The Bitcoin Foundation is mentioned in "The Strange Saga of Jeffrey Epstein’s Link to a Child Star Turned Cryptocurrency Mogul" hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/life…
"In early 2011, about a decade after the Digital Entertainment Network imploded, Pierce visited the Virgin Islands to attend “Mindshift,” a conference of top scientists hosted by Epstein."👀
"It was not even 18 months after Epstein had completed his slap-on-the-wrist solicitation sentence in Florida and registered as a sex offender..."..
"“the few communications that Mr. Pierce had with Epstein related to cryptocurrency” — an area in which Pierce established himself as a crypto centimillionaire, or maybe a billionaire, in the years following the conference..."..
"it is a strange tale: how a former child actor who never went to college ended up as an Epstein guest — a seemingly unlikely addition to a group that included a NASA computer engineer, an MIT professor of electrical engineering and a Nobel laureate in theoretical physics.."..
"Cryptocurrency was very much in its nascent stages when Epstein invited Brock Pierce to Mindshift. His bio on a list of attendees reads “entrepreneur, creator of virtual currencies and goods.”..
"His rep says he accepted the invitation for “the opportunity to interact w/ scientific thinkers” & participated in a panel discussion on cryptocurrency w/ prominent scientists (none of whom appeared to have any expertise in the area, based on their bios from the same document)."
"Epstein’s activities in the area of cryptocurrency remain mysterious. In 2017, he gave an interview to website The Next Web in which he expressed a vague interest in the area&The WSJ has reported that Epstein claimed that he worked for the US Treasury Depart. on cryptocurrency."
"Another strand may connect Epstein to cryptocurrency and indirectly to Pierce: In 2015, Joi Ito 🍿 — then director of the MIT Media Lab 🍿— announced a Digital Currency Initiative ..".. 🍿
"This came during a financially challenging time for the Bitcoin Foundation — the industry’s first trade group, founded in September 2012 — and Ito hired cryptocurrency developers previously supported by the foundation."..
"Just days after Ito’s announcement, Brock Pierce was named the foundation’s chairman. (Ito recently resigned from MIT Media Lab following reports that he had accepted major donations from Epstein and attempted to conceal the relationship.)"..
"Pierce was also in business starting in the mid-2000s with former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, who had his own ties to Epstein. Bannon did not respond to requests for comment but he apparently remains a fan of Pierce.."..
"Pierce’s name is familiar to people in Hollywood who remember the short-lived DEN, an ahead-of-its-time attempt to create online programming around the turn of the millennium.."
"Pierce had been making $250,000 a year at the company. He shared a 12,600-square-foot house with two other DEN co-founders, the then-40-something entrepreneur Marc Collins-Rector and Chad Shackley, a Michigan man then in his mid-20s.."..
Pierce has said he gave Collins-Rector the idea of starting a company to create online entertainment. At the time, the technology wasn’t in place to efficiently deliver digital content to consumers,but the company attracted investors including David Geffen
"In 2017, The Washington Post published an exposé of IGE’s dubious practices — such as using the identities of unwitting U.S. residents to create gaming accounts — which were in place before Bannon came on board...".
"After graduation, Bessent went to work at Brown Brothers Harriman, then did stints at Kynikos Associates, the Soros Fund, Protégé Partners, and others before George Soros recruited him as CIO in 2011" fortune.com/2024/11/27/sco…
Bessent: "I think the main thing now in markets is to be able to analyze data and behavior; and philosophy gives one [the] big-picture perspective."..
"In college, he was an editor of Yale Daily News, president of Wolf's Head Society, and treasurer for the class of 1984 ..Fifteen rising seniors from the Yale Class of 1884, with help from members of the Yale Class of 1883..
who were considered publicly possible taps for the older societies, abetted the creation of The Third Society. The society changed its name to Wolf's Head five years later."
Velocity Black is shifting the realms of possibility for the luxury experience economy...The self-professed “ultimate members club” delivers bespoke experiences one could usually only dream of" 🍿
"swim with Norweigan Orcas; fly to space; access to the Oscars after party; all at the touch of a button. The app promises a human response within one minute: 24 hours a day, seven days a week." 🍿
"The Velocity Black Desert Beach Club at .. Coachella was dubbed the most ‘exclusive, talked about’ event of the festival, and the startup has seen significant investment."
"The SandCat is manufactured by Israeli defence company Plasan and was first introduced in 2005. The light armoured vehicle has been widely used by the Israeli army, including in Gaza." plasan.com
"The report estimated that up to 700 SandCats were in use.
Israeli arms manufacturers have long promoted equipment developed and tested during operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, marketing them abroad as "battle-tested" systems."
@Ah_Magus @Villgecrazylady * Donald Trump, media mogul Robert Maxwell, cable news executive Steve Ross and CBS reporter Mike Wallace meet in the wheelhouse of the Lady Ghislaine yacht during a party in New York in the spring of 1989.
(Courtesy of David Adler) archive.is/LMPuw
Adnan Khashoggi on the Nabila .. now owned by Al-Waleed bin Talal.
2 days ago
"thyssenkrupp Marine Systems rebrands as TKMS to mark a new phase of independence, seeking stock exchange listing. The rebranding, highlighting technological excellence with a fresh color palette, aims for a strong, unified company image across all locations"🎶💛