Damus

Recent Notes

Susie Violet Ward profile picture
A $38 million Bitcoin hardware wallet failure and Russia’s terrorism charge against Telegram’s founder point to the same uncomfortable reality.

Much of what we call digital safety still rests on reputation rather than verification.

Coldcard stood as one of the most security conscious devices in the industry until a four year old firmware flaw compromised the seed generation process designed to protect users.

Telegram and its founder built a reputation around privacy until researchers uncovered a tracking vulnerability.

When independent verification disappears, trust is all that remains.

My latest piece in Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/07/31/a-38-million-theft-a-global-manhunt--the-illusion-of-digital-safety/



Susie Violet Ward profile picture
NESO’s Future Energy Scenarios 2025 model households and businesses cutting peak electricity demand by as much as 54% by 2050, largely by turning heat pumps and other loads down or off when the system is under pressure.

While overall electricity demand is still projected to rise sharply because of electrification, the core strategy remains one of managing scarcity through behavioural flexibility rather than building abundance.

History shows that prosperous countries have always been those that used more energy, not less.

UK policy continues to prioritise demand reduction and peak-shaving over the denser, more reliable power that underpins real economic growth.

This approach is one more example of how successive governments have locked the country into managed decline instead of the high energy, high productivity path that every successful economy has followed.

https://www.neso.energy/document/364541/downl

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Dug · 2d
Have the glorious future of rolling blackouts……..
Susie Violet Ward profile picture
Lebanon showed what happens when banks and currency policy fail the public.

Although the worst of the hyperinflation may have eased, banking distrust, poverty and reconstruction needs remain.

So too does the need for self-custody, low friction remittances and money that cannot be arbitrarily devalued.

Published in early 2024, the lessons have not aged.

Read the full article here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/02/02/lebanons-economic-rebirth-through-bitcoin/
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Susie Violet Ward profile picture
If you’re unhappy with the Bitcoin price, stop looking at the chart and start reading the congressional trading disclosures.

Nancy Pelosi’s household portfolio has been beating the S&P 500 and the average hedge fund for years.

A $174,000 congressional salary and a fortune estimated at $250 million. *

Maybe the real alpha was public service all along.

The numbers: https://vertdata.com/blog/nancy-pelosi-stock-portfolio

Track the disclosed trades: https://www.quiverquant.com/congresstrading/politician/Nancy%20Pelosi-P000197/net-worth

* Estimates vary, with some placing the Pelosi fortune at more than $400 million.
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markonyte · 1w
She knelt for black lives matter and sir floyd. Shes clearly a good person
Sun of the Moon · 1w
The future isn't plastics, its microtubules.
Diego Valley · 1w
nostr:npub1yzvxlwp7wawed5vgefwfmugvumtp8c8t0etk3g8sky4n0ndvyxesnxrf8q client has a post article feature. Or you should post to nostr:npub1jfujw6llhq7wuvu5detycdsq5v5yqf56sgrdq8wlgrryx2a2p09svwm0gx
The Beave · 1w
Jumble.imwald.EU In the advanced section of the post builder thingy.
Kat · 1w
Of those I've tried, Yakihonne had the least problems 👀
Sarah Connor · 1w
You can publish via primal web or Yakihonne on your PC. They both have a similar interface to medium and substack
Matt - Top American Spook · 1w
I just posted one using nostr:npub1yzvxlwp7wawed5vgefwfmugvumtp8c8t0etk3g8sky4n0ndvyxesnxrf8q . It was easy nostr:naddr1qqgrwveexg6nzetrxpsnjvtpv3skzq3ql6scds4yv7xmcsmhqnhdy9sggm520q09lvts2m5mkvecgr2mmmeqxpqqqp65w6m9q2p
DrShift · 1w
I can give you two options. https://myeditor.rinbal.de It's a local native OS Text Editor with opt in Nostr capabilities. For Linux, Mac and windows. https://media.einundzwanzig.space This is a place for everybody as well - but more designed for publishing frequently and currate your work on "s...
Jay · 1w
Yakihonne works the best. nak via the command line is there when all else fails, but you have to publish it manually at the protocol level.
Marguerite · 1w
Hi Susie, I sent you a MP last week for a proposal. Have a good day.
Susie Violet Ward profile picture
Yikes ... we should all be worried!

The Trump team privately warned Andy Burnham against giving Ed Miliband a top economic or foreign policy role.

Steve Bannon said they called him a "red diaper baby and self-described socialist" who would damage the special relationship. Ouch!!

A senior Trump official also described Miliband as a major point of friction in the transatlantic alliance.

Steve Bannon then went on to say:

“Burnham could not care less – he appointed this twit anyway.”

Full article:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/07/21/white-house-deeply-concerned-miliband-foreign-secretary/

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Susie Violet Ward profile picture
GoFundMe responded to my article after publication, despite multiple requests for comment before it went live.

I have now replied asking them what safeguards exist when funds raised for someone in a crisis zone are paid to a nominated beneficiary but do not reach the intended recipient.

Their statement referred to the need to protect donors' generosity.

I have asked how this applies when the person the money was raised for is left without it.

Full article with footnote added:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/07/16/when-the-financial-system-cant-reach-people-in-crisis-bitcoin-can/

@MK Fain @Team Soapbox @Derek Ross

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Sjors · 1w
That's quite a large amount, but it's odd that they only provide the aggregate number. You could ask them about Gaza specifically. And then as a followup for what percentage they're sure it reached the intended recipient, and for the funds that didn't, a breakdown of why (recipient claiming they got...
Sjors · 1w
> as a tool to combat illegal migration How would that even make a difference? Passports already have a chip, so if the goal is to deport every illegal person, just check everyones passport? Of cour...
Susie Violet Ward profile picture
Exactly right ….it makes no difference to whether someone has the right to work.

The checks, documents and immigration records are already in place, and many are already digital.

This only centralises them through a new digital identity system.

Selling that as a solution to illegal migration was an utter load of bollocks.
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