Opinion

In New Zealand unemployment is up to 30 year highs, and as a corollary so are KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals: not really rocket science.

However, the machinery of our state media has found it fit to take an alternative narrative to the reality on the ground, and suggest KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals are being gamed. Those poor fund managers!

In welcome news, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act is still being enforced. One is often left to wonder if it is, when companies are openly trading "crypto", paying reluctant lip service to the issue and lobbying against it in the comment sections of our news outlets.

As part of cataloging the crypto scams proliferating in New Zealand, I just want to share a link to an article from the Herald one year ago, which reads like it could be just as true today.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pensioner-loses-224k-after-being-tricked-by-ai-deepfake-christopher-luxon-cryptocurrency-investment-scam/YLG3EQMOAZATVARBL5ITDRL2DA/

An interesting observation I'd like to share from watching Bloomberg data, is that Bitcoin prices slid on the news that the straight of Hormuz might be blocked by Iran as part of it's undeclared war on Israel. But why is that? Bitcoin bros are normally hyping up their scam as some WW3-proof system that will survive Nuclear Armageddon.

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.

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.