I would love a trip to NYC… but it might be quicker if I post them? Do you want me to?

Big Brother Watch has repeatedly warned that the UK is quietly creeping into a surveillance state. Live facial recognition is being deployed across streets, train stations, shopping centres and even at public protests. But this technology is not just targeting criminals. It is scanning millions of innocent people without their knowledge or consent. False alarms with real consequences Studies show that the vast majority of facial recognition matches are false. According to Big Brother Watch, in 80 deployments across the UK, 89.7% of alerts were false positives. In London alone, 150 out of 173 matches by the Metropolitan Police were incorrect, resulting in an error rate of nearly 87%. In some cases, people were stopped, searched or fingerprinted as a result. These mistakes are not harmless. They are invasive, humiliating and difficult to challenge. https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Biometric-Britain.pdf It is all connected Facial images from passports, CCTV, phones and even social media are increasingly fed into large government and private databases. Big Brother Watch has raised concerns that a digital pound or central bank digital currency would allow the state to track every payment in real time. Combined with facial recognition and phone surveillance, this creates a fullmap of your movements, your spending and your associations. Your phone is not private Every step we take with a smartphone in our pocket feeds data to corporations and authorities. Location, biometrics, browsing history and more. If that is tied to payment systems and real time identity scanning, we move closer to a system where everything we do can be watched, recorded and judged. Know Your Customer (KYC) rules are already mandating identity checks for basic services. This is not theoretical. It is happening now. Where does this lead? The future we are heading toward is one of forced compliance. A world in which you are monitored constantly. In which you are guilty until proven innocent. In which dissent is quietly suppressed by the knowledge that you are being watched. We are at a turning point If we do not push back, we risk building a society where privacy is gone, autonomy is restricted, and control is centralised in the name of convenience and safety. This goes far beyond retail surveillance. It marks the steady build up of a digital infrastructure designed for monitoring and control. It's 1984 George Orwell warned of a future where every move was watched, every word monitored, and every thought shaped by fear. But even he did not imagine a world where your money could be used to control you. With facial recognition and CBDCs combined, we are building something even more invasive than Orwell foresaw, a system where surveillance is not just constant but transactional, embedded into the very fabric of daily life. When every face is scanned, every step tracked, and every payment recorded, we are not living freely. We are living under watch. Thank you to Big Brother Watch for continuing to shine a light on these issues and holding power to account.

My interview with Roxom TV from Bitcoin Vegas 2025 is now live. Nolan & I discuss how Bitcoin challenges the narratives around media, money, and power. We talk censorship, control, and the implications of financial sovereignty. Bitcoin is so much more than a currency; it’s a shift in accountability. https://youtu.be/8uYg9qpc8jI

Russia’s new ruble backed stablecoin A7A5 has quietly moved more than $9.3 billion in just four months. It is being used to convert rubles into USDT, bypassing Western sanctions via offshore rails. It’s an expected workaround. In my 2023 article for City A.M., Can BRICS build something with Bitcoin? I discussed whether countries like Russia, China, and Brazil might one day adopt a neutral, open monetary standard rather than trying to replicate fiat in new digital forms. A7A5 shows the BRICS bloc is exploring alternatives to the dollar. But it is not building on openness, neutrality, or long-term resilience. Bitcoin is all of those things. A7A5 is a centralised digital IOU, processed through intermediaries. This is not true de-dollarisation. It is a centralised workaround that functions like a CBDC in disguise, without transparency or trustlessness. So why does it matter? Because Russia has already signalled interest in using Bitcoin for cross-border trade. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov confirmed in December 2024 that Russia is using Bitcoin in foreign transactions. Putin has said crypto has “a right to exist” and could be useful for settlements. A7A5 might not just be a workaround. It could be a stepping stone. By normalising crypto-based trade and softening public resistance, Russia may be laying the groundwork for broader adoption of digital assets - including Bitcoin. The real solution does not require back doors. How long before Russia is using bitcoin? Full article: https://www.cityam.com/can-brics-build-something-with-bitcoin/

😁

👏👏👏

I love ₿itcoin. 🧡

Today, I'm heading into the Roxom studio in London’s Soho to start regular shows on Bitcoin, current affairs, UK policy, and to interview key voices in the space. This is a hugely exciting opportunity and a perfect synergy with my work as CEO of Bitcoin Policy UK and as a journalist. Bitcoin adoption in the UK is happening. ⚡️

Ha ha, love that! Hilarious side. It was so lovely meeting you.

What a packed few days from a phenomenal Women of Bitcoin event on KYC and privacy, to Who Wants to Be a Satoshi Millionaire, and talking about the benefits of Bitcoin mining. Thanks ! ⚡️