Mike Hassard's guest appearances

Mike Hassard

The Vonu Podcast

What Bitcoin Did with Peter McCormack

Citadel Dispatch

OwlTail

Tor Ekeland

Roman Sterlingov

“What should scare the fuck out of everybody involved with Bitcoin here is, if that’s accurate, if they can get federal criminal jurisdiction by simply doing that, that means that any prosecutor in the United States can sit down at a laptop, go to your website,… type out a message - you don’t know about it - and then they can arrest you and try you in Wisconsin, in DC, in Boston, in Texas, in Podunk Louisiana”— Tor EkelandTor Ekeland &amp; Mike Hassard are defence attorneys representing a Swedish-Russian national, Roman Sterlingov, arrested in early 2021 by the IRS at LAX. He was accused of creating and operating the Bitcoin Fog mixing service to launder over $300 million. He had his assets seized and was incarcerated. He’s awaiting trial. Tor and Mike are still trying to find corroborating evidence. But they’ve uncovered conflicts of interest within the DoJ. - - - - Roman Sterlingov has been accused of running Bitcoin Fog, a Bitcoin mixer, and laundering $334 million. On a prima facie basis it seems like a case of the state acting to crack down on nefarious darknet activities. But, delve deeper, as Roman’s lawyers Tor Ekeland &amp; Mike Hassard have done, and it raises serious questions about what the DoJ and various companies are willing to do for selfish motives. Firstly, there is a distinct lack of evidence against Roman. No evidence has been found on any computer, thumb drive or server that links Roman to the crimes he’s accused of. The evidence that does exist has been produced by the blockchain forensics company Chainanalysis. But as yet this evidence is not open to scrutiny, and, such evidence has never been challenged in court. Secondly, the case highlights numerous material conflicts of interest within the DoJ and Chainalysis. A revolving door between the DoJ and Big Tech is a well-known issue. Then there’s the use of cases such as Roman’s to help build the reputation of Chainalysis, helping it to gain a multi billion dollar valuation. The profit incentive has and does skew criminal prosecutions in the US. And lastly, there’s the overreach of the DoJ, and the tactics it is employing to arrest and prosecute individuals. Roman’s case is a high-stakes situation for both Roman, the Bitcoin community and the wider public. If Roman loses, he could face 50 years to life in prison. If unchallenged, it could also set a dangerous precedent and allow the government to expand its jurisdiction globally through the internet. - - - - This episode’s sponsors:Iris Energy - Bitcoin Mining. Done Sustainably Ledn - Financial services for Bitcoin hodlersBitcasino - The Future of Gaming is hereLedger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware walletWasabi Wallet - Privacy by defaultUnchained - Secure your bitcoin with confidence-----WBD662 - Show Notes-----If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contributeMake a tip:Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2SQR Codes: BitcoinIf you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank youSubscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS FeedLeave a review on iTunesShare the show and episodes with your friends and familySubscribe to the newsletter on my websiteFollow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTubeIf you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.

“What should scare the fuck out of everybody involved with Bitcoin here is, if that’s accurate, if they can get federal criminal jurisdiction by simply doing that, that means that any prosecutor in the United States can sit down at a laptop, go to your website,… type out a message - you don’t know about it - and then they can arrest you and try you in Wisconsin, in DC, in Boston, in Texas, in Podunk Louisiana” — Tor EkelandTor Ekeland &amp; Mike Hassard are defence attorneys representing a Swedish-Russian national, Roman Sterlingov, arrested in early 2021 by the IRS at LAX. He was accused of creating and operating the Bitcoin Fog mixing service to launder over $300 million. He had his assets seized and was incarcerated. He’s awaiting trial. Tor and Mike are still trying to find corroborating evidence. But they’ve uncovered conflicts of interest within the DoJ. - - - - Roman Sterlingov has been accused of running Bitcoin Fog, a Bitcoin mixer, and laundering $334 million. On a prima facie basis it seems like a case of the state acting to crack down on nefarious darknet activities. But, delve deeper, as Roman’s lawyers Tor Ekeland &amp; Mike Hassard have done, and it raises serious questions about what the DoJ and various companies are willing to do for selfish motives. Firstly, there is a distinct lack of evidence against Roman. No evidence has been found on any computer, thumb drive or server that links Roman to the crimes he’s accused of. The evidence that does exist has been produced by the blockchain forensics company Chainanalysis. But as yet this evidence is not open to scrutiny, and, such evidence has never been challenged in court. Secondly, the case highlights numerous material conflicts of interest within the DoJ and Chainalysis. A revolving door between the DoJ and Big Tech is a well-known issue. Then there’s the use of cases such as Roman’s to help build the reputation of Chainalysis, helping it to gain a multi billion dollar valuation. The profit incentive has and does skew criminal prosecutions in the US. And lastly, there’s the overreach of the DoJ, and the tactics it is employing to arrest and prosecute individuals. Roman’s case is a high-stakes situation for both Roman, the Bitcoin community and the wider public. If Roman loses, he could face 50 years to life in prison. If unchallenged, it could also set a dangerous precedent and allow the government to expand its jurisdiction globally through the internet. - - - - This episode’s sponsors: <a href="https://irisenergy.co" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Iris Energy</a> - Bitcoin Mining. Done Sustainably <a href="https://www.ledn.io/en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ledn</a> - Financial services for Bitcoin hodlers <a href="https://bitcasino.io" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bitcasino</a> - The Future of Gaming is here <a href="https://www.ledger.com/start-your-crypto-journey?utm_campaign=22-02-AlwaysOn_Global-US-Marketing-Partnership&amp;utm_content=msg_Start_your_journey_targ_Crypto&amp;utm_medium=Podcast&amp;utm_source=WhatBitcoinDid" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ledger</a> - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet <a href="https://wasabiwallet.io" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wasabi Wallet</a> - Privacy by default <a href="https://unchained.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Unchained</a> - Secure your bitcoin with confidence -----<a href="https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/the-case-of-roman-sterlingov" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WBD662 - Show Notes</a>----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a <a href="https://www.patreon.com/whatbitcoindid/membership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patron</a> and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: <a href="https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/bitcoin-tipjar" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bitcoin</a> If you do send a tip then please <a href="mailto:hello@whatbitcoindid.com">email me</a> so that I can say thank you Subscribe on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/what-bitcoin-did-podcast-bitcoin-crypto-trading-strategy/id1317356120?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a> | <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0mWUJuONiilW5JSBBFZ0s7?si=5qcbjpjYSRyKpi8wycEZUw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a> | <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/what-bitcoin-did" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a> | <a href="https://soundcloud.com/what-bitcoin-did" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SoundCloud</a> | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/WhatBitcoinDidPodcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://www.deezer.com/us/show/592752" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Deezer</a> | <a href="https://tunein.com/radio/What-Bitcoin-Did-p1079869/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TuneIn</a> | <a href="https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast?format=RSS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RSS Feed</a> Leave a review on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/what-bitcoin-did-podcast-bitcoin-crypto-trading-strategy/id1317356120?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a> Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my <a href="https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/subscribe/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">website</a> Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/whatbitcoindid" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter Personal</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/whatbitcoindid" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter Podcast</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/whatbitcoindid" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://medium.com/@whatbitcoindid/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Medium</a> | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/WhatBitcoinDidPodcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube</a> If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can <a href="https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/sponsorship/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">read more about that here</a> or please feel free to <a href="mailto:hello@whatbitcoindid.com">drop me an email</a> to discuss options.

The Case of Roman Sterlingov with Tor Ekeland & Mike Hassard

On this episode of The Vonu Podcast, we return to the topic of privacy, bitcoin, &amp; ChainAnalysis coercion, and go deep into the deeply troubling legal case of Roman Sterlingov.   Roman was an early bitcoin adopter, who started using a DeepWeb mixer, Bitcoin Fog. Without a shred of evidence and via a shoddy investigation, ChainAnalysis &amp; the State are accusing him of being the FOUNDER, and as such, has been locked up for a couple years already, facing 50+ years in prison. Joining me, are his lawyers, Tor Ekelend &amp; Mike Hassard, as well as SW from Samourai Wallet — Tor has been doing work on digital privacy/freedom for over a decade, and this is the most absurd case he’s seen yet… And may just have the most far-reaching consequences. SW also fills us in on how the Samourai Wallet team is helping with their open source ChainAnalysis tool, OXT.ME. Please consider donating to Roman’s fund here: https://www.torekeland.com/roman-sterlingov/    SHOW GUIDE:  Roman’s case is the EXACT reason why Samourai acquired OXT.ME: to take it out of the hands of ChainAnalysis, and to provide counter-analysis that is reproducible and verifiable Mike fills us on in their travels to bitcoin, privacy, and freedom conferences across Europe Tor introduces the case: wildest and most absurd in a decade of digital privacy/freedom cases; Roman is absolutely innocent, but has been locked up for 2 years awaiting trial anyway Roman’s background/history; how he accumulated a lot of bitcoin early on, and became a millionaire overnight; introduced to a bitcoin mixer at a meetup, starts using Bitcoin Fog The astonishing lack of evidence of Roman being the founder; ChainAnalysis black box Mike comments on how little evidence the State is providing them during discovery (i.e. bitcoin addresses, software, code, etc.), making their job extremely difficult The “Russian connection” — thanks to the nonsense political climate Mt. Gox background/history; that data is critical to the State’s case against Roman, but is unusable and unreliable on its face Mark Karpeles found guilty in Japan for falsifying Mt. Gox data — no jail time Karpeles: founder of Bitcoin Fog? Never served any time, now works for U.S. government (Department of Justice); more evidence of that than Roman The far-reaching ramifications of ChainAnalysis and State cooperation; demonstration of public-private coercion (fascism) SW: there’s no evidence other than ChainAnalysis black box reporting — full of mistakes that the Samourai team found — more quack science! Despite putting Roman under surveillance (physical, digital, etc.), and seizing multiple computers, cellphones, Raspberry Pi’s, private journals, etc. at the airport arrest, there’s not ONE shred of evidence SW, Tor, and Mike explain why we self-liberators/freedom pioneers MUST 100% fight against ChainAnalysis; there’s no fucking choice, especially not working with them Andy Greenburg of WIRED’s last book includes Roman’s case — he went up on stage with the arresting agent at a conference in D.C.; Andy never checked with Tor or anyone, just silence SW: what is the strategy? Undermine analysis, undermine the facts surrounding the case, profiteering, etc.? Tor: we’re going to tell the truth, how Roman made his money, got his bitcoin early on, and how he became a millionaire overnight — yet didn’t make near enough to have run Bitcoin Fog SW provides a runthrough on OXT.ME; all ChainAnalysis is probabilistic, NOT deterministic, and CANNOT be used as evidence in court STOWAWAY, a Samourai Wallet privacy feature, fooled OXT, which is the core evidence in this case Tor is actually a privacy/hacker lawyer O.G. of SW’s past — represented Weeb a decade ago Please consider donating to Roman’s fund here: https://www.torekeland.com/roman-sterlingov/  HEALTH LIBERATION/SELF-LIBERATION SPECIAL OFFER: The Amazing AquaCure! Interested in your own AquaCure? Save $125 with coupon code “vonu“, and help support the P.A.Z.NIA Department of Health/Wellness at the same time!   THE DIGITAL HOME OF #THEFREEREPUBLIC    The post TVP #184: ChainAnalysis Coercion &amp; Quack Science: The Troubling Case of Roman Sterlingov with Tor Ekelend, Mike Hassard, &amp; SW from Samourai Wallet appeared first on The Vonu Podcast.

On this episode of The Vonu Podcast, we return to the topic of privacy, bitcoin, &amp; ChainAnalysis coercion, and go deep into the deeply troubling legal case of Roman Sterlingov. Roman was an early bitcoin adopter, who started using a DeepWeb mixer, Bitcoin Fog. Without a shred of evidence and via a shoddy investigation, ChainAnalysis &amp; the State are accusing him of being the FOUNDER, and as such, has been locked up for a couple years already, facing 50+ years in prison. Joining me, are his lawyers, Tor Ekelend &amp; Mike Hassard, as well as SW from Samourai Wallet — Tor has been doing work on digital privacy/freedom for over a decade, and this is the most absurd case he’s seen yet… And may just have the most far-reaching consequences. SW also fills us in on how the Samourai Wallet team is helping with their <a href="https://oxt.me/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">open source ChainAnalysis tool, OXT.ME</a>. Please consider donating to Roman’s fund here: <a href="https://www.torekeland.com/roman-sterlingov/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.torekeland.com/roman-sterlingov/</a> <center></center> <h2>SHOW GUIDE:</h2> <ul> <li>Roman’s case is the EXACT reason why Samourai acquired <a href="http://OXT.ME" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OXT.ME</a>: to take it out of the hands of ChainAnalysis, and to provide counter-analysis that is reproducible and verifiable</li> <li>Mike fills us on in their travels to bitcoin, privacy, and freedom conferences across Europe</li> <li>Tor introduces the case: wildest and most absurd in a decade of digital privacy/freedom cases; Roman is absolutely innocent, but has been locked up for 2 years awaiting trial anyway</li> <li>Roman’s background/history; how he accumulated a lot of bitcoin early on, and became a millionaire overnight; introduced to a bitcoin mixer at a meetup, starts using Bitcoin Fog</li> <li>The astonishing lack of evidence of Roman being the founder; ChainAnalysis black box</li> <li>Mike comments on how little evidence the State is providing them during discovery (i.e. bitcoin addresses, software, code, etc.), making their job extremely difficult</li> <li>The “Russian connection” — thanks to the nonsense political climate</li> <li>Mt. Gox background/history; that data is critical to the State’s case against Roman, but is unusable and unreliable on its face</li> <li>Mark Karpeles found guilty in Japan for falsifying Mt. Gox data — no jail time</li> <li>Karpeles: founder of Bitcoin Fog? Never served any time, now works for U.S. government (Department of Justice); more evidence of that than Roman</li> <li>The far-reaching ramifications of ChainAnalysis and State cooperation; demonstration of public-private coercion (fascism)</li> <li>SW: there’s no evidence other than ChainAnalysis black box reporting — full of mistakes that the Samourai team found — more quack science!</li> <li>Despite putting Roman under surveillance (physical, digital, etc.), and seizing multiple computers, cellphones, Raspberry Pi’s, private journals, etc. at the airport arrest, there’s not ONE shred of evidence</li> <li>SW, Tor, and Mike explain why we self-liberators/freedom pioneers MUST 100% fight against ChainAnalysis; there’s no fucking choice, especially not working with them</li> <li>Andy Greenburg of WIRED’s last book includes Roman’s case — he went up on stage with the arresting agent at a conference in D.C.; Andy never checked with Tor or anyone, just silence</li> <li>SW: what is the strategy? Undermine analysis, undermine the facts surrounding the case, profiteering, etc.?</li> <li>Tor: we’re going to tell the truth, how Roman made his money, got his bitcoin early on, and how he became a millionaire overnight — yet didn’t make near enough to have run Bitcoin Fog</li> <li>SW provides a runthrough on <a href="http://OXT.ME" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OXT.ME</a>; all ChainAnalysis is probabilistic, NOT deterministic, and CANNOT be used as evidence in court</li> <li>STOWAWAY, a Samourai Wallet privacy feature, fooled OXT, which is the core evidence in this case</li> <li>Tor is actually a privacy/hacker lawyer O.G. of SW’s past — represented Weeb a decade ago</li> <li>Please consider donating to Roman’s fund here: <a href="https://www.torekeland.com/roman-sterlingov/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.torekeland.com/roman-sterlingov/</a></li> </ul> <h1>HEALTH LIBERATION/SELF-LIBERATION SPECIAL OFFER:</h1> <h2>The Amazing AquaCure!</h2> Interested in <a href="https://eagle-research.com/product/ac50/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">your own AquaCure</a>? Save $125 with coupon code “vonu“, and help support the <a href="https://paznia.com/the-p-a-z-nia-department-of-health-wellness/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">P.A.Z.NIA Department of Health/Wellness</a> at the same time! <a href="https://ad-store.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/VONU/2022/03/2021STEAKholder-Graphic.jpg" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://ad-store.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/VONU/2022/03/2021DigitalSTEAKholder-Graphic.jpg" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank"></a> <h2>THE <a href="https://paznia.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">DIGITAL HOME</a> OF #THEFREEREPUBLIC</h2> <a href="https://paznia.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://t.me/PAZNIAchat" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank"></a> The post <a href="https://vonupodcast.com/tvp-184-chainanalysis-coercion-quack-science-the-troubling-case-of-roman-sterlingov-with-tor-ekelend-mike-hassard-sw-from-samourai-wallet/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TVP #184: ChainAnalysis Coercion &amp; Quack Science: The Troubling Case of Roman Sterlingov with Tor Ekelend, Mike Hassard, &amp; SW from Samourai Wallet</a> appeared first on <a href="https://vonupodcast.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Vonu Podcast</a>.

TVP #184: ChainAnalysis Coercion & Quack Science: The Troubling Case of Roman Sterlingov with Tor Ekelend, Mike Hassard, & SW from Samourai Wallet

support dispatch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://citadeldispatch.com/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   EPISODE: 100 BLOCK: 785120 PRICE: 3342 sats per dollar  TOPICS: Roman Sterlingov has been held in jail for the last two years accused of operating the custodial bitcoin mixer Bitcoin Fog, evidence being used against him is questionable Chainalysis data, he admits to using the service but claims he was not the operator, Chainalysis refuses to provide background to the defense on their data, broken probability analysis could be used to falsely incriminate any bitcoiner at will  Mike Hassard on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/mikehassard Tor Ekeland on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/TorEkelandPLLC Donate: https://www.torekeland.com  youtube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@citadeldispatch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ twitch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitch.tv/citadeldispatch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ bitcointv: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bitcointv.com/video-channels/citadeldispatch/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.podpage.com/citadeldispatch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ telegram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://t.me/citadeldispatch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ stream sats to the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fountain.fm/⁠⁠

support dispatch: <a href="https://citadeldispatch.com/donate" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://citadeldispatch.com/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> EPISODE: 100 BLOCK: 785120 PRICE: 3342 sats per dollar TOPICS: Roman Sterlingov has been held in jail for the last two years accused of operating the custodial bitcoin mixer Bitcoin Fog, evidence being used against him is questionable Chainalysis data, he admits to using the service but claims he was not the operator, Chainalysis refuses to provide background to the defense on their data, broken probability analysis could be used to falsely incriminate any bitcoiner at will Mike Hassard on Twitter: ⁠⁠<a href="https://twitter.com/bitcoinbrains" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a><a href="https://twitter.com/raypaxful" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">⁠</a><a href="https://twitter.com/mikehassard" rel="noopener noreferer nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/mikehassard</a> Tor Ekeland on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/raypaxful" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">⁠⁠</a>⁠<a href="https://twitter.com/TorEkelandPLLC" rel="noopener noreferer nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/TorEkelandPLLC</a> Donate: <a href="https://www.torekeland.com/" rel="noopener noreferer nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.torekeland.com</a> youtube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@citadeldispatch" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@citadeldispatch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> twitch: <a href="https://twitch.tv/citadeldispatch" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitch.tv/citadeldispatch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> bitcointv: <a href="https://bitcointv.com/video-channels/citadeldispatch/videos" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bitcointv.com/video-channels/citadeldispatch/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> podcast: <a href="https://www.podpage.com/citadeldispatch" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.podpage.com/citadeldispatch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> telegram: <a href="https://t.me/citadeldispatch" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://t.me/citadeldispatch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> stream sats to the show: <a href="https://www.fountain.fm/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fountain.fm/⁠⁠</a>