connect_with_me/donate_to_me.html

2025-08-12

Donate

Update

Please see my other document for specific project instead. This document is for unrestricted donations.

How to donate

My Monero (XMR) address:

monero:86YnBpJvrd6eUTuTk58h2ibyw8hWiFYNjhr4E3jBL3puSf3QBzXEQbiAhj7NCmcq9d2pk6KYW7bYyhef9P6t4dMaMeHpzig

(Address updated on 2025-08-12)

Do not donate if

• if your expected networth in next 5 years is below $500k. There's a possibility you need this money more than me.
• if you feel you have obtained most of your money by morally grey or immoral means. This is true whether or not I ever get to know how you obtained your money.

Donation methods

How?

• For amounts below $1000
  • I only accept Monero from anonymous donors at the above address.
  • If you've donated to me, do not message me or anyone in my circle saying you've donated to me, as that can break the anonymity.
  • The best way to buy XMR is usually buying BTC first using a bank transfer, then swapping that for XMR. Reddit has recommendations for both KYC and no-KYC options. If you find this hard or time-consuming, consider finding a friend who can buy it for you and paying them a commission. Learning these skills can be fun and can come in handy in the future.
• For amounts between $1000 and $20k
  • I can accept Monero from anonymous donors at the above address.
  • I can also likely support other payment modes such as wire transfer (SWIFT), Paypal/Stripe or US equity. This may require a background check.
  • I can also list you on my website after a background check, if you prefer this.
  • Email me and I'll quickly figure out the best way to accept your donation. If you're undecided on whether to donate and want a 1-hour call with me first, please email me.
• For amounts above $500k
  • I'd recommend donating $500k first, and giving me a couple weeks to figure out the legal aspects. Then you can send me the remaining amount.
  • Allying with a politician or billionaire would be one of my potential lifetime goals. If you are one, I'm willing to put in a lot of effort to build such a relationship.
  • It could be a standard donor-recipient relationship, in which case I will insist on maintaining autonomy over my decision-making.
  • Or it could be a relationship that involves shared decision-making, in which case we may both have to make compromises.

Why?

• I prefer anonymous donations because I don't have time or interest in doing a background check on small donors. And I would not want to entangle my reputation with yours without a background check.

Consequences of donating to me

• Donation below $1000: Will not significantly change my life but would provide me encouragement. Will increase my ability to raise larger amounts of funding in future.
• Donation above $20k: Will significantly help, as it could help with UK/US/EU visa sponsorship for long duration
• Donation above $500k: Will significantly help, as I could get EU citizenship and fast-tracked US green card.
• Sponsoring UK/US/EU visa for long duration: Will significantly help, so I can obtain expert feedback and find collaborators for my projects.

Restricted versus Unrestricted

Money

• If you want to donate to a specific project, please contact me so we can work out the details.
• Otherwise I will assume your donation is unrestricted, with the intention that I have more agency in the world.
  • I will prefer spending it on a project that I consider important, but I make no legally binding promises regarding the same. There is always a possibility I end up spending it on something you disagree with.

Visa

• I am not keen on shifting to the US on a visa that lets someone else arbitrarily restrict what I do or say.
  • I understand that my speech and behaviour may affect your reputation. We may be able to negotiate a way for your reputation to be insulated from mine despite you providing me a visa. Please contact me to discuss more.

Past financial record

Conclusion: I have multiple years runway, and am not critically dependent on donations. Donations would still help significantly.

Current net worth as of 2025-08: Between $20k to $100k

Expenses

• Ongoing living expenses: $100-$300 per month (can vary depending on projects I'm working on)
• Money spent on whistleblower guide: ~$250 + 3 months of living expenses (ongoing project, not yet complete)
• Money spent on Prolific.com survey: ~$265 (200 GBP)
• Money spent on booksearch project: ~$2600 + 6 months of living expenses

Earnings

• Money earned from crypto trading and investments: >$20k. Includes working at Rari Capital and investing in crypto during bull run in 2021.

Explanation

An investment I made that I now consider morally grey was purchasing significant amount of REPT to profit from victims of smart contract hacks.

• Rari Capital's smart contracts were hacked twice, first in 2021-05 and second in 2022-04. After the first hack, IOU tokens called REPT were issued to all victims. They could either hold these tokens till they were repaid back by Rari, or sell them to someone else. Some of the users sold them to me at a deep discount. Eventually Rari did in fact pay back the hack victims, allowing me to profit.
• I did not cause the smart contract hacks, was not responsible for smart contract security and had left the company over 3 weeks prior to these investments in REPT.
• I do not currently intend to return this money to the counterparties who sold me REPT. I might consider returning it if I became much wealthier than I currently was. If I had to redo the situation again, I might have made different choices. I think Samuel!2021 undervalued the importance of building a strong reputation compared to Samuel!2025.

Ideal funder

I'm not sure if there's even one grantee on Earth that satisfies following criteria

• received $1M funding
• non-profit
• public advocacy
• AI extinction risk

There are currently very non-profit funders for public advocacy around AI risk. Most large funders are funding alignment researchers and US policymakers, in order to make societal changes while keeping most of humanity out of the decision-making process. I don't have a moral problem with this strategy but I think it has high probability of failure, and that public advocacy is more likely to succeed than this strategy.

Relevant: FLI digital media accelerator

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