannot kill bitcoin, and it continues its rise, then it stands a good chance to eventually be the next reserve currency. Will we have a world with bitcoin-backed fiat currencies, similar to the gold standard? Or will people actually use native Bitcoin itself — through the Lightning Network and smart contracts — to do all commerce and finance? Neither future is clear.
"Neither future is clear," but the article's conclusion is still an optimistic one:
In the end, if such a course for humanity is set, and Bitcoin does eventually win, it may not be clear what happened:
Did Bitcoin defeat super imperialism?
Or did super imperialism defeat itself?
Well...
It's not the US Super Imperialism that we should worry about.
BTC vs. CCP
I know it's the old news, but the future has become much clearer now.
China's central bank has announced that all transactions of crypto-currencies are illegal, effectively banning digital tokens such as Bitcoin.
The BBC journalists summarized the implications that even a crypto-dummy, such as myself, can understand the consequences:
China is one of the world's largest crypto-currency markets.
Fluctuations there often impact the global price of crypto-currencies.
In September 2019, China accounted for 75% of the world's Bitcoin energy use. By April 2021, that had fallen to 46%.
Fast backward to the previous question: "Did Bitcoin defeat super imperialism?"
I'm afraid that this is an incomplete question. Which super imperialism, the one on the West, or the one coming from the East?
Uncle Sam Is (Not) To Blame
The decentralized technology clashes with the government’s plans for a state-dominated economy—one that includes its own digital currency.
Contrary to popular belief and disbelief, Uncle Sam can be surprisingly soft-hearted. Your words may be falling on deaf government ears, but at least, you can complain. One of many things my US friends take for granted.
The "clash" that "was inevitable" according to Wired Magazine, is not the clash of the titans. Kudos to Bitcoin, but the Chinese Communist Party is the "Thanos" of our world that's no longer new nor brave. Just ask John Cena how long does it take to grasp basic Mandarin.
Don't look surprised if Xinhua News Agency or New China News Agency tweets any time soon:
And you (USA), what are you waiting for? And, while we're at it, tell Jack to get back to work.