Mystery Hong Kong investor in BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF breaks silence — only to spark more questions

Cryptocurrency & Free Speech Finance

When a shell company called Laurore Ltd. filed a position of about $436 million in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exchange-traded fund — its first and only filing — listing a Hong Kong address and phone number, the crypto community took notice, and a social media frenzy began.What made it even more interesting is that it listed “Zhang Hui” as a director in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, a name as common in China as “John Smith” in the West, according to a X post by ProCap’s CIO, Jeff Park.Indeed, CoinDesk found over 100 Zhang Huis listed…

Media & Culture

Amazon Could Be Liable for Selling Product Used to Commit Suicide, Coupled with Promotion of a “Suicide Instruction Book”

From Thursday’s Scott v. Amazon.com, Inc., decided by the Washington Supreme Court (opinion by Justice Helen Whitener); the lawsuit was brought by the families of four people who committed suicide, three adults (ages 18, 19, and 27) and one minor (age 17): Amazon sells … “Loudwolf Sodium Nitrite” and “HiMedia GRM417-500G Sodium Nitrite.” Each of the four decedents ingested the sodium nitrite they purchased from the Amazon website. According to Plaintiffs, sodium nitrite is used in laboratories for research and medical purposes, and it is also used in meat preservation. When used as a meat preservative, sodium nitrite is one…

AI & Crypto

Read More

Politics

Don't Miss!

A tribute to the murdered journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kušnírová. Photo: Ing.Mgr.Jozef Kotulič The day of Ján Kuciak’s anniversary is still traumatic for this country in the heart of Europe. But neither the president, nor the head of the national parliament, nor the prime minister said a one word about Kuciak nor his fiancée, archaeologist Martina Kušnírová, nor their assassination. In eight years, the prime minister Robert Fico has not once mentioned his name publicly. He mostly talks only about “that journalist” and spreads conspiracy theories and lies about the killing. I and many others talked about Ján Kuciak on Saturday 21 February 2026, at one of the 30 commemorative demonstrations all around Slovakia. I travelled to Zlaté Moravce about 80 minutes’ drive from capital Bratislava, where local civic activists regularly organise political protests against the populist right-wing government. I knew Ján personally; I was honoured to host the only public appearance of his very short, but breathtaking career in January 2017. Almost no one knew his name at that time. Where do Slovak millionaires hide their money? was the title of his awesome speech. It was an unforgettable masterclass on innovative data journalism. Ján, an extraordinary talent of his generation, had searched for, read, processed and analysed large public datasets from ministries and government offices to uncover corruption and explain tax frauds and reported on it in his unusually complex stories. Author Michal Hvorecký speaks to a crowd on the eighth anniversary of Jan Kuciak’s murder. Photo: Milan Illik In his editorial office, he visualised the collected data in an old-school analogue way drawing with pencils on huge pieces papers spiderwebs of connections full of notorious oligarch names and their criminal networks. He acted as our very first digital-age watchdog. He put the information into context and explained how top members of the governing Party Smer and their sponsors and affiliated post-Soviet style businessmen – many still in power after all these years – stole huge sums and moved the money to tax havens like Cyprus. He also investigated the suspected theft of EU funds destined for eastern Slovakia by the members of Italian mafia. Ján Kuciak uncovered that the corruption in Slovakia doesn’t only mean petty bribes, but something much deeper and more dangerous – state capture. Corruption as a system. His stories told us how Robert Fico turned democracy into a mechanism for his own enrichment and the power. Party Smer functioned – and unfortunately still does – like a cartel. Since 2020 we have known how Ján was killed and by whom. But who ordered the assassination? Who wanted to silence him at all costs? We still do not know, and we need to know. Ján exposed a form of corruption so deeply entrenched that it threatened the rule of law and democracy. Recently, Slovakia’s Special Criminal Court reopened the murder case for the third time. Hopefully, the court will learn from its previous errors and thoroughly examine all the evidence. To this day, I am convinced that Ján Kuciak could have lived. If the state had acted. If Minister of Interior Robert Kaliňák – today a Minister of Defence – had not laughed at him and refused to demand a police investigation. Ján was openly threatened by influential oligarch and controversial media tycoon Marián Kočner. As a journalist he filed a criminal complaint. It didn’t help. Police refused to assist and protect him. A couple of months later Ján was executed with a single bullet to the heart and Martina with the shot to the head. Recently, one of the businessman Ján Kuciak was intensively reporting about, Jozef Brhel, founder and sponsor of Smer, was accused of leading an organised criminal group that laundered dirty money from state contracts for years, and in February 2026, he was finally found guilty. What Ján taught us is to never give up the fight for justice and to speak up about state capture, the most dangerous mutation of corruption. The 21 February is our annual reminder that freedom and the rule of law cannot be taken for granted. Slovakia has a strong civic society ready for widespread protest whenever necessary, and a free critical media, both also thanks to Ján. Good writing can still change the world and make it a better place, as his major work, published posthumously, proved. “One day, Slovakia will wake up,” Ján wrote. I hope this day is very near. READ MORE

Public service broadcasting is one of the most potent tools available to champion democracy and reinforce the international rules-based order. Photo: Alexander Svensson Letter to Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs 23 February 2026 Dear Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP, We are contacting you as Foreign Secretary to call on the UK Government to ensure the BBC World Service has the funding it needs to maintain its vital work as a public service broadcaster. The undersigned organisations were alarmed by the recent comments made by the BBC Director General that the outlet’s current funding arrangements only extend to the end of March 2026. It is vitally important that FCDO immediately makes the necessary funding available to maintain the World Service’s important work, while also ensuring a sustainable funding model for the outlet’s continued viability to ensure this issue is not repeated in the future.  Speaking at a Global Media Security and Innovation event in February, Tim Davie, the BBC’s Director-General said: “the current funding arrangement with the Foreign Office runs out at the end of March” and that the BBC is “waiting to hear the outcome of the settlement.” This alarming news threatens to hasten the decline of high-quality and accessible international public interest reporting. Following the US Government’s move to defund Voice of America and Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL), while private outlets such as Washington Post have also closed a number of international bureaus, if the World Service were to similarly lose its funding, the public interest information space upon which democracy depends would surely be in significant jeopardy.  Public service broadcasting is one of the most potent tools available to champion democracy and reinforce the international rules-based order. It also helps challenge repressive regimes who seek to control or censor journalistic reporting and hinder the public’s access to information. The World Service’s recently-announced plans to establish an “emergency lifeline radio programme for Iran” to respond to the unprecedented clampdown on civil society and protected speech best demonstrates the outlet’s innovative defence of free expression in the most challenging contexts. This work must be defended not defunded.   We acknowledge the Government’s position that the World Service’s funding is to be decided “through the FCDO allocations process” and that the decision will be made in “good time before the beginning of the 2026-27 financial year.” However, considering the urgency of this situation, we call on the FCDO and all other relevant policy makers to respond in good time to ensure the World Service, as a world leading public service broadcaster, can continue its vital work. Any uncertainty and instability in the World Service’s funding will directly hinder its work and impact those across the globe who depend on its public service reporting. We are ready to support where we can and await your response. Kind regards,  Index on Censorship European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) Reporters Without Borders UK (RSF) Association of European Journalists (AEJ) Justice for Journalists Foundation (JFJ) Rory Peck Trust (RPT) European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) PEN International National Union of Journalists (NUJ) READ MORE

0 Views