Privacy Gang Unite! 🖤✊

Zano joins Common S3nse Conference and hackathon! Crypto is mainstream now, so what? Bringing Crypto 101 back! FreeRomanStorm.com and more

Crypto Went Mainstream. At What Cost?

Crypto is becoming more institutional by the day. We got what we asked for, didn’t we? After all “the institutions are coming” was a tagline we used to validate our crazy endeavor… and today

• Visa reports an annualized stablecoin settlement of about $4.5 billion.

• BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF became one of the fastest-growing ETFs in history, surpassing $100 billion AUM in 2025.

• Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) exceeded $30 billion in 2025.

The institutions are here. So what? Bitcoin wasn’t created to get a BlackRock ticker. Remember It was created so we wouldn’t need trusted intermediaries in the first place.

It’s a strange place to be. On one hand, I’m glad crypto has gone mainstream. For years, we said the institutions would come. Well, they’re here to stay. But at the same time, I can’t shake the feeling that we may have lost the plot?

My dream was never a world where every asset is tokenized, every stablecoin is issued by a bank, and crypto payments go through VISA and Mastercard. At least, that’s not what makes my cypherpunk 🖤 beat.

I’m here for censorship-resistant, peer-to-peer electronic cash. For privacy, permissionless blockchains. For financial sovereignty. For the ability to transact, save, and build without asking anyone for permission. Maybe institutional adoption is a sign that crypto has succeeded. But success means very little if we forget why crypto existed in the first place.

The institutions are here. Great. Now who's still building the future we came here for, and ready to shill at Common S3nse? 🖤🐈‍⬛

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Zano joins Common S3nse as a Partner!

Zano remains on track, and joins Common S3nse as a partner! As you know, the current digital economy was built on surveillance by default. Every payment, balance, and asset you hold is visible to someone watching... Zano is building the opposite: the infrastructure for a privacy-first digital economy, where privacy isn't a feature you switch on but the foundation everything runs on.

In short Zano is a privacy-oriented Layer 1 blockchain designed for confidential transactions and asset issuance. So happy they are joining the Privacy Gang at Common S3nse. 🖤

🔐Zano’s Core features

• Private-by-default transactions
  Amounts, sender, and receiver are hidden using cryptographic techniques

• Confidential assets (stablecoins & tokens)
  You can issue private assets on-chain without exposing balances or flows publicly.

• Hybrid PoW/PoS: Zarcanum
  The blockchain alternates between Proof of Work and Proof of Stake blocks. The 1st and only PoS consensus with hidden amounts, the users' staking amounts are never revealed to the network.

• Decentralized exchange capabilities
  Built-in atomic swaps and privacy-preserving trading between assets.

• No transparent ledger by default
  Zano is designed so that on-chain activity is not publicly traceable.

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Back to Crypto School!

Last time I taught Crypto 101 was online, during the pandemic, and as crypto goes mainstream, I feel compelled, more than ever to teach the fundamentals:

• How fiat money works

• Why self custody matters

• How to open a wallet

• How to transact

• and taddddaaa here’s magical p2p money, welcome to freedom! Not just about hodling crypto, but actually using it. ✨

I’m excited to go back into the trenches, and teach! Join me, or send your friends and family to our next Crypto 101 - IRL & Online this 1st of July in Amsterdam @Sauvage Space

ps: the real underlying mission is to onboard merchants around the Common S3nse venue to allow fellow crypto peeps to spend their crypto IRL and support our local merchants this September.

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#FreeRomanStorm

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Are you still reading? Back to Common S3nse.

At its core, this is what I care about. What I keep coming back to. My ikigai, my passion: advocating for the principles that actually matter - privacy, security, and sovereignty ✊

The Common S3nse that says that censorship resistant, permissionless internet money should exist. That privacy should be default. That security shouldn’t be optional. Fiat is a scam and taxation is theft. I’m not asking for too much, right?

If you’re my people, help us build it.

This September in Amsterdam:

• September 3rd: DashCon

• September 4th–5th: Common S3nse

• and all of Cypherpunk Week in between

Plus the hackathon, let’s not forget the hackathon.

Same energy. Same fire. Still early. Also not a cult.

• Apply to speak

• Apply to hack

• Apply to volunteer

• Apply as a media partner

• DM to partner

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““The Netherlands are bullying freedom people out of this place”

Amsterdam has been home for 10 years, but, it’s not all bikes and tulips.

I’ve seen the grip of power coming for Alexey Pertsev, the 36% tax on unrealized gains and now they are coming for homeschoolers...”” @blockblanc