22nd December 2025 > > Project K, Marshall Islands, & a scam.

tl;dr

Get your Xmas orders in now for Project K. The Marshall Islands steal a march on the rest of the world. A scam story.

Market Wrap

For a quarter of a century, I always feared writing a market wrap comment for the corporate bond market during Christmas week, for virtually nothing ever happens. I feel the same way today about cryptos.

Occasional Series – The ideal Xmas present

A gentle reminder that Project K is available in either physical or digital form, centralised or decentralised:

https://www.curiouscryptos.com/projectk

Curious Crypto’s Commentary – Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands can fairly be described as being on the remote side of the world:

Bartering – an incredibly inefficient means of exchanging value – is still a thing in the Marshalls, according to my source in President Hilda Heine’s inner circle. Hilda is known for her strong determination on topics such as women’s rights, healthcare, and education. To add into that honourable mix, Hilda is changing stuff for the better in one very specific crypto way. But first, I must admit at this point I am a little conflicted.

UBI (Universal Basic Income) is a dreadful idea that should never have seen the light of day.

However, now that I have been usefully unemployed for nearly a decade with no real income to speak of, I am beginning to quite like the idea of being given free cash in exchange for sitting around scratching my arse and doing nothing productive or worthwhile. It seems a bunch of other people – not least my ex-wife – are on that deal, so why not me too?

Crossmint Wallets has announced a partnership with Marshall Islands to launch a blockchain based UBI:

The Marshall Islands is uniquely placed to benefit from using blockchain technology and stablecoins. Its currency is the US dollar, which must be shipped in on a regular basis. Going to the cash point to withdraw cash is often a hit-and-miss affair, even if a bank is located within easy reach, due to a frequent dearth of physical greenbacks. However, with 1,200 islands spanning nearly two million square kilometres of water, most Marshallese don’t have even that option. Instantaneous settlement of a physically backed stablecoin for virtually zero cost using the Stellar blockchain presents a remarkable opportunity to remove one of the biggest problems the country has to modernise its economy.

f you want to join the queue of those who wish to become Marshallese then, according to Perplexity, these are the requirements:​

• Applicant must be at least 18 years old.

• They must have resided in the Marshall Islands for at least ten years as a permanent resident.​

• Applicants must demonstrate good character, familiarity with the language and customs, and pass a civics examination.​

• They must be self-supporting and renounce any other citizenship upon approval.​

• The application is submitted to the Cabinet member or Minister responsible for immigration, and if approved, the applicant takes an oath of allegiance.​

See you in Majuro.

Curious Crypto’s Commentary – This is not a happy Xmas tale

Despite our collective enthusiasm for cryptos here at CC Towers, we are realists enough to recognise that there are still some problems with the current implementation of cryptos and the infrastructure surrounding cryptos.

There are plenty of scams out there which mostly rely upon taking advantage of people’s greed, in ways which are no different to TradFi scams. However, there is a simple scam which is very crypto specific which we have discussed before now – address poisoning.

Active wallets are targeted by scammers sending small amounts of crypto into those wallets from a wallet with a very similar address – typically the first few and the last few characters match exactly. The idea is that because humans cannot check all the numbers and digits of a public address, we simply check the beginning and end of the key. Sounds like a simple scam, and you probably think it never works. Well, think again:

Losing $50mm is going to hurt, no matter how much you have in the bank.