By Shelly Melancon (Switzerland)
An Arizona federal court judge, David Bury has declared null and void the suit filed against the Federal Prison Bureau by Ross Ulbricht, one of the bitcoin pioneers. After being barred from speaking with his father through the prison’s facilities, Ulbricht had sought the court’s help to exercise his religious duties.
Arguments For And Against
Ulbricht’s lawyers were defending him through the religious freedom restoration act. They had claimed that he could only speak with his father through the correctional institution’s Trulincs messaging system. One of his attorneys, Brandon Sample, argued that Ulbricht was confused as he was torn between violating his beliefs or prison rules.
A spokesperson for the bureau, Micheal Linton, opined that Ulbricht’s defense failed because his lawyers couldn’t substantiate the basis for which the court could grant him relief. Also, he should have exhausted administrative solutions before heading to court.
Ulbricht’s and the government’s attorneys agreed to dismiss the case on the first of this month. The bitcoin pioneer was convicted and sentenced to 40 years of no parole based on several controversies surrounding the operations of the Silk road. Silk Road was a bitcoin-based platform that some individuals used to perform various transactions without fiat currency.
Hence, some of his followers claim that Ulbricht’s punishment proves that the government doesn’t want citizens to remain shackled to the corrupt fiat financial system. Speaking to participants in this year’s bitcoin conference from a recorded statement, Ulbricht stated, “we were unsure of the evolution of this cryptocurrency when we first got started, but times have shown that it is turning out great, and I’m always happy when I hear of the progress you are making with this amazing technology.” “While various parts of the world have enjoyed freedom and equality through this innovation, we need to ensure that we can bring the same freedom to the justice system.”
China Still Influencing BTC Hashrate
A new CNBC discovery shows that crypto miners are still operating in China despite the authorities’ best efforts in stamping them out. The CNBC report Chinese miners still contribute up to 15% to the BTC hashrate. However, the rate can’t be ascertained as many miners operate anonymously and employ various strategies to remain anonymous.
One of the underground miners revealed to CNBC that he’s had to scatter his mining operations across several places. Hence, his operations don’t consume so much electricity to attract the attention of the authorities. The miner further revealed that he utilizes a VPN that hides his geographical location and mining operations.
“There are even miners who join mining pools that don’t require them to reveal information they wouldn’t want to disclose,” he told the CNBC correspondent. Despite their efforts, these miners might still be forced to move to other locations because of China’s energy crisis. Recently, various provinces, including Yunnan and Sichuan, have significantly reduced power supply forcibly because of the decreasing water supply from their hydropower dams. Some have claimed that the BTC price is suffering from the effects of China’s clampdown on all crypto activities in the country.
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