Editor's Note: The below was written on May 5, 2019 by Jared Rice, Sr., Federal Inmate # 58064-177 being held at the Seagoville Correctional Institute in Seagoville, TX. It has not been altered in any way. Any and all proceeds from these posts are to be used exclusively toward the ongoing efforts to free Jared Rice, Sr. from his unjust imprisonment.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
I have bit my tongue on this for quite some time and I'm finally ready to speak out. When I first realized the prospects of decentralization, it was in late 2010. I'll never forget the day that I read Satoshi's whitepaper, for the very first time. As a web/software developer I saw the potential to do great things with blockchain and began diving into it. Even though I was running a web hosting startup out of my downtown Dallas apartment, I eventually grew tired of the dollar-to-dollar hustle you found with creating a centralized startup and would eventually give up the centralized lifestyle for the decentralized dream. I would go on to make my first million dollars in late 2011 from simply mining Bitcoins. It was the first time in my life I would experience financial freedom -- and it felt unbelievable, yet foreign, to say the least. At first, after a decade of trying to chase success down Centralized Blvd., I was truly shocked that life, liberty and happiness truly existed down Decentralized Avenue. And best of all? This is just the beginning of my marriage to decentralization. One that the government would keep close tabs on and will probably land me in one of America's roughest and most dangerous prisons.
By now, you know my name as Jared Rice Sr. You have probably read about me in Forbes, CoinDesk and hundreds of others global news outlets where they have depicted me as the "Wolf on Crypto Street", or the 1st in USA history raided for running an ICO or the 1st in crypto history to be sued by the SEC or maybe the first to ever be indicted for creating and selling a cryptocurrency -- whatever it is -- you may think you know me, but you don't know me. Although after reading this, you will appreciate the truth, the facts as the government has recently filed in USA v. RICE and will join a fight that very few have flocked to, out of fear, greed, pride or from simply wearing sheep's glasses.
I have been left alone for the most part, with the exception of a few brave industry titans like Stan Larimer, Michael Taggart and several other outsiders who have put up the little funds they had to save my life, save this industry and fight the good fight. To say I am thankful for their support would be an understatement. Their bravery, as crypto enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, innovators and freedom lovers is contagious and kept me going for the months I was in segregated detention all by myself -- with my mind eating away at itself on a daily basis. It kept me focused and motivated to push forward and continue innovating, even if it meant only doing so with a piece of paper and a pen. That support though, wasn't enough to defend the industry. The truth is, this case sets a dangerous precedent where cryptocurrency could be considered a security from not only a federal level but also a criminal level within federal court rooms around the country. I can say that many of us did everything we could to keep that from happening. Sadly, the only way to earn valor in this country, apparently, is to fight and hurt others on behalf of the "United States of America".
Those who bravely supported our fight deserve something -- that's why I'm giving them all I possibly can, even with my limited freedoms. Although, if this industry had a heart or even a soul, ALL OF YOU owe them much more than that. They risked it all, including their freedoms and their families for YOU. That's important for you to recognize and respect. In all honesty, I do not see much of that respect and I see many sheep following the government accusations, as if the government has their best interest at heart. If you don't believe me, simply look at the responses to John McAfee's retweet of one of my recent writings and you will see what I'm talking about. There are people in this industry who only care about themselves, their own profits, will say what the government wants them to say in order to save their own ass and do not care about what decentralization can offer to the masses. They don't feel the same as people like John, people like me or the others who have sacrificed themselves for you and your children's future. They'll take the easy way out, before they'll ever help somebody else.
I worked day and night on AriseBank. I have many witnesses to that fact. I had every intent of risking my life, to offer Americans and others around the world the prospect of free decentralized banking. As with any software, it costs money to market something as new and complex as the concept I had originally created for decentralized banking. My partner, Stan Ford, who remains free and was never indicted in the AriseBank criminal case will tell you -- we had big plans for decentralized banking. After working 9-10 months straight, coding night after night, drinking Dr. Peppers like water, smoking 2-3 packs of cigarettes per day and finally getting some rest every three or four days -- I knew I had given everything I had left in my tank back to humanity. I did all of this without a dollar in my pocket, in the midst of a nasty custody battle, where my son's mother (who would eventually provide enough false information to the FBI/DOJ to have me raided), was trying to remove the only blood relative I had ever held in my hands out of my life in order to send me in a downward spiral of depression. Instead of taking her bait, I was focused on creating a better tomorrow for all of those who truly needed one. I felt alive. I felt my purpose beyond just the weights on my shoulders -- I felt it deep down in my soul.
By the day the shocking government cover-ups continued to flow in. The Vegas shooting, the constant Russia news and the SEC/DOJ/CFTC beginning to insert themselves into our industry. I smelled the blood in the water and began drafting a manifesto to the industry, to make my feelings towards these government agencies and their interference into our way of life known to all who came across my vision. Deep in my heart, I knew from their actions over the past few years were completely dishonest and completely out of control. At the time of this writing, I had little to no idea how right I was. Within my manifesto, I wore my feelings and my emotions for Ross Ulbricht and my old friend Aaron Swartz on my sleeve. I rightfully warned that the FBI, DOJ, IRS and SEC were frauds and liars. That the mountain of evidence was in front of your face and that before I ever started trading AriseCoin, they would shut us down. Bravely, I predicted I would be the one they would center-in on and I would ride my horse onto that battlefield alone, if I had to. Again, I had no idea how right I was.
Immediately I was contacted by government undercovers Cody Marx Bailey, Eddie Taylor and several others. Within days Taylor told me there was a bank I could purchase. I loved the idea of purchasing a bank, so I could learn the ins and outs of centralized banking, so I could further destroy the centralized banking scam through the decentralized banking platform we were in the process of developing. Little did I know at the time, Taylor was selling me a fake bank. Taylor would then go on to get me interviews on many radio shows, connect me with a PR company I would pay approximately $30,000 to and would eventually write the press release that the government would indict me on. That very press release wouldn't be seen by me until it was published and I Would fall on my own sword within 24 hours to issue a correction. A day later, we were raided by 50+ armed FBI agents at gunpoint at a ranch, where I had taken our team for a break after 60 days straight of running an ICO. Anyone who has ran one, will understand the important of a break, under the level of stress that an ICO can bring on a team of four who had never ran an ICO before.
As I looked back, I regretted missing all the signs of yet another government setup. For those who remember, The Texas Department of Banking had sent us a cease and desist letter to stop using the term "Bank" and were blowing up my cell phone on a daily basis. So was the southwest regional director of the FDIC. We had scared the crap out of the government and they were determined to stop a legitimate project by trying every trick in the book to derail my vision. After the raid, I continued working like before. I innovated a new decentralized internet known as dWeb, rebuilt AriseBank in the form of a new network called Arisen and placed 500+ new open source libraries on the web for others to further their fight to decentralize the planet. Considering the government used their centralized powers to seize what I had worked so hard on with AriseBank, I knew it called for a new decentralized internet protocol -- and I set out to build it. I studied hundreds of other open source projects, that were similar and was able to combine many into a very powerful cohesive set of software solutions that became addicting for a freedom lover like me to use. I felt my purpose was more alive than ever. With dBrowser, dVideo, dSocial, dPix and 30+ more dApps operating on the new dWeb protocol, everything was finalized and working. Days after making the announcement, I was arrested by the FBI while reporting to probation.
Even behind bars, I was able to instruct many to keep my work alive and many bravely stepped up to the plate to do so. Up until this morning, when funds and support went completely dry, the dWeb was completely functional. I now know it's time to expose the players within the FBI, SEC, Jones Day, North Texas Blockchain Alliance, CoinSource, Texas Department of Banking, Collin County Probation Office, The US Attorney of the Northern District of Texas, as well as all others who played a role in this massive cover-up, as well as the lies that have been spread throughout the media and court rooms throughout the Northern District. By doing so, I want to raise awareness surrounding political prisoners like Ross and I, as well as the death of the late Aaron Swartz.
While very few have read between the lines of what is going on, through this series I'm going to expose each and every part of this cover-up with factual evidence. I will spend the rest of my life fighting for reform, the release of Ross, the memory of one of the great programmers of our time -- Aaron Swartz and our right to innovate ways to decrease government overreach, through God's vision for decentralization. Not the sick and oxymoronic version the SEC wants all of you to take part in. KYC (Know your customer) for example, which the SEC and DOJ want all crypto-based developers to implement into their decentralized applications, destroys the entire concept of decentralization. It centralizes whatever you're creating and puts a government regulator in the middle of your ideas and certainly destroys the privacy of your users. The government doesn't want to make crypto better, they want to destroy it. They don't want to protect investors, they want to follow them. They will try to prevent me from speaking out but they can't take my constitutional right to free speech as it relates to sending mail through the US Postal Service. They're still trying to get me to shut up and I refuse to do so. Screw 'em. This is our planet, where the concept of decentralization has been alive since the twelve disciples took the Christian ideology and spread it to billions. It has been wrecking powerful government plans since the Quakers were established in order to end slavery throughout Europe. So as you read along, remember the decentralization of the Apache Indians, remember the decentralized design of the US Government that was implemented by Thomas Jefferson, remember those pioneers of decentralization who risked their freedom, to build a better tomorrow for you and never forget that We The People carry God's sword and hold the ultimate power as one. What happens between peers MUST stay between peers.
Today, there are clear battles taking place around our freedoms. Whether it's conservative opinions, libertarian ideas or our freedom to innovate, in reality, we're under attack. Sadly, people like my son's mother are working with these governments to secure their own personal wins and destroying the freedom of millions in the process. How do you think we keep losing our precious constitutional rights? You will learn in this series, not only about the constant attacks on our Constitutional freedoms or the TRUE realities of the government's fight against crypto -- you will also hear it from someone who has been on the frontline of the "War on Crypto".
That would be me. I have been in all the initial crypto battles all by my lonesome, I know all the bad actors attacking our industry from every single three letter agency that's involved in these regulatory battles and I know them on a first name basis. They'll never forget my name, in fact they'll never forget the effects that we'll have on this reform process, because in case you didn't know already -- I'll never let them take our vision. I said it in the beginning and I say it now, loud and proud.
In the words of Sun Tzu "In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. Therefore the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans." And that's exactly what we've set out to do. Expose the enemy's plans and free the political prisoners, to where the only fight that matters is for truly open and decentralized-based innovation and educating the masses about where they are, how we got here and how we can fix it together. This isn't simply a true story about the biggest bank heist in USA history -- it's a wake up call for every American who cares about their freedom and a way forward for all of us who want to keep it. I promise you -- we can bank on us.
Below is the official contents of the series, which in the very near future will be released in book form, under the title "We Can Bank On Us".
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 - Introduction (5/7/19)
Chapter 2 - A Historical Overview Of Decentralization (5/8/19)
Chapter 3 - Why Governments Hate Decentralization (5/12/19)
Chapter 4 - Why I Chose To Fight (5/16/19)
Chapter 5 - Building The World's First Decentralized Bank (5/20/19)
Chapter 6 - Eddy Taylor, Arnold Spencer, Cody Marx Bailey, Mark Rasmussen & The Government Setup (5/24/19)
Chapter 7 - The Bank The Government Sold Us (5/28/19)
Chapter 8 - I Messed With Texas (6/1/19)
Chapter 9 - The Raid, The SEC Lawsuit, Chris Davis & The Jones Day Heist (6/5/19)
Chapter 10 - Clueless Judges, Attorneys and the Slippery Slope (6/9/19)
Chapter 11 - Rebuilding My Decentralized Dream (6/13/19)
Chapter 12 - Finally Indicted (6/17/19)
Chapter 13 - The Government Offer & Why I Turned It Down (6/21/19)
Chapter 14 - Arrested and Held Without Bond (6/25/19)
Chapter 15 - My Government Lawyer & The Plan To Traumatize Me (6/29/19)
Chapter 16 - Surviving Kaufman County & Coding From Jail (7/3/19)
Chapter 17 - Threatened and Coerced To Plea Guilty (7/7/19)
Chapter 18 - The Government's Crypto Precedent (7/11/19)
Chapter 19 - US Attorney: "He's An Innovator" (7/15/19)
Chapter 20 - My Open Letter To Ross Ulbricht (7/19/19)
Chapter 21 - Thank You Aaron Swartz (7/23/19)
Chapter 22 - Fed Up! and My Fight For Reform, Justice & Freedom (7/27/19)
Chapter 23 - Acknowledgements & A Special Thank You (7/31/19)
CHAPTER DESCRIPTIONS
Introduction
A Historical Overview Of Decentralization - Take a deep dive into decentralization, taking us all the way back to Biblical times, to examine what decentralization has done for humanity and how governments have reacted to decentralization throughout history.
Why Governments Hate Decentralization - Throughout history and even through our modern era, governments like the United States of America have attacked any new or thriving decentralized movement, until they can gain back control of whatever that movement took away from that particular government or they simply find a way to fit in alongside it. Many lives are typically destroyed in the process of these governments trying to fit in and history will show that these governments will harm their own citizens, to maintain outdated methods of control over those very same individuals.
Why I Chose To Fight - I didn't call out the government because I had the intent to defraud others. I also didn't beg Evander Holyfield to coin our slogan as "The Fight of the Century" because I needed people to buy our cryptocurrency. I went to war with the government long before I ever sold a single coin. The story is always deeper than what you see on the surface, especially mine.
Building The World's First Decentralized Bank - I referred to it as "Removing the head of the beast". It was a very dangerous idea to have, during a very political time in America. This is the story of an idea that took the government out of their comfort zone and forced them to put their foot on the gas. There will never be an ICO that will garner as much attention, as AriseBank.
Eddie Taylor, Arnold Spencer, Cody Marx Bailey, Mark Rasmussen & The Government Setup - These four individuals caused more harm to the cryptocurrency industry itself by assisting the government on a bogus investigation, than any government could have possibly inflicted over a ten-year period. Each one of these people were either government informants or undercovers who created the bogus evidence used against me. These four individuals took part in one of the greatest government coverups, ever.
The Bank The Government Sold Us - The government sold you a bank? That's probably the first thing anyone would ask. The answer is, well, they sold us more than one bank. To be exact, they sold us two banks through an undercover and from that day forward, would use that propaganda to discredit our entire revolution to decentralize the global banking cult.
I Messed With Texas - The State of Texas was officially the first government body to come after us, when the "Texas Department of Banking" sent us a cease and desist letter. I replied back with force and that very letter, in my own words, proves both government cases to be absolute falsehoods. Anyone with a fine tooth comb can compare my public claims in that letter from January 5th, 2018, to the bogus/informant-created claims in their indictments and see that they contradict one another. They quickly swept that letter under the rug and stopped contacting us. My fight with Texas and our fight to use the word "Bank" wouldn't stop there.
The Raid, The SEC Lawsuit, Chris Davis & The Jones Day Heist - Weeks later I was raided by the FBI, the SEC and was asked to assist in allowing them access to all of our cryptocurrency wallets. The same day I was presented with the first SEC lawsuit in cryptocurrency history by The Securities and Exchange Commission's Chris Davis. I would also meet Jones Day attorney Mark Rasmussen, who informed me he was the court-ordered receiver over all AriseBank assets. Whether it was court-ordered or not, January 26th, 2018 would go down as the largest bank heist in USA History.
Clueless Judges, Attorneys and the Slippery Slope - During the entire fight vs. The United States government, I didn't meet a single judge, attorney, agent, probation write or journalist who had a single clue how a blockchain worked, much less, what a cryptocurrency was. I had to show the SEC how blockchain wallets and explorers functioned and an FBI agent was unable to tell the court what a cryptocurrency was when asked on the stand during a criminal hearing. At least my probation writer admitted it was "Way out there" and "Over her head". The bottom line is, the government set out to regulate something that they never understood in the first place and in turn have created regulations that will therefore produce slickest slope for innovation in US History.
Rebuilding My Decentralized Dream - After the government essentially ran up and kicked over my sand castle, it was time to rebuild my community science project. I was back to working three days straight without sleep and became a coding machine for the next 10 months that would follow the raid. Because of my recent experiences with AriseBank and how my work was so easily taken down before our network could fully decentralize itself, I was aware that building anything over the over-centralized http:// protocol was out of the question. The 10 month journey to rebuild my decentralized vision would lead to me creating an all-new decentralized web protocol, over 30+ decentralized applications, an unbelievable and expanded vision for AriseBank that would soon gain a new name and a focus on over 13 different industries, instead of our previous tunnel vision for banking. Like a starfish that was cut in half, we now had two much stronger starfish, as my vision began to surface.
Finally Indicted - Moments after the SEC case was settled, 7 months after the raid on the ranch had taken place, I called my mom with the good news and felt the first rush of happiness I had felt in a long time. It felt like the stress of the entire world had been lifted off my shoulders. An hour later, the US Attorney's office would inform my attorneys that they were going to pursue an indictment against me. My attorney would then approach me days afterwards to let me know that I would face up to 120 years in federal prison, if convicted. I continued innovating through this stress and expanding upon my vision. I felt beat up after a 16 round boxing match with the Securities and Exchange Commission but I knew I had to go at least 30 or so more rounds, to win the war.
The Government's Offer & Why I Turned It Down - The US Attorney, with Assistant US Attorneys Mary Walters and Siddharth Mody along with Deputy Section Chief Nick Bunch would offer me a plea agreement of 0-5 years, along with an opportunity to turn against the industry, people who had helped me and even my own friends.l I refused for many reasons, including the precedent setting "Securities Fraud" charge, they "had to" have, rather than switching it out for the "Wire Fraud" charges they also planned to indict me on as well. Their plan was obvious to me and I began strategizing my defense and how I'd protect the industry until the very end.
Arrested and Held Without Bond - One day in late November 2018, when reporting for probation, FBI Agent Brian T. would approach me in my probation officer's Dallas office and informed me I was under arrest. Funny enough, three days later at my bond hearing, Mary Walters and Brian T. would put on a show, telling the court I had a habit of never reporting for probation, I was a billionaire despite having to borrow money for bills from friends and sold me as a flight risk. Just when I thought Brian was telling me the truth that I would indeed get a bond, after a long car ride to my arraignment hearing, I remembered what I said exactly two years earlier in my manifesto -- they're liars and frauds. It was a long ride back to the jail, thinking I would never see the free world again with a life sentence looming over my head.
My Government Lawyer & The Plan To Traumatize Me - Not only was I stuck without bond, I was fighting a case that would affect a trillion-dollar industry, without a single dollar towards my defense. That meant I had to get a free lawyer. On the federal level, free lawyers come from one of feds very own federal agencies known as "The Federal Public Defender's Office". These attorneys don't work for firms or themselves, that's because they're literally government employees. When asking to appeal my bond hearing, communicate with my power of attorney or file specific motions -- I was always told "No". It wasn't until my life was threatened by a Mexican gang member and I was placed in solitary confinement that I began to see their plan to traumatize me take shape. Back in segregation I began to hallucinate, talk to myself and felt my health dwindling by the day.
Surviving Kaufman County & Coding From Jail - As a federal inmate in Kaufman County Jail, I met many other federal inmates who had been incarcerated in most of the county jails in the DFW area and all said Kaufman was by far the worst jail they had been in. Some had been there before and still said the same thing. The food was absolutely terrible and was often nicknamed "cat food" due to its appearance. The commissary was so expensive, that 20 6oz. packets of "Grape Drink" cost $10. In case you're wondering, I could make 20 6 oz. cups with that. Even one envelope cost 25 cents and lets not get into the phone minutes. Just to speak to supporters, cost thousands of dollars a month. While most new arrivals were withdrawing from drugs, I was withdrawing from computers. Since I found myself in segregation most of my stay in Kaufman, I learned to code on notebook paper, began working on strategies to push my vision forward and would figure out a way to bring on new developers to carry on with my decentralized dream.
Threatened and Coerced To Plea Guilty - After nearly 60 days in solitary confinement and nobody to talk to, I began to fall apart. My lawyer told me that the government had an "Eighteen wheeler" full of discovery and his office would need "at least" five years to prepare for trial. After informing me I would not receive a bond and would wait out that entire 5 years in Kaufman County, I was presented with an 11(c)1(c) plea agreement, that guaranteed a five year sentence. He told me the government didn't want to go through all the discovery and would only make my life harder if the deal wasn't taken. I again, refused. The events that took place over the next few weeks after my refusal, my dwindling health and the psychological toll seg was taking on my mentality, forced me to agree. Even hours before pleading guilty, I was threatened in the Marshall's office. To this day, I'm trying to fight to retract that plea and my own attorney refuses to do so.
The Government's Crypto Precedent - Even though they cheated to get what they wanted, the entire point of this book centers around how we can depend on ourselves when it comes to kicking out regulators, but from here on out, we must fight for our happiness and freedoms. Benjamin Franklin once said that the US Constitution never guaranteed happiness, only the pursuit thereof. Therefore, we must get in front of regulators, educate the general public on the importance of decentralization and pursue a future where human and government corruption are an afterthought.
US Attorney: "He's An Innovator" - After it was all the fights, the lies, the court battles, the setups and the false media reports, the US Attorney finally admitted the truth - that the entire time they masqueraded me as a fraud, I was truly an innovator. This entire time, they knew they were attacking innovation and it took a sixteen months of misleading the general public, for them to come right out and say it.
My Open Letter To Ross Ulbricht - Ross is currently serving three life sentences in Tucson, Arizona for creating The Silk Road, the world's first decentralized marketplace.
Thank You Aaron Swartz - Aaron Swartz, considered by many to be one of the greatest programmers ever, took his own life after his attempt to decentralize federal court records brought a federal indictment that would have sent Aaron to federal prison for 60 years, if convicted. A personal thank you letter, from me, to a good friend - who never deserved what happened to him. His family and many others still fight on his behalf to this day and in an effort to keep his name alive and his cause appreciated, we will follow their lead.
Fed Up! and My Fight For Reform, Justice & Freedom - While behind bars, I have started a criminal justice reform movement known as "Fed Up!", and have been working with other inmates to spread our decentralized reform movement through the federal prison system. Like the Quakers ended slavery, our goal is to replace gang members with reform activists, to bring about justice, freedom, safety and better education opportunities for those who are incarcerated in federal prisons, in order to prove that even federal inmates can bank on each other to bring about change. Even when we're surrounded with four walls and barbed wire. Decentralization isn't simply possible through a blockchain - it's possible everywhere. Therefore, wherever they take me or wherever I go in life, they'll never take my vision.
Acknowledgements & A Special Thank You