Binaries for Official Monero v0.18.3.2 are now available at http://www.getmonero.org

Also Feather wallet: Go to help -> Check for updates

Update your wallets! This has the fee fix!

There is currently a fee bug with Monero, that the wallet doesn’t automatically bump the fee when there is a backlog. This fee bug is causing sync issues with many wallets. The bug has already been solved with Anonero.io, and other wallets will be rolling out fixes shortly.

There are rumors that Nostr's creator is behind a spam attack. Simplified Privacy addresses this and has a ready working solution: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/monero-attack-nostr/

Tor Browser Onion: http://privacypkybrxebcjicfhgwsb3coatqechwnc5xow4udxwa6jemylmyd.onion/monero-attack-nostr/

Signal just released the usernames for both desktop and mobile now, with phone number hiding. This makes it easy to join groups without leaking info to the group.

Get the full guide w/ dope groups to join, including Monero focused ones from Tuxsudo of the MoneroTalk podcast: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/signal-usernames-desktop/

Tor Browser Onion: http://privacypkybrxebcjicfhgwsb3coatqechwnc5xow4udxwa6jemylmyd.onion/signal-usernames-desktop/

A scammer got a fake version of Exodus wallet in Canonical’s Ubuntu Snap Store. This fake scam wallet drained 9 Bitcoins (worth nearly half a million USD) from a user. This article goes over the CEO's shocking and ludicrous response regarding KYC, crypto, and open source dev work: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/ubuntu-crypto-snap-scam/

Tor Browser Onion: http://privacypkybrxebcjicfhgwsb3coatqechwnc5xow4udxwa6jemylmyd.onion/ubuntu-crypto-snap-scam/

European Union politicians have been trying to pass "Chat Control" which would ban end-to-end encrypted communications. A new big court ruling on Telegram is a game changer for this. And in this fun fast read, we give an overview of why these corrupt laws will fail: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/court-rules-against-eu-chat-control/

Tor Browser Onion: http://privacypkybrxebcjicfhgwsb3coatqechwnc5xow4udxwa6jemylmyd.onion/court-rules-against-eu-chat-control/

As you probably already know, Monero’s been delisted from Binance and the price took a big hit.

Let's talk about what's going on in your head right now: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/binance/

Tor Browser Onion: http://privacypkybrxebcjicfhgwsb3coatqechwnc5xow4udxwa6jemylmyd.onion/binance/

Cloudflare just revealed on their blog that back in November a sophisticated hacker, likely a nation state, got access to some of their servers. This comes after a security firm identified a different vulnerability months earlier. This shows the true dangers of them overseeing all traffic and all cryptocurrency on all centralized exchanges. It's critically important you understand this:

https://simplifiedprivacy.com/cloudflarehack/

Tor Browser Onion: http://privacypkybrxebcjicfhgwsb3coatqechwnc5xow4udxwa6jemylmyd.onion/cloudflarehack/

I question that GetMonero.org is on Cloudflare. We should strongly reconsider this as we're downloading XMR wallet binaries from an organization not friendly to privacy. And the PGP public key to verify it is on the same Cloudflare website.

I do not have much say in this community as I’m new, but I ask you to bring it to the attention of those who do.

This covers 17 Huge, Suppressed, or Wicked Stories of the Year

(fast, light, and fun read with just 2-3 sentences on each)

Clearweb: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/cypherpunk2023/

Tor Browser Onion: http://privacypkybrxebcjicfhgwsb3coatqechwnc5xow4udxwa6jemylmyd.onion/cypherpunk2023/

We highly recommend you read this even if you already agree or don't particularly care about foreign policy, because it arms you with the facts to be able to convince others on this critical issue.

Elizabeth Warren says "Ban Crypto" to stop terrorism financing, but it’s Israel’s Netanyahu that funded Hamas:

https://SimplifiedPrivacy.com/BanBitcoin

Monero not mentioned, but that's keeping it out the public discussion on bans.

This is both a review and a petition to the XMR community.

Here’s an overview with some of the pros and cons of 8 VPS hosts: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/vps/

7 of the 8 accept Monero. Only ones personally used by the author were evaluated.

The 8th is Shinjiru and could maybe be convinced into it if they felt there was enough demand to do so. This is Shinjiru’s email below, they offer low prices, good customer service, and have good censorship policies, but only accept fiat or Bitcoin/Ethereum. They’re Malaysian but offer servers all over. Most companies that aren’t US or EU charge more. The general rule is the less developed the area, the MORE expensive the servers because of the infrastructure.

If you’re looking for a neutral country that wants business bad enough to not harass you, while having good enough infrastructure for speed. Then Malaysia is a good choice in my opinion. When you compare them against the 7 other choices on that list, you'll see the point. Especially if you want no KYC crypto, no-US no-EU, unblocked email ports that are kept off spam lists and offer domains too.

I want you to send them 1 polite email kindly asking them to accept Monero:

support@247livesupport.biz

Do not spam them or harass them, then they’ll look down on us. Just send 1 sincere message that you’d love to buy service if they offer Monero and your reasons. Then please upvote this so we get more people involved.

Huge win for Epic Games in their court case against Google. The court decided that Google’s Play app store operated as an illegal monopoly and the case also challenged the transaction fees of up to 30% that Google imposes on Android app developers.

Fast Key Highlights:

1. It’s still unclear what the penalty will be, court won’t rule on this till January
2. There’s speculation in the media that this could lead to forcing Google to offer alternative app stores
3. Google ironically used privacy measures (self-deleting messages) to hide the anti-competative behavior internally. (see below)
4. Epic filed a similar antitrust case against Apple in 2020, but a US judge ruled in favor of Apple in 2021

Very Brief Background: The court case originally began when Epic Games began collecting payments from users directly, bypassing Apple and Google’s steep fees. As backlash, the two companies banned Epic’s apps from their respective app stores. So Epic took it to court. First the Apple ruling went against them, but now the Google one is in their favor.

Why Google but Not Apple? The big difference between the Google case and the Apple one was revenue sharing deals between Google and various other gaming industry participants such as the game developers and even the smartphone makers themselves. Epic’s lawyers were able to clearly demonstrate that “Project Hug”, which involved both direct investment in games and promotional benefits, was designed to shut out competition. This was the key evidence and arguments missing from the Apple case.

Ultimately, the full effects of this ruling are still unclear and most of the internet talk is now just speculation.

Kicker: The judge in the California court case scolded Google during the trial for deleting many internal chats that would have incriminated the company. The ultimate ironic move for a company whose past CEO Eric Schmidt claimed “if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”

Source: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/epicgoogle/

In our article on Monero on nov 28, we mentioned our OPINION that Bitcoin mixers were less legal than Monero due to the third party actor nature that in our subjective opinion of the law would be more likely to trigger US KYC laws or political authority. This hypothetical guess has become more than a guess as only 5 days later, BitcoinTalk official bans links to BTC mixers following heat from a US Treasury press conference, but they ALLOW Monero:

Official Source: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5476162.0

Our original article: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/moneroflaws/

Today we ask, how many more of the predictions will come true?

These "fake monero" derivatives are used to dance around listing it. Remember, if crypto exchanges allow short sellers of Monero to sell something that none of them even own, this is called interest rate suppression. This has a history of only ending one way.

I say, pull it off the exchange. Bring the pain.