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The Treasury pays out $5 trillion per year, and previously, payments lacked budget codes, obscuring their purpose. A $4 billion COVID fund in the Department of Education had no receipt requirements, leading to funds being used to rent Caesars Palace and stadiums for parties. When a receipt upload requirement was implemented, fund drawdowns ceased, even though the receipts were not verified. Fraud often starts small and hidden, but escalates over time if unchecked, eventually becoming brazen, such as renting out stadiums.

The Treasury's main payment system, PAM, handles about $5 trillion a year, roughly a billion dollars an hour. When we first looked at it, payments could be processed with no categorization or description – basically, untraceable blank checks. If this were a public company, it would be delisted, and the executives would be in jail. We recommended making payment categorization codes mandatory with some explanation required for each payment. This radical change is being implemented now, and I think it probably saves $100 billion a year. Where was that money going? It's hard to say what was waste and what was fraud. If the government sends money to someone who doesn't deserve it, is that waste, or fraud?

We found that the government was essentially sending untraceable blank checks. If a public company did this, they'd be delisted and executives would go to prison, but it's normal in the government. We recommended to the Treasury and Federal Reserve that payment categorization codes be mandatory, not optional, and that every payment need some explanation, even if we don't judge the quality of it. This is a radical change that's now being implemented. I'm guessing it probably saves about $100 billion a year. Where was that money going? It's hard to say if it was waste or fraud. Many payments were just approved and kept going even after the approving officer changed jobs, retired, or died. It's like forgetting to cancel a gym membership, but instead of $20 a month, it's $20 billion a year.

"Big Balls" says that "Big Balls" is their LinkedIn username because people on LinkedIn take themselves too seriously and are adverse to risk, and they wanted to be neither of those things. "Big Balls" is working on payment computer stuff to root out fraud and waste. There is no accounting of what payments actually go to in the payment computer. When looking at a specific line item, like $20,000,000, for the majority of payment systems, they don't know what the money is going to. This is a huge cause for concern because the upstream thing which is distributing the money literally has no checks, and no accountability to the actual American taxpayer, making it a huge vector for fraud, waste, and abuse. There is no incentive if you work in the government to respect taxpayer money, and incentives decide the outcomes.

The federal government uses only one bank account, the treasury general account, to disperse all monies. There is allegedly $500 billion of fraud every year, and hundreds of billions of dollars in improper payments. The consolidated financial report produced by the treasury cannot pass an audit due to material weakness. Until recently, the federal government could not pass an audit because it lacked necessary payment information, such as payment codes, explanations, and contact information. Previously, over 580 agencies could make payments without verification, and the treasury would send them out as fast as possible. This is likened to a household where many people can access the bank account and disperse funds without justification or verification.

Governments lack the incentive to adapt and improve because they can't fail like private sector organizations. The technology revolution has transformed private sector organizations, but government organizations have not fully adapted. Government financial systems are decades old. It is claimed that $2.3 trillion in transactions cannot be tracked. Information cannot be shared within a single building because it's stored on dozens of different, inaccessible, and incompatible technological systems.

Our financial systems are antiquated. We're unable to track trillions of dollars in transactions. Information sharing is severely limited by outdated and incompatible technological systems.

Speaker 0 expresses a vision to transform government transparency and control over spending. The core goal is to blockchain the entire federal government, and to have every dime of federal spending online in real time, so there is day-by-day, month-by-month visibility into what the Department of Interior and Veterans Affairs (and other agencies) are spending money on. The speaker suggests there could be national security risks with such transparency, noting that some aspects could be “black box” or restricted, but asserts the ideal is real-time visibility into government spending. The speaker argues that the public should know exactly how money is spent, asking concrete questions like what the Department of Interior is spending money on, and whether they are buying items such as “$50 hammers” or “$200 bandages.” The overarching point is that this is “our money” and “we are the sovereign,” because “we create the government,” we earn the money, and “the government extract it from us with our consent.” Therefore, there is a right to know where the money goes.

I'll explain the difference between payment and settlement. Payment is when you use your Visa card at a restaurant, but settlement is when the money actually moves between accounts. Traditional systems like Swift separate payment and settlement due to historical reasons. These systems are outdated, dating back to the 1970s, and are in need of modernization. Even if blockchain and cryptocurrencies fail, the payment industry will still evolve.

The speaker describes a pattern involving Somali couriers at the Minneapolis airport who arrive almost daily with a large amount of cash—“a million 600,000 in cash and a luggage.” This activity is presented as suspicious, with daily occurrences and shipments moving about $350,000,000 a year in cash in their luggage out of Minneapolis Airport and then predominantly overseas. The speaker notes one observed route: when TSA saw the money move, it went from Minneapolis to Europe, Europe to Dubai, often passing through Amsterdam. This money flow was flagged for years by TSA. According to the speaker, the payments were repeatedly flagged over an extended period. The scale of the activity is described as increasing. The money moves were said to have grown from $2,030,000,000 dollars a year to $350,000,000 a year in the last two years, 2024 and 2025. The speaker characterizes the operation as “literally a foreign ATM taking cash out of The United States to foreign destinations,” and states that the reason for this is unknown. The activity is stated to be under investigation by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The speaker ends by noting that people question whether this is normal, given the ongoing investigation and the unusual disposition of cash moving internationally in this manner.

I discovered that 20 million dead people are marked as alive in the social security database. Most fraud doesn't come directly from social security payments, but from disability, unemployment, and fake medical payments because these individuals are incorrectly marked as alive. We need to implement a simple "are you alive" check to prevent these fraudulent payments. This type of negligence would result in a public company being immediately delisted, and its executives imprisoned, but it's considered normal within the government. Therefore, I recommend that the Treasury and Federal Reserve make payment categorization codes mandatory, requiring an explanation for each payment, even if it's basic. This change would significantly improve the current system and potentially save hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

A basic search of the Social Security database revealed 20 million dead people marked as alive. While it's unclear if they're directly receiving Social Security payments, their "alive" status allows them to fraudulently obtain disability, unemployment, and fake medical payments. The fraud occurs because government databases don't communicate well. For example, the Treasury's main payments computer, PAM, handles $5 trillion in payments annually, roughly a billion dollars an hour. We discovered payments lacked categorization codes and descriptions, essentially untraceable blank checks. If a public company operated this way, it would be delisted, and executives would face imprisonment.

We can't track $2.3 trillion in transactions. That's two trillion, three hundred billion dollars.

Our financial systems are outdated, making it difficult to track trillions of dollars in transactions. Additionally, the lack of compatibility between different technological systems prevents us from sharing information within this building.

The Treasury pays out $5 trillion per year, and previously, payments lacked budget codes, obscuring their purpose. A $4 billion COVID fund in the Department of Education had no receipt requirements, leading to funds being used to rent Caesars Palace and stadiums for parties. When a receipt upload requirement was implemented, fund drawdowns ceased, even though the receipts were not verified. Fraud often starts small and hidden, but escalates over time if unchecked, eventually becoming brazen, such as renting out stadiums.

Speaker 0 stated that people on LinkedIn take themselves too seriously and avoid risk, so they decided to do the opposite. Currently, they are working on payment computer initiatives to root out fraud and waste. Speaker 0 found that there is no accounting of where payments actually go within the payment computer. When looking at a specific line item, like $20,000,000, it is often unknown where the money is going. Speaker 0 believes this lack of accountability is a huge cause for concern because the upstream entity distributing the money has no checks and balances, making it a significant vector for fraud, waste, and abuse. They claim there is no incentive to respect taxpayer money when working in the government, and incentives determine outcomes.

The Treasury pays out $5 trillion per year, and previously, payments lacked budget codes, obscuring their purpose. A $4 billion COVID fund in the Department of Education had no receipt requirements, leading to funds being used to rent Caesars Palace and stadiums for parties. When a receipt upload requirement was implemented, fund drawdowns ceased, even though the receipts were not verified. Fraud often starts small and hidden, but escalates over time if unchecked, eventually becoming brazen, such as renting out stadiums.

What if an organization like Ericsson controlled the internet? It raises questions about how a non-government entity could hold a government hostage through its monetary system. This situation has already occurred with the current system, particularly with the Federal Reserve and SWIFT, which operates privately. For instance, withdrawing over $10,000 from a bank often prompts questions about the purpose. Debanking is also becoming common. A personal example is the 2019 shutdown of Lebanon's Central Bank, which left many without access to their funds, while local politicians managed to retrieve theirs. People often remain unconcerned until a crisis directly impacts them, similar to the 2008 real estate crash, highlighting how governance and private sectors often disregard individual concerns until they face legal consequences.

According to estimates, an enormous amount of $2.3 trillion in transactions cannot be tracked. This staggering figure highlights the difficulty in monitoring such a vast sum of money.

Our financial systems are outdated, hindering our progress. It is estimated that $2.3 trillion in transactions cannot be tracked. Additionally, we face challenges in sharing information within this building due to incompatible and inaccessible technological systems.

Governments need to find incentives for bureaucracy to adapt and improve, unlike individuals or businesses that can fail and die. The technology revolution has transformed organizations in the private sector, but not the government. Our financial systems are outdated, with an estimated $2.3 trillion in untrackable transactions. Additionally, information cannot be shared within this building due to incompatible and inaccessible technological systems.

What if an organization like Ericsson controlled the internet? It raises concerns about non-government actors potentially holding governments hostage through monetary systems. This has already occurred with the Federal Reserve and the private nature of systems like SWIFT. For instance, withdrawing large sums from banks often leads to intrusive questions, and debanking is becoming more common. A personal example is the 2019 Central Bank shutdown in Lebanon, where many lost access to their funds, while local politicians managed to retrieve theirs. People often remain unconcerned until they are personally affected, similar to the 2008 real estate crash, highlighting how governance and private sectors operate until individual interests are at stake.

Our financial systems are outdated, hindering our progress. It is estimated that we are unable to trace $2.3 trillion in transactions. Additionally, the lack of compatibility between various technological systems prevents us from sharing information within this building.

"We move into this digital currency era where the banks are issuing these stable coins, these deposit tokens that are programmable money." "They're going to be sharing this data in the same database that the CIA and any other intelligence agency can access whenever they want without a warrant." "No more secret FISA courts or you don't need any of that infrastructure anymore. It is the new system." "Retail CBDC is not nearly as common today as wholesale CBDC." "Wholesale CBDC works as this two tier system." "the CBDC really only serves as a means of interbank settlement and isn't public facing at all." "FedNow, for example, of the Federal Reserve, that was launched solely as a means of interbank settlement, really." "When you have people like Trump and Ron DeSantis say no CBDC, they mean no public facing CBDC. They don't mean no wholesale CBDC."