Subject: Message for Mircea Popescu from U.S. SEC

From: "Waxman, Daphna A."

Date: Fri, February 14, 2014 1:20 pm

To: Dear Mr. Popescu My name is Daphna Waxman and I am an attorney with the Enforcement Division of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.  The Commission staff would like to speak with you concerning the listing of shares of SatoshiDICE on MPEx.  I would appreciate if you would contact me directly by email or telephone.  Please see my contact information below.  Thank you,

Daphna Waxman Daphna Waxman

Senior Attorney

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

3 World Financial Center, Ste 4300

New York, NY 10281

(212) 336-1012

Waxmand@second.gov

Subject: Re: Message for Mircea Popescu from U.S. SEC

From: "'

Date: Fri, February 14, 2014 2:10 pm

To: "Waxman, Daphna A." Go right ahead.  All the best,

Mircea Popescu

Subject: Message for Mircea Popescu from U.S. SEC

From: "Waxman, Daphna A."

Date: Fri, February 14, 2014 2:15 pm

To: Dear Mr. Popescu Would it be possible to schedule a time to speak via telephone?  Thank you,

Daphna

Subject: Message for Mircea Popescu from U.S. SEC

From: "'

Date: Fri, February 14, 2014 2:20 pm

To: "Waxman, Daphna A." The best we can come to if you absolutely need real-time communication would be #bitcoin-assets on Freenode. ( You can connect via http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=bitcoin-assets in your browser if you do not have a client).  I'm usually around.  Bar that, there's nothing a call can carry that a letter wouldn't carry as well, is there ?  All the best,

Mircea Popescu

Subject: Message for Mircea Popescu from U.S. SEC

From: "Waxman, Daphna A."

Date: Fri, February 14, 2014 2:31 pm

To: I'm unable to connect to freenode so email will have to do for now.  As part of our investigation of SatoshiDICE, we would like to request that MPEx voluntarily provide certain documents to us: (1) a list of all SatoshiDICE shareholders prior to the sale of the company in July 2013(preferably by name, address, or BTC address); and (2) an account history for Mr. Erik Voorhees showing the sale of shares, payment of dividends etc.  Does MPEx have such documents and would you be willing to provide them to the staff?  Thank you,

Daphna Waxman

Subject: Message for Mircea Popescu from U.S. SEC

From: "'

Date: Fri, February 14, 2014 2:45 pm

To: "Waxman, Daphna A." In general, MPEx maintains a vast outreach program intended to help members of the general public understand the topics involved in this novel field.  MPEx also complies with all legal requests.  So far our relationship is of the first kind, so inasmuch as you'd need help with any particular topic please feel free to ask.  Inasmuch as you're soliciting private information you will have to sufficiently establish your authority to do so, which includes defeating specific challenges of jurisdiction that on a cursory examination seem to bar the institution you claim to be associated with from making these specific requests.  So far all we have is an email address, something which is spoofed on a regular basis - I get numerous notices of various sorts each week purporting to come from all sorts of banks and other institutions I've never had any relationship with, for instance.  All the best,

Mircea Popescu

Subject: Message for Mircea Popescu from U.S. SEC

From: "Waxman, Daphna A."

Date: Fri, February 14, 2014 2:50 pm

To: I'm happy to provide any additional information that would verify who I am and my association.  Also, feel free to search my name on the Internet and call my office phone number to listen to my voice mail message or the SEC's front desk at (212-336-1100) and ask to be connected to my line. 

Subject: Message for Mircea Popescu from U.S. SEC

From: "'

Date: Sat, February 15, 2014 2:37 am

To: "Waxman, Daphna A." Perhaps we misunderstand each other.  Should you wish to establish your authority on the matter you would have to present all of : a) the legal basis upon which the SEC is investigating a Bitcoin enterprise, whichever that may be.  This would customarily come in the form of an Act of Congress specifically authorising the SEC to review MMORPGs and online activities involving such computer games and their virtual currencies, be they WoW gold, Linden Dollars, EVE Isk, Bitcoin, etc and so forth.  Absent that, it may come in the form of a court ruling - definitive and irrevocable or whatever the equivalent of that may be at common law - judging the SEC has such authority.  This, of course, is a thornier issue.  b) the authority upon which the SEC is making requests of personally identifying information from me specifically, which would necessarily include solid grounding in both Romanian and EU law.  c) the authority you personally have in the matter.  This would customarily come in the form of an order or other such instrument signed by the officer in charge of your department directing you to investigate.  Employees of all kinds do indeed often have a phone link in their office, but this is entirely irrelevant in this discussion.  Should you understand you have no authority in the matter but nevertheless wish to pursue some sort of amicable understanding, you will first have to appreciate the difference between legal and illegal requests.  In this sense, asking someone to pick up your daughter from school is a legal request (as far as I know of the rapidly deteriorating legal environment in the US, at any rate).  Asking them to pick up your daughter and throw her over a cliff however is an illegal request.  The difference between these is, broadly speaking, that the party satisfying the first type of request exposes themselves to no liability, whereas the party satisfying the second type of request does expose themselves, perhaps to significant liability, both civil and criminal.  Secondly, yet perhaps as importantly, you will have to appreciate the fact that MPEx has to date, and long before the SEC as much as heard of Bitcoin, pursued with some success if with different means roughly the same agenda, which is to say the exposure of scams and the protection of the general public from scammers of all sorts and types*.  In the particular case you brought I must confess I have my own suspicions, which I do not necessarily have either the means to verify or in any way enforce.  I was from the onset and remain for the indefinite future strongly committed to discouraging scams in Bitcoin finance, while nurturing a vibrant, diverse and free marketplace - and this commitment engages MPEx as well as a variety of other Bitcoin institutions and groups.  It is on this basis that I would very much welcome a working relationship with your institution, as I believe our respective strengths complement each other superbly.  Nevertheless, the commitment to freedom is not merely verbiage, but quite as strong, and on this basis I perceive we may encounter difficulties going forward, especially taking into account the confused legal environment and occasionally misguided political choices coming out of the US.  In the spirit of candor, let me make it perfectly clear that what's being discussed here is nothing else and nothing short of the SEC's ultimate relevancy and importance in the Bitcoin space, and so far I am not particularly impressed.  Let us work together to improve upon this shaky basis if at all possible.  All the best,

Mircea Popescu --- * References :

- exposing the Pirate scam :

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=50822.msg854918#msg854918

- exposing the Patrick Harnett set of scams :

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=121915.0

(unfortunately the Australian equivalent of the US SEC has been uniquely

unhelpful in this matter so far). 

- exposing the Labcoin set of scams :

http://trilema.com/2013/the-anatomy-of-a-scam/

- general informative bulletins as warranted by market conditions :

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=106391.0 ;

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=435263.0

and we'll stop at that for the sake of brevity. 

Subject: Message for Mircea Popescu from U.S. SEC

From: "Waxman, Daphna A."

Date: Mon, March 3, 2014 11:22 am

To: Dear Mr. Popescu, I have attached a formal letter requesting that MPEx voluntarily provide certain information and documentation to the SEC staff.  I hope that the information contained in the letter satisfies your below concerns.  I appreciate your willingness to discuss these important issues and am available to discuss any additional questions you may have.  Thank you, Daphna Waxman

Subject: Message for Mircea Popescu from U.S. SEC

From: "'

Date: Tue, March 4, 2014 7:43 am

To: "Waxman, Daphna A." While I appreciate your efforts to qualify for an information exchange agreement with MPEx, as well as your narrow satisfaction of the response timeline I publicly outlined, and while these constitute in my estimation significant progress towards building a solid platform upon which to further our shared goals, nevertheless substantial hurdles still remain to be overcome in this process.  As a key step, the commissioners of the SEC are to at their earliest convenience adopt a resolution, to be jointly drafted at expert level, which is to include a) a plain statement of the SEC's lack of jurisdiction with regards to Bitcoin, thus alligning itself with the position of the US FED and the US GAO ; b) a statement recognising MPEx' regulatory authority over Bitcoin finance as a SRO ; c) an appointment of any one of the commissioners as authorised Bitcoin liaison, which would include the creation of a dedicated PGP key and a Web of Trust membership, which would be recognised as such by MPEx, and on the basis of which all further communication is to be conducted, as well as minimal technical provisions for the operation of this system ; as well as further points as the parties may deem expedient.  This will both provide a solid basis for future, continued cooperation as well as conveniently insulate either party from unwelcome legal and technical complexities.  Kindly let me know as soon as you are ready to proceed.  All the best,

Mircea Popescu

In short : Bitcoin is a sovereign.  Accepting this matter of fact is a sine qua non prerequisite for playing.  No exceptions. 

Update, March 19th : the pdf in question, since people seem to really want it for some undiscernible reason.  Note that I've not checked it in any way, and so if as a result of opening it you end up unwilling participant in whatever RETARDED ALLCAPS USG-sponsored dataclub I disclaim any responsibility. 

———