Thieves, tyrants, and pornstars. August 20 2018

Pornhub subsidiary Tube8 is now using its Ethereum-based "Vice tokens” to reward viewers for “interacting” with “content.” It’s the same token Playboy recently failed to implement for its own “family and media entertainment” platform. Will the porn industry join the paltry 36 percent of crypto-companies with actual working products?

Elsewhere in porn, scammers are threatening to expose online users to their wives if they don’t cough up a Bitcoin ransom.

More obscene, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has made the cryptocurrency “petro” his country's default minimum wage. In a bid to curtail record-high inflation, he has promised each worker 0.5 petro ($30) a month. As the reforms are fumbled into place, one pseudonymous Venezuelan netizen (“WorkingLime”) is subsisting on crypto-donations from redditors.

Also having a tough time making a living in crypto is the mining community. Ex-miners whose enthusiasm has soured since the late 2017 mining boom are selling their rigs on Craigslist and Gumtree, with graphics cards once worth thousands now going for a pittance.

As big companies continue to experiment with the crypto-sphere some industry veterans aren’t happy. Bitcoin sage Andreas Antonopoulos believes the New York Stock Exchange’s plans to implement Bitcoin exchange traded funds are a “terrible idea”.

It wasn't all miserable. UK firm Crypto Facilities will soon add Bitcoin Cash to its futures roster, joining the likes of Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin and Ethereum. It’s also coming to “thousands” of Japanese convenience stores. Bitcoin Cash evangelist Roger Ver is insufferably happy about it.

Real-world integration got another boost. The Union of European Football Associations successfully trialed a ticket distribution service that, according to its developer, prevented forgery and duplication of tickets at a game between Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid. Don Tapscott, who wrote a book about blockchain, thinks it's "really cool."

Blockchain and Virtual currency attorney Stephen Palley, meanwhile, is convinced the courts are conspiring to, er, enact Satoshi's vision? He noted that the Judge mediating a dispute between crypto-company Ripple Labs and disgruntled investor Ryan Coffey undermined and boldfaced "Bitcoin" in a court order: He's "pretty sure the judge is a Bitcoin maximalist." More pertinently, he added, the order seemed to imply that Ripple was a "centralized venture," and "owned by no one and everyone."

Crime Pays

Crypto law enforcement had a good haul over the weekend. Divyesh Darji, India division chief of Bitconnect—now widely denounced as a Ponzi scheme—was arrested in New Delhi for allegedly fleecing investors of billions worth of dollars.

In other crime, the Chinese government has detained three suspects accused of filching $87m from individuals and businesses. It’s the biggest such catch so far. The U.S., meanwhile, is holding professional “Bitcoin exchanger” Jacob Burrell Campos without bond for laundering $750,000 worth of the currency.

Though Campos won’t be posting bail, Serbian-born hacker Martin Marsich has been ordered to pay his own $750,000 bail in cryptocurrency.  U.S. Assistant District Attorney Abraham Simmons says even if Bitcoin devalues in the interim, it “doesn’t mean that the court would care, one way or another.” Their loss?

What a seedy weekend. It’s no surprise to learn that 46 percent of Brits wouldn’t entrust their personal assets to blockchain companies. (But maybe the biggest surprise is 54 percent would.)

Read Next: Debrief, August 17, 2018