Daniel Batten Profile picture
Jan 31 22 tweets 9 min read Read on X
🧵

How 3 EU Central Banks are working together to try to weaken Bitcoin

What action each of them has taken

What are their next moves

What we must do

👇 Image
First, some background

During The GFC, Central Bankers realised the risk people could discover our Central Bank based financial system had been transferring from the poor to the rich for generations.

The injustice of bailing those who caused the crisis led to the Occupy Movement.Image
In response to these injustices, Satoshi Nakamoto created an open source alternative to central bank control, a currency controlled only by the consensus of the people: Bitcoin

Satoshi understood that Central Banks were the root of all the monetary system's injustices Image
In a move that threatened Central Banks more than they let on, Stella Assange in 2022 called Bitcoin "The real Occupy Wall St"

Central Banks now know they cannot kill Bitcoin. Their strategy is to weaken it to the point that CBDCs to gain ascendency.

Image
Until 2018, The European Central Bank (ECB)'s approach was to ridicule Bitcoin

After this 2018 survey, they moved into fight mode.
👇 Image
But ECB did not work alone. Central Banks are a powerful network who look out for eachothers' continuation of power, control & the financial status quo

Meet EUs top Bitcoin fighting generals
1. Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
2. ECB
3. DNB (Dutch Central Bank) Image
First lets pause to remember, this is nothing new. The disrupted always attacks the disruptor

The Horse&Cart attacked the automobile industry
The print industry attacked the Internet

The attack vector will always be the biggest issue of the times

Which is why the prime attack vector has been "Bitcoin is bad for the environment". It's a lie of course, which anyone who has looked into it deeply will know.

But when your banker-connections own the media, you have a tool to influence public opinion against the disruptor Image
They enacted a 3-pronged strategy

BIS used its influence with Nation State leaders to create a report for the G20 claiming:

"Inherent structural flaws" make Bitcoin unsuitable to play a role in the monetary system, while threatening financial stability

bis.org/publ/bppdf/bis…
Image
ECB leveraged their relationship with ESMA (European Securities and Markets Association) - who'd been empowered to assess Bitcoin's threat to the environment, and EU energy security.

By 2025, ECB could have the power to weaponize ESG to disincentivize Bitcoin investment Image
But DNB - technically the least powerful of the Central Banks have had the most power of all.

They saw that if Bitcoin mining could be villified as an environmental threat, both the public and regulators could turn against Bitcoin.

A DNB employee fronted the attack Image
An introverted post-graduate with a hobby website was catapulted to stardom as DNB worked to ensure every article, paper and commentary was reported in every major news channel.

He used methods that have since been debunked, but by that stage the damage was done. Image
In 2021, Elon Musk, believing print media reports on Bitcoin declared Telsa would no longer accept Bitcoin payments. According to @woonomic, this more than the China ban, was the event that halted Bitcoin's 2021 bull run. Image
Central Bankers watched on. But they didn't stop there. Already working with Ripple Founder Chris Larsen to develop a CBDC, they had other plans

Ripple = industry competitor to Bitcoin
Bitcoin =Central Bank's potential disruptor/

So what happened next should shock no-one Image
In March 2022, Chris Larsen donated $5M to GreenpeaceUSA to help them run an anti-Bitcoin campaign.

In any other industry, funding a campaign against a competitor using an NGO would be a scandal. But the media in concert turned a blind eye to Larsen's conflict of interest. Image
The campaign ended badly for GreenpeaceUSA. Not one node owner "changed the code". Membership dropped. Even the Skull of Satoshi artist modified his stance on Bitcoin

But that way never the point. The point was to reinforce a narrative that regulators could use to ban Bitcoin. Image
And it worked: The Guardian ran a hitpiece where their main interview subject was GreenpeaceUSA, which precisely replicated the GPUS message.

de Vries followed up, using the Cambridge-debunked "per transaction" metric to vilify Bitcoin water use

theguardian.com/technology/202…
Not everything of course went to play.

Bitcoin was not supposed to rally 150% after ECB's "Bitcoin's Last Stand" obituary late last next year.

KPMG was not supposed to realise that Bitcoin is a great ESG asset


Blackrock was not supposed to launch an ETF.kpmg.com/us/en/articles…Image
Cornell University were not supposed to publish research co-authored by a distinguished scientist who understood carbon accounting and digital assets - showing Bitcoin was not only "not harmful" but could accelerate the renewable transition

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac…Image
So where are we today?

We stand at the crossroads of 2 visions of the future

Both will digitize money.

One gives more control to Central Bankers than ever

The other gives us a shot at freedom, and a world without the intergenerational widening of wealth gaps Image
Central Bankers will stop at nothing to try to prevent the 2nd vision occurring because ... it does not require them

For the first time in a long time, a grassroots movement has the chance of standing tall in the face of a powerful force and through non-violence, win
What else you can do

1. support @ODFoundation who are engaging with ESMA head on

2. support other organisations who work tirelessly against the FUD @bitcoinpolicyuk @btcpolicyorg @SatoshiActFund @EBEA_eu

3. Share the Bitcoin mining projects that are changing the narrative

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More from @DSBatten

Jul 2
1/10

10 images that forever changed our perceptions about Bitcoin and energy

1. Rhodes et al showed that flexible datacenters like Bitcoin mining allow grid owners to stack more intermittent renewable energy sources onto the grid

Source:
🧵lancium.com/wp-content/upl…Image
2. This powerful chart from @woonomic showed that Bitcoin mining is now more sustainable than the industries it can in theory obviate (banking, as a method of transacting. Gold, as a store of value)

Source: woocharts.com/esg-bitcoin-mi…
Image
3. This image from Dr Rian Dewhurst showed that unlike other industries, over 61% of all Bitcoin mining companies use sustainable energy or carbon negative energy sources.

This high adoption rate helps create more demand for renewable energy

Source: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
Image
Read 10 tweets
Jun 26
1/7
Slowly then suddenly

This thread lists the recent

✅4 sustainability magazines (& a climate conference)
✅4 ESG charts
✅5 Independent Reports
✅11 recent media reports
✅8 peer reviewed publications
✅3 reports from WEF

covering Bitcoin's environment benefits
👇
4 sustainability magazines covering Bitcoin mining's positive environmental impacts

1. Bitcoin mining could help wind and solar development (Anthropocene Magazine)

2. How Bitcoin is aiding the renewable transition (Recharge Magazine)

3. Landfill Gas methane mitigated with Bitcoin Mining (Renewable Energy Magazine)

4. Bitcoin mining is more sustainable than previously thought (One Green Planet) …

... and the San Francisco climate conference also recently featured a panel discussion on the environmental benefits on Bitcoin mininganthropocenemagazine.org/2023/12/wind-a…
rechargenews.com/energy-transit…
renewableenergymagazine.com/biogas/compani…
onegreenplanet.org/environment/sh…Image
4 new charts, based on the BEEST model used by Bloomberg Intelligence and Realvision

1. Bitcoin is now over 55% powered by sustainable energy


2. Bitcoin emissions have not increased in 4 years, despite rising hashrate and price 👇


3. Percentage-wise, Bitcoin mining is leading the world in methane mitigation, with 7.45% of all network emissions now being abated through methane mitigation


4. Bitcoin emission intensity has halved in the last 4 years, to be the lowest of any global industry


Model & Methodology

Raw data woocharts.com/esg-bitcoin-mi…
woocharts.com/esg-bitcoin-mi…
woocharts.com/esg-bitcoin-em…
woocharts.com/esg-bitcoin-mi…
batcoinz.com/BEEST
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…Image
Read 7 tweets
May 22
1/9

There is $35.7Tr in sovereign funds

✅Almost all of them want to buy Bitcoin
❌Almost none of them can

Why?

And more importantly, how do we change that?
(a thread) Image
2/9

Sovereign funds hold the wealth of nation states.

@saylor recently said "You'll see sovereigns wealth funds move before the sovereign"

Days ago, Wisconsin announced it had bought~$100M of #BTC

reuters.com/markets/curren…
Image
3/9

As we've learnt though, a leader needs a first follower.
3 years ago:

🇸🇻 El Salvador was the leader among nation states
🪙 Microstrategy was the leader among pubcos

3 years later, both are waiting for a first follower.

So how do Sovereign Funds avoid the same fate? Image
Read 9 tweets
Apr 22
1/5

Africa has validated the usecase for Bitcoin as a medium of exchange

"𝟳𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 #Bitcoin 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 $𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁"

source: chainalysis.com/blog/africa-cr…
Image
"Crypto has penetrated key markets and become an important part of many residents’ day-to-day lives."

With the combination of autocracy and high inflation, use of Bitcoin in Nigeria is off the charts Image
Bitcoin's % of transaction volume is also highest in Nigeria. Image
Read 5 tweets
Feb 12
1/6

Many people don't realise how much peer reviewed scientific literature came out in the last 18 mths endorsing Bitcoin mining's net-positive environmental potential

Here's 5 of the most recent publications with
♻️source
♻️headline
♻️TL;DR summary

🧵
2/6

How Bitcoin Can Support Renewable Energy Development and Climate Action
(Cornell University)

source:

TL;DR:
Bitcoin mining helps renewable developers generate more profits that is typically re-invested, accelerating the renewable transition pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac…
Image
3/6

Bitcoin’s Carbon Footprint Revisited: Proof of Work Mining for Renewable Energy Expansion


TL;DR:
[our research finding support] "a possible role for Bitcoin mining in promoting grid decarbonization" through effective demand responsemdpi.com/2078-1547/14/3…Image
Read 7 tweets
Jan 31
🧵While we were sleeping, the European Commission (via ESMA & ECB) has been creating a report which they plan to label bitcoin
-environmentally harmful
-a threat to EU energy security
-a haven for financial criminals

Paving the way for 2025 de facto EU bans on BTC & BTC miningImage
2/5

How we know:

ODFoundation founders @LyudaKozlovska and @jardemalie have done the hard work for us of reading through every EC document. They've been fighting this for 18 months. @stephanlivera recently interviewed them on his podcast. .
3/5

I'm not in EU, who cares?

ESMA, who work closely with ECB (Euro Central Bank), has signalled that once the report is accepted in EU, they will push for it to become the standard in other nations

Like other wars, this war starts in EU but may not end there.
Read 6 tweets

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