Mathew Webb

Today's decision by the RBA was widely expected, but that doesn't make it any easier for families and businesses. It's difficult news for many Australians who are already paying a hefty price for circumstances outside their control. We take responsibility for our part of the fight against inflation, which is why we're finding savings at the same time as we roll out relief.

"Bitcoin isn't safe. Look at the Binance hack." Let me translate that for you. "Someone robbed the jewelry store, so gold is a scam." Bitcoin wasn't hacked. The protocol didn't blink. An exchange got caught holding everyone's keys in one shoebox. That's not a Bitcoin problem. That's a custody problem with a company. Hold your own keys. Or keep lining up at the jewelry store.

Hey @stephhodginsmay, did you just break the law, against a lawyer? NSW requires all-party consent for private phone conversations - Surveillance Devices Act 2007. I’m pretty sure you didn’t tell him your were recording or going to post this. You are a bully. #auspol

WHAT THE BINANCE HACK TEACHES YOU Bitcoin held on an exchange is not Bitcoin you control. It’s a Bitcoin IOU. Crypto is not the same as Bitcoin. Many tokens are programmable assets issued or controlled by centralised foundations and companies. Stablecoins are not Bitcoin. They can be frozen for good or bad reasons. Large crypto exchanges are not FDIC-insured banks. Their crypto balances are not protected by FDIC deposit insurance. Binance created its own insurance-style emergency fund, SAFU, because it cannot rely on being too big to fail. Banks, on the other hand, can become too big to fail, socialising losses while privatising gains. Self-custody comes with different risks. Social engineering tricks you into taking an action that compromises your keys. Compromised devices, malicious software and insecure seed phrase generation can expose your Bitcoin without you realising it. Wrench attacks introduce another risk: physical violence or coercion to force you to surrender your keys. Self-custody removes counterparty risk, but makes you responsible for managing your own security. AI is accelerating cyber threats across everything, not just exchanges and crypto. You have no choice but to get good at security. It’s the world we’re moving into, and we’re never going back. Securing your own keys, money, identity and data is becoming one of the most important skills for surviving the future. Start now if you want to be sovereign. You have no choice but to take responsibility for your own security. Oh yeah. 🇮🇱 Every hack is always North Korea. 😂

Big move from Westpac today! From December, customers face a $10k monthly limit on payments to crypto exchanges. Potential winner if other banks follow: Crypto ETFs like EBTC and EETH, which aren’t subject to the same limit. Crypto ETFs were among the worst performers in our latest ETF report. But if returns turn around, we could see strong inflows return. Our latest ETF research is here: stockspot.com.au/etf/

New data from the ABS shows that inflation ticked up in September. While we already had an inflation challenge in our economy, the conflict in the Middle East is making it worse. We recognise people are under pressure and that’s why we are rolling out responsible cost of living relief like cutting income taxes again and boosting bulk billing. We are playing our part in the fight against inflation by finding savings.