While we may never know the first pirate, just like we will never know the very first thief, historical evidence shows that sea-raiding has been around since the very first boats traversed the world’s waterways. Despite efforts to end piracy, my research shows that the conditions that produce ship looting remain and will likely always exist. When most people imagine a pirate, they picture actor Johnny Depp playing the mad but likable swashbuckler Jack Sparrow, captain of the sailing ship the Black Pearl. President Donald Trump has announced the establishment of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funded by the United States Treasury’s forfeited Bitcoin. This reserve aims to position the U.S. as the “crypto capital of the world” and support the growth of the digital asset sector. The reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin already owned by the federal government, estimated to be about 198,000 BTC as of August 2025.

North America

Governments of the Caribbean islands and of the American colonies often did not have the money or manpower to contain piracy, and some accepted bribes from the pirates. Therefore, the institution flourished along the coast of New England south to the Caribbean Sea. Any male out of work or lacking means or land might be tempted into a life of piracy. By the 16th century they had established a pirate empire, the Barbary States, in the countries of northern Africa.

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At the same time, England’s less favored colonies, including Bermuda, New York, and Rhode Island, had become cash-starved by the Navigation Acts, which restricted trade with foreign ships. This set the stage for the famous pirates, Thomas Tew, Henry Every, Robert Culliford and (although his guilt remains controversial) William Kidd. Although drastically reduced, acts of piracy continued into the 19th century.

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In addition, Spanish ships were tempting to rob because they were filled with European goods traveling to the Spanish colonies in the Americas. On the return voyage, they transported colonial products, especially gold and silver, back to Spain. Late in the century many buccaneers became legitimate privateers in the service of their respective countries, and buccaneering came to an end. In the early 19th century, piracy along the East and Gulf Coasts of North America as well as in the Caribbean increased again.

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• At the same time, England’s less favored colonies, including Bermuda, New York, and Rhode Island, had become cash-starved by the Navigation Acts, which restricted trade with foreign ships.
• About the time of the Mexican–American War in 1846, the United States Navy had grown strong and numerous enough to eliminate the pirate threat in the West Indies.
• Their function is similar to the 18th century privateers, used by the Royal Navy.

Sometimes pirates released the ship’s passengers and crew, but other times they held them for ransom. On the ship pirates flew the Jolly Roger, a flag that incorporated some sort of a skeleton, such as a skull and crossbones. It was considered bad luck for women to be on ships, so very few became pirates. Many pirates did not surrender and were killed at the point of capture; notorious pirate Edward Teach, or “Blackbeard”, was hunted down by Lieutenant Robert Maynard at Ocracoke Inlet off the coast of North Carolina on November 22, 1718, and killed.

The Golden Era of piracy, which extended from 1560 until well into the second part of the 18th century, was centered in the Caribbean. Tortuga Island and Port Royal were the two most famous pirate-centers in the Caribbean, mostly because the conflicts over colonization had made the area easily accessible to visitors and pirates alike. The acts of piracy, as defined in article 101, committed by a warship, government ship or government aircraft whose crew has mutinied and taken control of the ship or aircraft are assimilated to acts committed by a private ship or aircraft. Many nations forbid ships to enter their territorial waters or ports if the crew of the ships are armed, in an effort to restrict possible piracy.164 Shipping companies sometimes hire private armed security guards. About the time of the Mexican–American War in 1846, the United States Navy had grown strong and numerous enough to eliminate the pirate threat in the West Indies. By the 1830s, ships had begun to convert to steam propulsion, so the Age of Sail and the classical idea of pirates in the Caribbean ended.

Also crucial to the end of this era of piracy was the loss of the pirates’ last Caribbean safe haven at Nassau. England began to strongly turn against piracy at the turn of the 18th century, as it was increasingly damaging to the country’s economic and commercial prospects in the region. Piracy is the act of robbing or committing other violent financial services commission actions for private gain while on the seas.

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However, some British and American individual citizens also volunteered to serve with Chinese pirates to fight against European forces. The British offered rewards for the capture of westerners serving with Chinese pirates. During the Second Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion, piratical junks were again destroyed in large numbers by British naval forces but ultimately it was not until the 1860s and 1870s that organ trail cryptocurrency fleets of pirate junks ceased to exist.

• In the 12th century the coasts of western Scandinavia were plundered by Curonians and Oeselians from the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea.
• Although enormously successful, he eventually lost his land base and his power dwindled.
• In England most of these executions took place at Execution Dock on the River Thames in London.

On hearing the news, Bellamy formed a partnership with a blue-blooded New Englander named Palsgrave Williams, whose father was attorney general of Rhode Island. Together they sailed south in 1716, hoping to make their fortunes by plundering the wrecks. Born in Devonshire in 1689, Bellamy went to sea at an early age, joining the Royal Navy while in his late teens and seeing action abroad. But in 1714 an outbreak of peace after years of incessant warfare in Europe saw a downsizing in the navy, and, like many other battle-hardened sailors, Bellamy found himself at a loose end. In 1715 he traveled to Massachusetts to scout for opportunities and visit relations on Cape Cod. While he was there, he fell in love with a woman whose name is given variously as either Goody Hallett or Maria Hallett.

The so-called golden age of piracy between 1650 and 1730 was inextricably intertwined with the growth of the plantation economy in the Caribbean. With enormous wealth being made in sugar, rum, and molasses from sugarcane fields worked by enslaved people came surging demand for more enslaved labor to grow the crops and maximize profits. Spanish treasure fleets laden with luxury goods and South American gold and silver, mined by Indigenous workers under conditions of coerced and, sometimes, incentivized labor, plied Caribbean waters on their way to Spain. Pirates went where the money was and gravitated toward bustling slave ports along the West African coast and prosperous colonies in the Caribbean and North America. Slave ships were frequent targets, with the pirates not only taking whatever valuables the ships were carrying but also recruiting or forcing crew members and formerly enslaved men to join them. This arrangement also contributed heavily to the spread of piracy across the western Atlantic at this time.

In 1717, a pardon was offered to pirates who surrendered to British authorities. Piracy also flourished in the seas of East and Southeast Asia and eastern Africa. There criminal organizations involved in smuggling (of guns and drugs) and other illegal activities committed acts best self service stock trading interactive broker web trade of piracy. These pirates sometimes operated under the protection of state officials in small ports.

Since commissioned naval vessels were openly used, these commerce raiders should not be considered even privateers, much less pirates—although the opposing combatants were vocal in denouncing them as such. Modern pirates favor small boats and taking advantage of the small number of crew members on modern cargo vessels. They also use large vessels to supply the smaller attack/boarding vessels. Modern pirates can be successful because a large amount of international commerce occurs via shipping. As usage increases, many of these ships have to lower cruising speeds to allow for navigation and traffic control, making them prime targets for piracy.

A significant milestone for Pi Network was the transition to its open mainnet on February 20, 2025. This development allowed Pi tokens to be traded outside the app, marking a new phase in the project’s evolution. Following the mainnet launch, several cryptocurrency exchanges, including Bitget, listed Pi tokens, providing users with platforms to trade and invest in Pi.

Sheryar Khan

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