During the morning news scroll, before my eyes were properly open, I noticed the popular NZ news website Stuff was shilling Bitcoin in a 'sponsored' content article.

Crypto means hidden. The word is of Arabic origin, as is the word Algebra.

The notion of an Internet-enabled toaster or coffee machine was for the longest time, and hopefully still is, a harmless joke.

Not everyone seems to get jokes however, and some of the unfunniest people on the Internet seem to get their kicks from taking other people's money with "crypto", so it's maybe unsurprising that coiners have taken seriously the idea of creating Internet-enabled toasters.

Earlier in 2024 it was reported the Cook Islands had drafted a so-called Tainted Cryptocurrency Recovery Bill. Whoa. Sounds like Spy stuff?

Well, not so fast. I got bored enough to read it, and some provisions do legalise 'offensive' security work, aka hacking but as part of "crypto" asset recovery: looks to me like debt collectors have finally sunk their teeth into "crypto". You can only guess what spies do anyway, their laws are about keeping stuff secret and look nothing like this.