Crypto Bribes, The Caste System, California’s EV Goals, & Creepy Eyeball Technology

May 2, 2025

Hello, readers – happy Friday! Today, we’ll be talking about Mike Waltz, a crypto announcement, South Korea’s presidential race, the caste system, an Alien Enemies Act ruling, California’s EV goals, and eyeball-based identity verification.

Here’s some good news: Scientists found that the axolotl, one of the world’s most endangered amphibians, has thrived after being released in artificial wetlands, which could provide a way to bring the species back from the brink of extinction. Also, the female osprey at the camera-equipped nest in Boulder County, Colorado, laid four eggs last week.

“There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another.” – Édouard Manet

Waltz Your Way Out Of This Office, Please

(Mike Waltz by Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)

Thursday Signal-ed the end of an era for Mike Waltz. Yesterday afternoon, the national security advisor was shown the door by Trump following his role in Signal-gate, when multiple top Trump officials disclosed U.S. military plans in a Signal group chat that included an Atlantic journalist. Trump has nominated Waltz as U.S. ambassador to the U.N., though it’s not clear what his timeline for getting that job will be.

In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to cover for Waltz. His possible replacements include Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, policy chief Stephen Miller, National Security Council (NSC) senior director for counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka, and special envoy for special missions Richard Grenell. Deputy national security adviser Alex Wong is also on the way out thanks to far-right commentator Laura Loomer, who convinced Trump that he was pushing Chinese interests because his parents are Chinese immigrants.

Loomer seems to have taken several other victims as well – outside of Waltz and Wong, multiple other members of the NSC and a few top NSA officials were fired after she whispered in Trump’s ear. When asked about the firing by Politico, she replied to the outlet with a one-word text reading “Loomered.” At least that’s kind of funny.

I Walk These Bribe-Filled Streets On The Boulevard Of Token Dreams

At the TOKEN2049 conference in Dubai yesterday, Zach Witkoff, a co-founder of World Liberty Financial, the Trump family crypto firm, had an important announcement. Witkoff revealed that the World Liberty stablecoin – USD1 – would be used as part of a $2 billion transaction between UAE state investment fund MGX and crypto exchange Binance.

The transaction brings up massive conflict of interest issues for Trump and his family, who profit when World Liberty makes money because a large portion of its revenues are diverted to a Trump family business entity. If a foreign government, or even private company, wants to gain favor with the president, they can simply buy up a bunch of World Liberty crypto tokens – essentially giving money to Trump without technically bribing him.

Later, Witkoff told the audience that he expects USD1 to reach “many billions of market cap.” If that happens, the company will have massive amounts of money to invest further, granting it – and the Trump family – millions more in revenue every year.

A Prime Candidate For Promotion

(Han Duck-soo by Jeon Heon-Kyun via Getty Images)

South Korea’s acting leader, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, announced his resignation yesterday, telling the public that he had a “heavier responsibility” to bear. Across the country, people are expecting Han to be the main conservative presidential candidate in upcoming elections – in Korea, the president is the top executive, while the prime minister is #2.
“I’ve finally determined to put down my post to do what I can and what I have to help overcome the crises facing us,” he said during a televised announcement. His main opponent in the presidential election will likely be the Liberal opposition party’s Lee Jae-myung, though Lee is facing charges of election law violations.

Caste-ing A New Net

India’s Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced this week that the country will include caste details in its next census. Caste is an ancient system of social hierarchy in India that determines much of their lives and politics. There are hundreds of caste groups based on occupation and economic status across the country. India is the world’s most populous country, but it’s unclear when the next census will take place – it was scheduled for 2021, but has been delayed due to the pandemic.
Vaishnaw said the decision demonstrated New Delhi’s commitment to the “values and interests of the society and country.” Many worry that including caste in the count could lead to social unrest, while advocates say that demographic information is necessary to properly carry out India’s social justice programs – the new count will likely change quotas that determine things like government jobs, college admissions, and elected offices.

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Ruling Out The Alien Enemies Act

Yesterday, Trump-appointed U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. barred the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans from South Texas using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Rodriguez is the first judge to make such a ruling, though hopefully not the last.
Rodriguez ruled that “the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms.” The act has only been used three times before in U.S. history – most notably during WWII to justify Japanese internment camps.

A Red Light For Going Green

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted against two waivers involving heavy trucking in California, and yesterday, it voted to reverse a state rule that would require all new vehicles in the state to be zero-emission by 2035. Currently, about 25% of new cars sold in California are electric, but the state requires 35% of new cars (starting with model year 2026) sold by any given automaker to be zero-emission.
The House was warned that it likely can’t actually overturn those waivers, so the Senate has to decide whether it will back the lower chamber or follow guidance from the nonpartisan government entities. About a dozen states have followed California’s footsteps, which means more than 30% of the U.S. auto market is beholden to California’s policies. Automakers, however, say California’s goals are too ambitious.

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The Most Ominous Branding Known To Man

As if trying to replace millions of human jobs with computer algorithms isn’t enough, now Sam Altman wants us to scan our eyeballs into the blockchain to verify our identities. Late Wednesday, Altman and Alex Blania, who together co-founded a tech startup named Tools for Humanity, unveiled a slate of updates for their company’s products.
The first is a change to their “World” product, a combination of an app and an iris-scanning device (called an “Orb”) that scans users’ eyeballs onto the blockchain to help them “prove” their “personhood” in a world where AI scams are becoming increasingly prevalent. When users want to make a purchase at stores that use the Orb, they can scan their eyes again to verify that their purchase is legitimate. At Wednesday’s event, the company announced a more portable version of the Orb – the Orb Mini – and also revealed that it would be opening six brick-and-mortar stores across the U.S.
Next, the company unveiled plans to roll out a new World-branded debit card, which will let users spend their World currency – that’s right, there’s a crypto tie-in here – anywhere that Visas are accepted. According to Tools for Humanity, World has more than 26 million users right now (12 million of those are Orb-verified), and it hopes to have “7,500 orbs across the US by the end of this year.”

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