Abuse allows Meta and Yandex to attach persistent identifiers to detailed browsing histories.

John served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Germany (1953–1956) and earned degrees in philosophy and architecture from Rice University (1957–1963) and his graduate degree in architecture from Columbia University in 1969The co-founder, with his wife Deborah Natsios, of Cryptome passed away in March. The Whistleblower Architects: surveillance, infrastructure, and freedom of information according to Cryptome (part 1)The Whistleblower Architects: surveillance, infrastructure, and freedom of information according to Cryptome (part 2)Back in 2016 Archinect published a two (1 & 2) part interview with John and his wife in which they explained their interest "in decentralized zones where architecture and public infrastructures intersect", democratic society, "the corrosive apparatus of national security secrecy" and how surveillance operates "in the city".

The exhibition Constructing Hope: Ukraine has opened at the Chicago Architecture Center’s Skyscraper Gallery. Running from March 10 to September 1, 2025, the exhibition gathers more than a dozen architectural and design-led initiatives responding to the devastation caused by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Originally presented at the Center for Architecture in New York in 2024, the exhibition focuses on decentralized reconstruction efforts, ranging from emergency housing solutions to the preservation of architectural memory, and positions architecture as a vital tool in fostering resilience, mutual aid, and hope.

Posted on : May 31, 2025 By Tech World Times Security Testing  Rate this post In a digital era where cyberattacks are increasing in frequency, complexity, and cost, organizations must stay one step ahead by investing in robust cybersecurity strategies. At the heart of this defense lies Cyber Security Threat Analysis, a process that helps businesses detect, understand, and respond to threats before they escalate. This comprehensive guide explores the fundamentals of threat analysis, the methodologies used in 2025, emerging trends, and how companies can implement an effective threat analysis framework to safeguard their digital assets. What is Cyber Security Threat Analysis? Cyber Security Threat Analysis is the process of identifying, assessing, and prioritizing potential and existing cybersecurity threats. It involves analyzing data from various sources to uncover vulnerabilities, detect malicious activity, and evaluate the potential impact on systems, networks, and data. The goal is to proactively defend against attacks rather than react to them after damage is done. Why Threat Analysis Matters in 2025 With the growing adoption of AI, IoT, cloud computing, and remote work, the digital landscape has expanded. This has also widened the attack surface for threat actors. According to recent studies, global cybercrime costs are projected to reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. Threat analysis is no longer optional; it’s a critical component of enterprise cybersecurity strategies. Key Components of Cyber Security Threat Analysis Threat Intelligence Gathering Collecting data from open-source intelligence (OSINT), internal systems, dark web monitoring, and threat intelligence platforms.Threat Identification Recognizing indicators of compromise (IOCs), such as malicious IP addresses, abnormal behavior, and unusual login attempts.Risk Assessment Evaluating the likelihood and potential impact of a threat on business operations.Vulnerability Management Identifying weaknesses in systems, applications, and networks that could be exploited.Incident Response Planning Developing action plans to quickly contain and remediate threats. Types of Cyber Threats in 2025 Threat actors continue to evolve, leveraging advanced techniques to breach even the most secure environments. Here are the most prominent threats organizations face in 2025: Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS): Cybercriminals offer ransomware toolkits to affiliates, enabling less-skilled attackers to launch sophisticated attacks. Phishing 3.0: AI-generated deepfake emails and voice messages make phishing harder to detect. Supply Chain Attacks: Attackers compromise third-party software or vendors to gain access to larger networks. Cloud Security Breaches: Misconfigured cloud environments remain a top vulnerability. IoT Exploits: Devices with weak security protocols are targeted to infiltrate larger systems. Insider Threats: Employees or contractors may intentionally or unintentionally expose systems to risk. Modern Threat Analysis Methodologies 1. MITRE ATT&CK Framework The MITRE ATT&CK framework maps the behavior and techniques of attackers, providing a structured method to analyze and predict threats. 2. Kill Chain Analysis Developed by Lockheed Martin, this method breaks down the stages of a cyberattack from reconnaissance to actions on objectives, allowing analysts to disrupt attacks early in the chain. 3. Threat Modeling Threat modeling involves identifying assets, understanding potential threats, and designing countermeasures. STRIDE (Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information disclosure, Denial of service, Elevation of privilege) is a popular model used in 2025. 4. Behavior Analytics User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) uses machine learning to detect anomalies in user behavior that could indicate threats. The Role of AI and Automation in Threat Analysis Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation are revolutionizing Cyber Security Threat Analysis in 2025. AI-driven analytics tools can: Correlate large volumes of data in real-time Detect zero-day vulnerabilities Predict attack patterns Automate incident response processes Platforms like IBM QRadar, Microsoft Sentinel, and Splunk integrate AI capabilities for enhanced threat detection and response. Building a Threat Analysis Framework in Your Organization Establish Objectives Define what you want to protect, the types of threats to look for, and the goals of your analysis.Choose the Right Tools Invest in threat intelligence platforms, SIEM systems, and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools.Create a Skilled Team Assemble cybersecurity professionals including threat hunters, analysts, and incident responders.Integrate Data Sources Pull data from internal logs, external intelligence feeds, user activity, and cloud services.Run Simulations Regularly test your threat detection capabilities using red teaming and penetration testing.Review and Adapt Continuously update the threat model based on evolving threats and organizational changes. Metrics to Measure Threat Analysis Success Mean Time to Detect (MTTD): Time taken to identify a threat. Mean Time to Respond (MTTR): Time taken to neutralize the threat. False Positive Rate: Accuracy of alerts generated. Threat Coverage: Percentage of known threats the system can detect. Business Impact Score: How much value the threat analysis process adds to business continuity and risk mitigation. Challenges in Cyber Security Threat Analysis Data Overload: Managing and analyzing massive volumes of data can be overwhelming. Alert Fatigue: Too many alerts, including false positives, reduce response effectiveness. Talent Shortage: Skilled cybersecurity professionals are in high demand but short supply. Rapid Threat Evolution: Attack techniques evolve quickly, making it hard to maintain up-to-date defenses. Best Practices for Effective Threat Analysis Prioritize Critical Assets: Focus analysis efforts on high-value systems and data. Implement Zero Trust Security: Never trust, always verify; ensure robust identity and access controls. Automate Where Possible: Use automation to handle repetitive tasks and free up human resources for strategic analysis. Encourage a Security Culture: Train employees to recognize and report suspicious activity. Leverage Community Intelligence: Participate in threat intelligence sharing communities like ISACs (Information Sharing and Analysis Centers). Future of Threat Analysis Beyond 2025 The future of Cyber Security Threat Analysis will continue to evolve with: Quantum Computing Threats: New cryptographic challenges will require upgraded threat models. Decentralized Threat Intelligence: Blockchain-based threat sharing platforms could emerge. Autonomous Cyber Defense: AI systems capable of defending networks without human input. Conclusion Cyber Security Threat Analysis is an indispensable element of modern digital defense, especially in a hyper-connected 2025. With increasingly sophisticated threats on the horizon, businesses must adopt proactive threat analysis strategies to protect their digital environments. From leveraging AI tools to integrating structured methodologies like MITRE ATT&CK and STRIDE, a multi-layered approach can provide robust defense against cyber adversaries. Investing in skilled teams, up-to-date technologies, and continuous improvement is essential to building resilient cybersecurity infrastructure. FAQs 1. What is Cyber Security Threat Analysis? It is the process of identifying, evaluating, and mitigating potential cybersecurity threats to protect data, networks, and systems.2. Why is threat analysis important in 2025? With rising digital threats and complex attack vectors, proactive analysis helps businesses prevent breaches and minimize damage.3. Which tools are best for threat analysis? Popular tools include Splunk, IBM QRadar, Microsoft Sentinel, and CrowdStrike.4. How does AI help in threat analysis? AI helps by automating data analysis, detecting patterns, and predicting threats in real-time.5. What industries benefit most from threat analysis? Finance, healthcare, government, and tech sectors, where data protection and regulatory compliance are critical.Tech World TimesTech World Times (TWT), a global collective focusing on the latest tech news and trends in blockchain, Fintech, Development & Testing, AI and Startups. If you are looking for the guest post then contact at techworldtimes@gmail.com

Posted on : May 27, 2025 By Tech World Times Business  Rate this post Doge Uprising is often abbreviated as $DUP. It is an ecosystem of cryptocurrency that amalgamates engagement of digital experience, storytelling in one go, blockchain technology, and meme culture. This is set in a dystopian future. The project takes into consideration a rebellion against centralized control. This is where blockchain-powered robotic warriors also called Doge Mechas are powered by the $DUP token. Like a utility token, $DUP facilitates NFT-based missions, decentralized finance features, and staking rewards. Whereas, the community actively shapes the evolution of the project. How Is Doge Uprising Roadmap Shaping The Future? The Doge Uprising project has laid out a four-stage plan that’s all about growing in a smart way, making the whole ecosystem bigger, and keeping the community involved for the long haul. Each stage sets the groundwork for the next, gradually adding more features, boosting the fun in the games, and making the project a bigger deal in the metaverse. Phase 1: Genesis We’re starting this adventure by building a solid, community-focused ecosystem from the ground up. Here are some of the big steps we’ll be taking: We’ll kick things off by launching the official Doge Uprising website and setting up our social media channels. Next, we’ll start the presale of the $DUP token for our early supporters. To make sure everything is safe and sound, we’ll have a smart contract audit done. ·       We’ll also be launching some community involvement programs, all to make sure everyone has a say in how things are run in a truly decentralized way. Phase 2: Uprising This phase represents Doge Uprising’s official venture into the decentralized finance sector, emphasizing liquidity, NFT integration, and ecosystem usability. Key developments encompass: Listing the $DUP token on Uniswap, enhancing liquidity and accessibility Fortifying the ecosystem through essential liquidity pairings Introducing Doge Mecha NFTs, enabling holders to engage with the expanding Doge Uprising universe Implementing influencer-driven marketing campaigns to boost the brand’s global prominence Phase 3: The Uprising Expands During this critical phase, the focus focuses on the Dogi rebellion on long-term stability and community engagement. Large milestones include: Deployment of a strike platform, which lets token holders earn passive income and prices Releasing Dog Rebel Manga Chain to increase the history and user experience of the project Extension of the NFT tool, potentially Play-to-Eun (P2E) integrated into gaming or meta-paver projects Inauguration of a special goods shop, strengthens the social identity Phase 4: Resurrection – The Evolution of Doge Uprising The final phase enforces long-term expansion and integration of the dowi into the wider crypto ecosystem. The highlights include: Launch of games and interactive items for NFT holders Defi Equipment Development that strengthens users with decentralized financial opportunities Improvement of the couple’s control Strategic partners A Vision for the Future  It is a developed digital revolution, a combination of entertainment, NFT, and decentralized technologies in a compelling ecosystem. A well-structured roadmap, with a dedicated society and continuous innovation, aims to disrupt the traditional economic system by providing an interactive and attractive experience for users. As the project continues through each stage, it will introduce new features, strengthen its defi foundations, and increase the role of storytelling in blockchain technology. With strong participation in society and strategic development plans, Dogi Rebellion adheres to a prominent player in the crypto landscape. Tech World TimesTech World Times (TWT), a global collective focusing on the latest tech news and trends in blockchain, Fintech, Development & Testing, AI and Startups. If you are looking for the guest post then contact at techworldtimes@gmail.com

Last month, Donald Trump pushed the boundaries of government and financial ethics by announcing a contest: whoever bought and held the highest amount of the $TRUMP meme coin for an entire month would win an invite to a private dinner with the President. That dinner took place on Thursday at the Trump National Golf Course in Virginia, with attendees reportedly dropping nearly $394 million on $TRUMP in order to win the privilege. According to an analysis by The Guardian of the winners’ wallets, over half of them lost money participating in this contest. But that’s only if you’re analyzing the wallets visible on the contest site’s leaderboard. The real money was being made elsewhere.“Bet you 10 percent of dinner participants are doing this”I interviewed an enthusiastic crypto trader who figured out how to win the contest without losing any money: buy enough $TRUMP to get onto the leaderboard — and then in a separate wallet on a separate exchange, buy $TRUMP perpetual futures that would be profitable if (or as he saw it, when) the value of $TRUMP dropped. Yes, he did The Big Short, except with Donald Trump’s meme coin. “Bet you 10 percent of dinner participants are doing this,” he told me before the contest ended. “Everyone knows $TRUMP price will fall inevitably as more supply comes online in the future and gets dumped on retail.” When I spoke to him again after the dinner, he told me that “the majority of people I spoke with, particularly the crypto traders and folks who are very close to the crypto ecosystem, are like, ‘Yeah, I dumped this. I already sold the coin.’” “A lot of people put on the same hedge trade as I did, because they didn’t wanna take risk on the coin,” he added.I can’t reveal his name, his position on the leaderboard, how much he spent, or the dates of specific trades he made. I can say that he did this for shits and giggles. But as he told me, when there’s such a clear and obvious set of financial incentives behind the $TRUMP dinner contest, it’s worth making the gamble.Did it pay off? “Um, I basically was flat,” he said. “I originally wanted to make some money, but I think the shorting I did — it was okay?” He did, however, get a free dinner out of it. The following interview has been edited for clarity.Let’s just start from the beginning. What made you want to enter this? I think meme coins have a lot of staying power because humans just want things to gamble on. What was fascinating when the Trump token launched in January right before the inauguration, was that it effectively was like a black hole that sucked money away from all these other tokens in the ecosystem. That’s why the Trump token ran up to some preposterous number immediately after it was dropped. When I saw this competition launch, it was clear that there was going to be a tremendous amount of grift in this space, and the presidential family was only interested in self-enrichment and all that. 
It was clear that there was going to be a tremendous amount of grift in this spaceBut putting that aside, I’ve just been interested in the Trump token and I think I’ve just been structurally bearish, because the Trump token has a bunch of supply that’s currently controlled by, effectively, the Trump family and the associates. It’s only a matter of time before the supply unlocks. When that supply unlocks, in the crypto community, people call this dumping: they’ll just dump it onto retail and that’s how they get their exit liquidity. So that’s one way the Trump family can make money. The other way is obviously whenever there’s trades that happen, the trading fees also accrue to the family. I know that the Trump token is going to go down. If you put a gun into my head and ask, what will the price be two years from now? It’s going to be much lower than where it is today. When this contest launched, I was like, okay, this is clearly a way for the affiliates and the Trump family to find a way to drive up the price temporarily. And having been in this space for a while, it’s clear that these events only drive the price up for a period of time and then people lose interest. Unless you feed them something else, it’s going to drop. Everyone expects the token to dumpThey launched the contest right around when the first tranche of Trump tokens were going to unlock, which was supposed to be 90 days after the launch of the token back in January. And so this whole contest was kind of timed at an apt moment where it’s like, okay, supply’s going to unlock. Everyone expects the token to dump. But then, on Twitter, they agreed to delay the unlock for another 90 days. But once the unlock happens and they start dumping, that’s when the price is going to drop a lot. 
So this contest was interesting. I was like, okay, well, I feel like I can put on a trade here where I’m not taking on any real risk and I think it’ll be cool to meet random people at this dinner and see who else is interested. It seems like there are a lot of folks from out of the country who are flying in to attend the dinner, and a lot of crypto whales. There’s one that I follow, he’s mentioned in his Telegram that he’s one of the big holders. He’s talked these last few days about how he’s preparing for this dinner. So talk me through how you generated the funds to buy the Trump coin. Did you use your own personal funds?I use my personal funds. All the crypto trading I do is with my personal funds. Some of the trading I do is on Coinbase through a centralized exchange. And the rest of the trading I do is on chain through self-custody wallets. When this opportunity came up, the only way you can actually be in a position to be in the top 220 is if you own $TRUMP tokens in a self-custody wallet. Some of the exchanges, including Coinbase, allow you to buy the $TRUMP token, but that would not count towards this contest. What I did was I moved stablecoins like USDC to my Solana wallet, and then I used a decentralized exchange to buy the $TRUMP token. The way the contest works is you have to register your wallet before you are counted towards the ranking system. And unfortunately, I did that like a couple days late, so I had to size up a little bit more to ensure that I could catch up to the people who had registered a couple days prior. But that’s a nuance. So explain the process of shorting $TRUMP coin on a secondary market. Like how does one do that? I am a dumb person who only understands shorting markets through watching The Big Short. Basically when you short, you’re hoping that the price goes down, right? And the mechanism of shorting here is slightly different than shorting stocks, but we don’t need to go into the specifics here. The way to short [crypto] is, you can do it in two ways. One is through a centralized exchange that offers, effectively, shorting services. And what I mean here by shorting services is, there is a “perpetual future” that is offered at these exchanges. When I talk about exchanges that offer this, it’s mostly going to be like Binance or Bybits and some of the bigger exchanges outside of the US. Coinbase is very far behind when it comes to offering derivative products that goes above and beyond just buying the token. I couldn’t do it through Coinbase, and I can’t short through an exchange like Binance, because there’s a lot of restrictions around who can actually use Binance. I’m in the US and Binance has very strict VPN rules. I can’t just open a Binance account and short. The only real way for me was to short on a decentralized exchangeSo the only real way for me was to short on a decentralized exchange, which has actually become really popular in the last year or so. It’s like the same concept as shorting on Binance, but you can do it on chain. I use a service called Hyper Liquid, which is a very popular decentralized exchange. And on this exchange, they offer derivative products that basically track the movement of different tokens. And so they offer, effectively, $TRUMP perpetual futures, and you can effectively initiate a short position through that. I’m happy to go into the details if you want, but that’s like the high level. Yeah, yes, please please tell me these details. So that is basically how to set up the short position. Conceptually, there’s a few things to keep in mind. First thing is: because I’m shorting in a separate wallet that’s completely detached from $TRUMP, 
I have to put up additional capital in another wallet to do this. It’s not like I can just use my $TRUMP tokens as collateral and use the same pool of money to short. And the way shorting works and the way perpetual futures work in general is you put up a certain margin. So let’s keep it simple: say I put up $100k in margin and I choose to short the $TRUMP token. Now, if $TRUMP goes up in price, then I’m hurting, because I’m betting on the token falling. If the $TRUMP token doubles in price, well, then I will have lost a hundred thousand dollars in which case, my margin gets wiped out and this [futures] contract will have to be closed because I’ve lost all my money. If the token goes down in price, that’s when I profit — as long as I close out the position in the green. So you basically are juggling two wallets. One is the wallet in which you’re holding all this $TRUMP coin. 
The other one is like, how would you describe it? Is that the money that you’re generating in order to pay for participating in the contest? The most important wallet here is the Solana wallet with the $TRUMP tokens, because that’s what’s being used by the contest organizers to determine who makes the top 220. But as I mentioned earlier, I am structurally bearish on the $TRUMP token and I wouldn’t want to go for dinner and like, see my money go down when the $TRUMP token goes down in price. I decided I wanted to basically put on a hedge, where, using the other wallet and the short position, I’m basically agnostic to any sort of price movement. That’s the reason why I set up the other wallet. I could have taken on the price risk, but that’s pretty risky, because typically what happens with these events is that as we get close to the end of the contest date, people start dumping the $TRUMP tokens. The value of the $TRUMP token will have gone down — let’s say it went down to 90,000 — it would be offset by the short wallet, which would be like 110,000. And then they add up to 200,000, which is how much I hypothetically put in from the start. 
Did you make money off of this?Um, I basically was flat. I originally wanted to make some money, but I think the shorting I did — it was okay? I basically just broke even on this entire tradeLet me take a step back.
So initially I shorted the same amount as the token. But then as the time went on, as we got close to the contest end date, I decided to increase the size of the short position, because I thought that based on the thesis I had, people are going to start selling because there’s nothing to look forward to. And so I increased that size. But it just so happened that towards the end of the contest was also when the crypto markets started ripping after May 8th. So net-net, I think I basically just broke even on this entire trade.Define the crypto markets “ripping.”May 8th was basically the Thursday right before that weekend when the US representatives were going to meet the Chinese representatives in Switzerland [for tariff negotiations]. That day was also when the UK deal announcement was made. And so the market basically took that as a bullish sign, and then that got parlayed into the positive euphoria of the US-China negotiations. Everything started going up. Okay. So every market just started getting bullish. 
Yeah, all the tokens ran up a lot. If you look at the token price, $TRUMP coin on May 7th was roughly 11 bucks, and then on May 9th it was like 14 bucks. Over time that token has come down in price. But yeah, it ran up 40 percent in the span of like two days.What was the strategy going into the end game? 
Because it sounds like it was super volatile around the end and that’s why you needed to increase your short position. I thought that towards the end, I could opportunistically make some profits by shorting more than I owned, if that makes sense.[The previous week, the contest organizers announced a new incentive for winners to not sell the coin before the dinner: a rare “TRUMP DIAMOND HANDS” NFT.]What is the point of encouraging people to go diamond hands by offering this NFT? So I think this goes back to the incentives of Trump’s affiliates, right? They have a lot of supply that they own. Last I looked, they own eighty percent of the supply. But all of that, as with many other [crypto] projects, gets locked up and only gets released over time, so that you don’t have all this supply pressure on day one. Because then no one wants to buy the token. The whole point of the NFT and this subsequent rewards program that they’ve talked about, but haven’t given the details for, is to incentivize people to hold the token longer. The longer people hold the token, then the price arguably would not fall as much. 
The only way to keep the price high is if you introduce all these little games to keep retail engagedThe eventual setup, I’m sure, whether that’s in three months or in a year or two, is that the affiliates will then have their supply unlock, and they will want to sell. They obviously want to sell at a higher price. And the only way to keep the price high is if you introduce all these little games to keep retail engaged and interested in holding tokens. How do you get the NFT now? Do you have to rebuy all the coin?Yeah, my understanding based on that tweet they sent is, they basically look at your wallet holdings on the day of the dinner and compare that to your wallet holdings on the last day of the contest. And so if those match or if you own more, then they’ll give you an NFT. I was kind of dumb. What I should have done was, right before the 1:30PM cut off, I should have sold like, 90 percent of my tokens. In this way, on the dinner day, I would only have to buy 10 percent of what I bought previously, and I think I would qualify for this NFT. 
Wow. Have people done that? Well, the NFT hasn’t been dropped yet.
I don’t know the specifics. There are definitely people who sold before the end of the deadline, and that’s clear from even looking at that leaderboard page, right? There’s one column with current holdings and a bunch were zeroed out, but they are still in the top 220 because it’s a time-weighted calculation.Why did they do time-weighted calculations rather than like, just a cumulative amount of money you held at the end? I think this goes back to solving not only how much do you hold, but how long do you hold it for, and rewarding people differently. So if you held $60 over the entire stretch of the contest, you should be rewarded more than someone who held like $200 for one day on the last day. I think the time-weighted calculation effectively is trying to normalize for that. They also gave me a call the same day, which I thought was spam for a secondHow have the organizers been in their interactions with you for the contest and for the dinner and everything?They emailed me the day of, as soon as the
contest ended, saying that I had made it into the top 220. And they also gave me a call the same day, which I thought was spam for a second. But when the voicemail thing came up, I’m like, oh, this is actually a real thing. So I picked up the phone and then they just confirmed that I got the email and that I would have to do a KYC [Know Your Customer check, part of anti-money laundering regulatory compliance for banks, crypto exchanges, and other entities] in order to qualify for the dinner. Please give us your data, references, whatever. 
Yeah, nothing that sophisticated. They outsourced it to another party and I just provided my name, my nationality, where I live. No social security number or anything like that. Plus my birthday. and I think they just ran like an external check to make sure that I wasn’t a criminal or anything like that. I feel like it was pretty light vettingHow thoroughly do you think they’re been vetting you, how professional has the process been? I feel like it was pretty light vetting. I talked to someone about, let’s say, getting into the White House and it’s a lot more strict in terms of, you have to show your passport and all that. And here, you don’t really have to do that. You just have to show your ID at the door. At least that’s what they said. And as long as your ID matches the information you gave, you’re fine. So I don’t think the security is that strict, per se, but it’s good enough, I guess. Have you participated in any contests like this or heard of anything similar? No, I have not.That’s wild. This is rather innovative if one thinks about it in a “divorced from most governmental ethics” manner. Did you read about how it’s possible that Trump just doesn’t show up to this?I did see something that basically said, yeah, based on the terms and conditions, the president does not have to be there, I think. Honestly, I think a lot of people aren’t really there to see Trump. I could be totally wrong, but I get the sense from, let’s say, like looking at the crypto whales’ Telegram, that [they’re] more interested in just meeting other crypto folks so that [they] can network. If Justin Sun is there, that’s pretty good, right? Like being able to talk to him and maybe, you know, get his contact information and all that. RelatedThe many escapes of Justin SunI think for me and probably other people, we’re more interested in seeing if there’s any other interesting news that comes out of this dinner. I will have my wallet ready, and if some great news gets dropped at the dinner, that could potentially positively influence the $TRUMP token price or any other token price, I will buy it on the spot and try to profit. This is something that other attendees are thinking about doing too?I can’t say with certainty, but based on that one Telegram guy, it seemed like it was implied. Like, if they announced a rewards program for a Trump thing – say, the NFT will be used for this, and then the rewards will give you some really impressive thing in three months, that could probably move the price. Then I would take on a short-term trade literally at the dinner table. That’s why after the $TRUMP token dropped right before inauguration, I finally decided to download Truth SocialThat’s a first mover advantage right there.In crypto, half of it is just being a first mover advantage. That’s why after the $TRUMP token dropped right before inauguration, I finally decided to download Truth Social. I only follow Trump. He’s the only guy I follow and I have notifications on, which actually served me well. Was it April 9th when he sent out that tweet saying that tariffs are now delayed for 90 days? That was first out on Truth Social and I saw that immediately, and I’m like, oh, time to trade my equities, because I will be first to the news. So he’s dropped some nuggets for sure on his account. So the dinner itself is a good money making opportunity?Possibly. It’s hard to say, but in the event that it does, there is some information that gets dropped, that could be actionable.Is there anything you’re particularly proud of about the process of executing this short?I don’t know if there’s anything I’d really brag about or be like, super proud of.
I think this hedge trade, for someone who’s pretty involved in crypto, would be fairly obvious. Net-net, I think I broke even because I did basically go a bit big around my short towards the end of the contest. So that made up for some of the fees I had to pay and whatnot. I’m pretty happy.
I feel like I didn’t take on any risk and I’m able to go to this dinner. That’s probably a win in my books. One thing is, if I had real capital, I would have tried to make the top 25. That requires a lot of money, which I don’t have. I don’t really care about seeing Trump at all. I care more about seeing who else is there, of the top 25I think it’s like a couple million.I think you’d have to have 200,000 tokens, so yeah, roughly like two, three million USD. 
And if you want to not take on the risk of the token price moving, you’d want to take a short position of roughly the same size. It would be like a four or five million dollar capital outlay to make it happen. But the benefit of being in the top 25 is you get to meet Trump, and also get to be in a more intimate networking session, which I would actually enjoy being at. I don’t really care about seeing Trump at all. I care more about seeing who else is there, of the top 25. What was the minimum size of the wallet that made 220, do you know? It’s hard to say because what someone could have done is they could have bought a lot initially, and then halfway through they sold most of them, because they were pretty confident that they would make the top 220, because it’s time weighted. [Calculating out loud omitted.] I guess only fifty thousand [if you held the total amount from day one through the end].Honestly, that’s not a lot. It’s not. 
Realistically that number is probably higher. The thing is, this is not like a $50,000 disbursement where you’re never seeing that money again. After the dinner, you could choose to sell your token. Now, maybe the price will have moved from when you first bought it to when you sold it, but the actual loss, or potentially profit, is not obvious.Oh, that makes this some really interesting campaign finance implications. I guess the one thing I’ll say is, the Trump team probably won’t sell for a couple months at very least. And so whatever happens between now and then theoretically doesn’t really impact the team, right? Because if they had not launched this dinner contest and they did nothing, and then right before the unlock happens, they launch another campaign or they do something weird like this, then that will immediately pump up the price because crypto is so reflexive. And they can then sell into the strength of the price movement, theoretically. But here, I think what they want to do is actually show that this $TRUMP token has utility, and that it’s actually useful rather than just being a meme coin. And this is one way of making the $TRUMP token worth holding, because it’s not just a meme. If you buy it, you can go to dinner, you can earn points. You can get an NFT. It’s basically the playbook that a lot of folks will potentially run if they’re launching a meme coin with utility value. Oh, utility value is definitely a good way of saying it. Yeah, utility value in the sense that yeah, you can go to dinner, you can get an NFT, you can earn points that will get you something in the future. But yeah, this is a little bit different from memes like Pepe or Doge or Shiba Inu. Those have zero utility values. They’re literally just a meme. You can’t go to a dinner if you own a lot of it. It’s just a meme. The morning after the dinner:How are you? How was your crazy night out?It was good. And yeah, there was a sponsor who wanted to do an afterparty afterwards. They basically rented out the rooftop bar on top of the Marriott. I stayed out until 1 AM. But it was good. The actual event was quite interesting. The protests outside the dinner obviously were just kind of off-putting. I was like, damn, should I really walk into this thing?Activists staged an “America Is Not For Sale” protest while President Trump hosted the winners of his meme coin contest at the Trump National golf club. Getty ImagesI’ve actually never been to the Trump National. How is it as a venue? It’s on the Potomac River. When you are in the club you can see the really nice golf course and then the river is right there. The room was long and the podium was right up in the front and the tables were almost set up in a way where there were many rows of tables, but not that many columns, if it makes sense.I didn’t recognize this until maybe like, after an hour in, but people started taking seats because they wanted to be closer to the podium. And eventually, I’m like, damn, I gotta get a seat. But all that didn’t end up mattering because when Trump walked in, basically like a celebrity, everyone rushed up to the front and pulled out their phones and started recording. Who did you meet that was interesting or fun?Justin Sun was there, it was just that everyone wanted to talk to him. I guess the only thing I could do was just say hi to him. There were a bunch of international folks. A few folks were from Poland, who came all the way here from Portugal, where they now live. There was a lot of Asian people there. I met some folks from South Korea. Some guys from France, Italy. There was this hedge fund manager from Croatia who came just to check this out. Some guy from Sweden.There were also some market-making firms, like really big in crypto, like Wintermute. And then another guy who works at Kronos Research. The organizers also brought some folks, like the founder of the Moonshot app. I guess Moonshot had partnered with folks with the $TRUMP launch back in January. He said he didn’t buy any tokens because none of the employees are allowed to trade [the meme coins on their own platform, because it would be a conflict of interest], and so he was just invited by the organizers.[According to Crunchbase, Moonshot, an app that enables users to purchase meme coins, was acquired by Jupiter, a Solana trading platform. No named individuals appear to be publicly associated with either enterprise, although Jupiter’s founder is apparently someone going by the name “Meow.” The guest interviewed by The Verge did not recognize Meow from photos. – Ed.]There were a bunch of folks in the crypto ecosystem, now that I think about it, who actually had effectively insider knowledge that Trump was gonna launch a coin. They didn’t know exactly what that was gonna be, but they knew it was coming and it was gonna be a real coin.
For the first hour or two [after the announcement], people were wondering if Trump’s account got hacked. I just thought that was interesting, that it was effectively prewired to a lot of folks. Ah, so like: if those people knew, then they had that first mover advantage for that full hour – that it was a legitimate coin?Yeah, the public didn’t know whether it was an intentional drop or if some hackers hacked the Twitter account. I ended up meeting one of the top winners, and he was telling me how he hedged his tradeDid you find any really diehard MAGA people there?I’m sure that there were a couple of folks.
I just never got a chance to speak with someone who’s like, super pro-Trump. I’d say the majority of people I spoke with, particularly the crypto traders and folks who are very close to the crypto ecosystem are like, yeah, I dumped this. I already sold the coin. A lot of people put on the same hedge trade as I did, because they didn’t wanna take risk on the coin. I ended up meeting one of the top winners, and he was telling me how he hedged his trade. So effectively, he was taking on no price risk. Now the only thing is when you short these tokens, there’s a funding cost, but because he had such a big position the funding was actually pretty significant. 
So he said he paid, I don’t know, like $50,000 in funding costs, but to him it was still worth it, especially since he got a watch that’s supposedly worth $100,000 if you’re in the top four. Wait, they gave out watches?
Yeah. When Justin went up and gave the speech, after that, he got the watch.Honestly $50,000 to meet the president and get a watch that’s twice that amount, is a pretty good deal. Yeah. I had no idea yet that there’s a TrumpWatches.com. I think the host referenced this — like, if you want a watch, just go on the website. I was like, this is real? And then I actually went on the website and it turned out it is. Swiss-made chrono movement – oh my God, there are so many watches. Do you see that one on the very front page? They gave out two of those as prizes for raffle winners. Oh, that’s only $500, man.Yeah, I know, right?Lame. I guess you can’t yet buy the $100,000 watch on this website. They were specially designed and they only were able to have two ready for the event, and the other two will get shipped to the winners. 
[The website currently lists the “Crypto President Tourbillon Watch” for pre-order, claiming that “only 10” have been made. – Ed.]A commemorative hat.Did people post photos or selfies, or was there a sense of discretion?There were obviously crypto traders who didn’t wanna give their real names, and some folks who were trying to be camera shy and avoid the limelight, but I feel like for the most part, people were taking selfies and they were just having a good time. And there were photographers walking around taking photos of everyone. And then at the end, this was after Trump and after all the gifts were given out, the host was like, everyone put on your hat that you got — it’s in my bag,
it’s a Trump meme dinner hat — let’s all put it on and take a photo and then hashtag “trumpmemedinner” or whatever.[The White House is refusing to release the guest list with names of attendees. The New York Times has since said that it has acquired a copy of that list.Although photos of the gifted hats have circulated on social media, no related hashtag seems to have taken off. – Ed.] Oh, okay, so they actually encouraged you to put it on the Internet. 
I guess the host took the photo and it was like a selfie or something. The other funny moment was during the Trump speech. For the most part, it was just him talking about his campaign, and about how he beat Biden, and blah, blah, blah, how we were in a terrible place with crypto before he got elected and now we’re in a great place. That sounds exactly like a thing Trump would say. That was pretty accurate. At one point, the microphone made a cracking sound and then he was like, whoops, my ear. and he made a joke referencing the assassination attempt. A poster promoting the afterparty.How did you figure out about the afterparty? Was it the official afterparty? 
A lot of folks were saying there was gonna be some afterparty exclusive to VIPs, like the top 25 holders. There were a few folks who were trying to get into this party, but then it turns out it was actually not that exclusive. This MemeCore group, the number two holder, they rented out space at the rooftop of this Marriott and effectively invited everyone. So when you were leaving the venue, they had a couple buses that would come every 10 minutes and they were like, yeah, feel free to take this bus and we’ll take you to the after-party. A lot of people ended up going. 
[On TikTok, an attendee wearing a giant mask of what appears to be the MemeCore mascot, was accused of covering his face “to hide their identities” at “Trump’s crypto bribery event.” – Ed.] How was the afterparty? Was it well funded? They had an open bar, free drinks. It was fine, nothing like that noteworthy.
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Acurast has raised $5.4 million to use smartphones to power a global decentralized cloud computing network. The company raised the money in a community led investment round by premier cryptocurrency launchpad CoinList. The sale concluded on May 22, 2025, with Acurast’s ACU token priced at nine cents, resulting in a fully diluted valuation of $90 million.“Most of the newly raised capital will be used to enhance our protocol, which continues proving that compute can be verifiable, confidential, energy-efficient, and truly decentralised, powered by the phones in our pockets,” said Alessandro De Carli, president of the board and cofounder of Acurast, in a statement.Acurast has raised $5.4 million. Acurast enables users to participate in confidential compute tasks, decentralized AI, and blockchain infrastructure, all while earning rewards by leveraging the processing power of smartphones. The protocol transforms everyday phones into secure, decentralized compute nodes, powering a global networkspanning over 130 countries.Acurast has onboarded over 72,000 smartphones, or “compute units,” worldwide onto its decentralized testnet with over 256 million transactions, making it the most decentralized and verifiable computenetwork available today, eliminating the need for centralized data centers. Acurast utilizes Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) of the mobile phones to ensure secure and scalable compute, while maintaining confidentiality without requiring trust in the device owner. “The ACU token lies at the heart of this economy. Acurast allows anyone and everyone to run compute with their mobile phones, providing real decentralisation, and become stakeholders in the networkpowering a secure, scalable and decentralised computer economy while incentivising activecollaboration and sustainable growth,” said De Carli.Over 300 websites and games were created on Acurast in the last 24 hours using just a prompt with Vibe Code and Deploy — live instantly on a decentralized network powered by phones. Acurast’s high-performance Proof of Stake blockchain orchestrates global demand and supply for secure decentralized compute, without centralized data centers. This chain verifies genuine hardware on-chain with Smartphone manufacture attestations and anchors confidential workloads, ensuring trustless and verifiable execution across billions of smartphones. Acurast’s Android and iOS apps offer end-to-end checks of each phone’s secure elements, delivering unstoppable trustless compute at scale. Acurast is creating a global decentralized cloud using smartphones in 130 countries. Acurast delivers a next-generation decentralized confidential compute platform, purpose-built for the demands of web3, AI, and beyond. Developers can seamlessly deploy and scale JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, and WASM workloads via a simple CLI, with access to thousands of NPM packages and deep integration across major ecosystems. Centered on openness, composability, and decentralization, Acurast forms the foundational layer for the decentralized compute economy, unlocking mass adoption and enabling unprecedented innovation for web3 and beyond. ACU tokens have a total supply of 1,000,000,000 tokens at genesis with the token utility being around network fees, settlement layers, staking and governance. Daily insights on business use cases with VB Daily If you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI. Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured.

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 84, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about Mubi and Around The Horn and millennial tech, moving all my journals to Diarly, trying out Matt D’Avella’s workout routine, catching up on Clarkson’s Farm, wishing desperately that Philly Justice was a real show, watching a lot of Helper Cars with my toddler, testing the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones, dusting off my Fortnite skills, and enjoying this unbelievably deep dive into the first Star Wars movie.I also have for you a new blockbuster movie, an old-new blockbuster mobile game, a new season of one of my all-time favorite shows, a cheap set-top box worth a look, and much more. Shockingly busy week! Let’s dig in.(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you playing / reading / listening to / watching / plugging into things / poking with a stick this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, tell them to subscribe here. Subscribers get every issue in their inbox, for free, a day before it hits the website.)The Dropkind of can’t believe it! I fell off the Fortnite wagon pretty hard over the last year or so, but this and my Backbone Pro are going to be very good friends going forward. Zero Build only for me, though, at least on mobile.Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. I am a forever fan of the M:I series, and as silly as I find the whole “AI is the bad guy” bit, I have had a good time watching every single movie in this series. I’ll be in a humungous theater for this one ASAP.Puzzmo for iOS. Puzzmo’s web app is great, so I haven’t exactly been thirsting for a better mobile experience. And, as far as I can tell, the mobile app is just exactly the same thing as the web app. But, hey, I like the icon, and I like any reason to play more Really Bad Chess.The Onn Google TV 4K Plus. “A weirdly named, super-cheap set-top box from Walmart” is not a great pitch. But for $30, you’re not beating this thing’s combination of Google TV, Dolby Vision, and 4K. Onn stuff has been pretty good in the past, so I suspect this one will be pretty compelling.NotebookLM for mobile. The Android and iOS versions are both fine and both useful for the same reason: you can send stuff to your notebooks via the share sheet. If you’re a fan of the podcast-y Audio Overviews, they’re also a great thing to have on the go.. We haven’t had a new season of my favorite unhinged animation sci-fi show in a year and a half, and I am so very excited to get back to some intergalactic and cross-universe shenanigans. I’ve been debating doing a full rewatch of the whole show and might just have to do it after this season.The Virtual Stream Deck. This is so clever: Elgato is turning its collection of smart buttons from a lineup of gadgets to a full-on platform that you can either build into other hardware or just run on a screen. I can’t recommend it enough — spend some time programming all your repetitive computer tasks into a Stream Deck system.Monster Train 2. I love the structure of this game: a deck-building game that is endlessly repeatable but also complex enough that you never quite play the same game twice. I somehow missed the first game in the series entirely, and I’m going to have to give that a whirl, too. Strava routes. Strava’s an Installerverse favorite, and it got a bunch of new features this week. But, for my money, the biggest upgrade is the routing system, which generates the best route between two points; I love a good “map me the run to this donut shop” feature.In all the time I’ve been covering and paying attention to tech, there have been very few companies as bizarre and intriguing as OpenAI. The company is doing impressive, culture-shaking work, but it also seems to have an endless supply of weird internal drama and a total inability to figure out, like, what in the world it’s doing.Karen Hao has been covering the company longer than almost anybody, and she has firsthand knowledge of a lot of OpenAI’s twists and turns. This week, she published a terrific book, called Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, which is about the company’s history and its future. But the book is more than that, too. It’s a really good look at what AI is doing to us as people, to our societies and our planets, and to the brains of the people building what they hope will make them rich or gods — or both.I’ve been a fan of Karen’s work for a long time, so I asked her to share her homescreen with us. I figured she’d either have, like, 30 AI apps or none at all, and I wanted to know. Here’s her homescreen, plus some info on the apps she uses and why:The phone: iPhone XR.The wallpaper: It’s usually a photo of me and my husband laughing hysterically at an inside joke at our wedding. But you’ll just have to imagine it because we’re really big on privacy. Enjoy this orange gradient instead. Orange is the color of creativity, of fire, of the sunrise and sunset, of beginnings and transition.The apps: Messages, Google Calendar, Photos, Camera, Clock, Apple Notes, Contacts, Settings, FaceTime, Calculator, Weather, Reminders, App Store, Gmail, Proton Mail, Phone, Brave.I have a very boring homescreen! I try not to use too many apps. When I set up a phone, the first thing I do is delete as many of the default apps as possible. But probably the two notable apps to call out: a couple years ago, I switched completely to the Brave browser, which is the lion icon at the bottom right of the screen. It’s based on Chrome, so you can keep all your plug-ins, but it blocks sites from tracking you to serve you targeted ads. It’s a simple way to not give up so much of your data and preserve your privacy. Highly recommended. The second: under my Audio folder, I have a guitar-tuning app, GuitarTuna, for the rare moments I fiddle with my guitar at home. Music was a big part of my childhood, but I haven’t made nearly enough time for it as an adult. I keep the app on my homescreen as an aspiration to pick it back up more seriously.I also asked Karen to share a few things that she’s into right now. Here’s what she sent back:The Empire podcast, cohosted by historian William Dalrymple and Anita Anand.Late-night comedy YouTube.CrowdsourcedHere’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now, as well! Email installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal — @davidpierce.11 — with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Threads and this post on Bluesky.“YouTube has recently radicalized me to digital minimalism and decentralized tech. What started as deleting ALL social media from my iPhone and relegating the apps to my iPad is now firmly in the realm of buying old iPods from eBay and repairing them with modern parts. I have some replacement parts on the way from Elite Obsolete Electronics and with what I know now I should soon have a functional 6th gen iPod Classic that I can install RockBox on. I also picked up the ToAuto DS90 Soldering Station with the hopes of installing the USB-C mod in the near future.” — Nicholas“I know it was in last week’s Installer but I got the Sony WH-1000XM6s and they’re incredible. The ‘background listening’ feature is such a clever spin on spatial audio, it really does sound like it’s coming from a distance!” — Jamie“What if you could add any plain old QR Code/barcode card to your Apple Wallet? Lucky for you, the greatest minds of our time have come together to solve this inconvenience. Try IntoWallet and get as blown away as I was when it just worked (also the level of customization and the price are great!).” — Teo“I’ve REALLY enjoyed the Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds. For lovers of hard sci-fi space operas this is for you. Engaging, dark, wild ideas and concepts, plenty of real and imagined science and physics all weaved into interesting stories.” — Tyler“I’ve personally managed to seriously build my meditation practice in the last two years using both Happier and Calm. I especially enjoy the meditations by teacher Jeff Warren, who strikes the right balance with his light and playful tone.” — Jeroen“I’ve had the Casper Glow lamp since 2019 and it’s still going strong! Love the interaction, twisting it and flipping it to control the light, and I even helped sell two (unsponsored) to an old roommate when he moved to his own place.” — SingYu“Post Andor I’ve been reading through Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire.” — Allen“Setup is (90%) finished! Rocking a Teenage Engineering case, HP G4 Dock, UGREEN USB Switcher, and a $60 standing desk from Facebook Marketplace.” — Jeremy Signing offThe big Installer-y news of the week is that Mozilla is shutting down Pocket. Which, well, sucks. Pocket was a good and popular app that did good and useful things! I heard from a bunch of you who are now looking for a place to go post-Pocket. I only really have three recommendations:Instapaper: the OG of the read-later world and still the simplest and most straightforward app you’ll find for the purpose. Brian, the developer, is good people, and I have high hopes for the longevity of the app.Matter: it’s only for iOS and web, but it’s the best-looking app in this space, and it’s not even close. They’re doing some nifty stuff with AI-enhanced reading, too.Readwise Reader: the power-user tool of choice, and my favorite of the bunch. It just has so many organizational features, great highlighting, and tons of integrations. It just does everything I need. It’s also way too much for most people. I suppose I should give Wallabag an honorable mention, because you can host it yourself, but it’s a much more involved project. If I were just moving over from Pocket and just wanted a nice place to read without a long list of other feature requests, I’d start with Instapaper. But all three are solid options, and they all make it pretty painless to import your old articles. Or just delete them all, start over, and feel the rare freedom of an almost-empty reading list. It’s pretty nice.See you next week!See More: