1/IMPORTANT thread about Bluesky funding and origins.
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1/IMPORTANT thread about Bluesky funding and origins. Many folks know that it was seeded by Jack Dorsey around a libertarian vision of a magical network that wouldn’t need moderation because it would be decentralized and baked into a protocol (somehow).
The people who aided Dorsey in pursuing this vision were other libertarian/post-rationalists connected with effective altruism and other online anarchist movements.
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2/One network called TPOT (‘that part of Twitter’) was instrumental. It carried over into Bluesky’s founding DNA.
Someone made this visualization in 2023, showing the TPOT/EA network quite clearly. EA as you know is part of TESCREAL and the belief systems that have driven Sam Bankman Fried and Elon Musk. SBF also put money into Musk’s Twitter buy.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/tpot-postrat
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3/Now that Dorsey has bailed as a board member and principal funder, Bluesky’s DNA is basically TPOT people. Who is going to win in that scenario? I don’t know, but I’m not putting money on the users. The most recent funding came from Blockchain Capital LLC...
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/5/24149543/jack-dorsey-gone-bluesky-board -
4/
It gets worse. Blockchain Capital LLC was co-founded by Steve Bannon pal Brock Pierce, a major crypto advocate, perennial presidential candidate, and close friend of Eric Adams. Pierce has dozens of other shady MAGA/Russia ties as well.
https://universeodon.com/@cryptadamist/113472115447080382 -
5/Eric Adams was a frequent guest on Pierce's jet. Steve Bannon helped Pierce raise $60mm from Goldman Sachs 20 years ago for his "World of Warcraft" mining arbitrage play, Internet Gaming Entertainment. So you probably don't want anything to do with Bluesky long term.
https://nypost.com/2021/11/23/eric-adams-flew-to-puerto-rico-on-bitcoin-billionaire-jet-report/ -
6/Possibly Bluesky can address this by discussing their funding in detail, the expectations of the funders, and whether the TPOT/PostRat community is still a principal driver of the vision for the "company." But this all points to another rug pull in progress, and a lot of credulous people hurt.
While it is reasonable that the company acknowledged that Dorsey's vision of "moderation by protocol" was unfeasible, it sets up a highly centralized model that is now subject to capture.
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7/And the next investment they took was from anarchocapitalist cryptobros with ties to Russia? Doesn't add up.
For those interested, here's the original post I shared here back in 2023 re: the TPOT DNA and origins of the network.
https://www.easyzoom.com/imageaccess/884cb1c001cd48e79aca92232bd24a04 -
8/From Bluesky's press release:
"[Blockchain's] Kinjal Shah will join our board. Kinjal shares our vision for a social media ecosystem that empowers the people who use it, and we are glad to have her support as we invest in driving the adoption of decentralized social."
Bluesky Announces Series A to Grow Network of 13M+ Users - Bluesky
Bluesky now exceeds 13 million users, the AT Protocol developer ecosystem continues to grow, and we’ve shipped highly requested features like direct messages and video.
Bluesky (bsky.social)
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9/The company should try to address this by publishing a clear and convincing "trust story" that offers assurances about its funders and their motives, similar to an S-1 prior to an IPO. Creators deserve to have a clear picture so they can decide whether and how to invest. Basic transparency.
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@davetroy This is all good for people to know, but *please* don’t call these jerks “anarchists” or call it an “online anarchist movement”. They don’t want to be regulated *themselves*, but they are actively trying to subjugate and exploit others, which is anathema to anarchism.
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@davetroy Can you not conflate wealthy libertarians with anarchism?
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@kevin they're often the same, when they are anarchocapitalists. But I do understand your distinction.
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@RandomDamage @Moss @davetroy they are very literally not anarchists though, and it makes it hard to recommend this thread despite having a lot of important information because in the first post, op says something where they have no idea what they're talking about
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@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] Just to help add more context, "Effective Altruism" uses anarchist-style labels and ideas to sell eugenics and cement the role of capital. It is most definitely not anarchy.
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@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] yeah, most anarchists I know are devoted to the idea of the kind of mutual aid that was happening post-hurricane in Asheville, whereas these assholes are devoted to technology that makes more hurricanes. It’s a pretty big difference.
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@davetroy Anarchism is “no rulers including myself.” Libertarianism (in recent usage) is “no rulers except myself”, with the implication that literally everyone else is just a resource to exploit. A sort of “distributed monarchism” with trade agreements between a million rapacious kinglets.
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@davetroy I'd go as far as to say I'm somewhat offended seeing "anarchist movements" casually listed with everything else here.
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@Moss yes, I know. But there are a lot of people interpreting those philosophies in ways that suit themselves.
