Author Topic: Money/inflation, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, BTC, crypto, Gold  (Read 512792 times)

ya

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A few weeks ago, there was a news article that the Saudis are getting into Bitcoin mining, perhaps using flared gases, which currently go waste.

Crafty_Dog

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ccp

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Trump: cryto currency : fake currency
« Reply #1552 on: September 01, 2021, 10:15:51 AM »
He likes the American dollar

https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/trump-cryptocurrencies-disaster-scam/2021/09/01/id/1034642/

remember this guy had no problem signing off on trillions in new spending

whose Fed pumped out dollars like rabbits having bunnies

God I hope we get someone else for '24.
I don't want to go thru another 4 of him
yet still better than any democrat


G M

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Re: Trump: cryto currency : fake currency
« Reply #1553 on: September 01, 2021, 11:39:58 AM »
Don't worry, the dems will make sure to "fortify" all future elections to ensure he's never president again. Or anyone else the deep state doesn't approve of.


He likes the American dollar

https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/trump-cryptocurrencies-disaster-scam/2021/09/01/id/1034642/

remember this guy had no problem signing off on trillions in new spending

whose Fed pumped out dollars like rabbits having bunnies

God I hope we get someone else for '24.
I don't want to go thru another 4 of him
yet still better than any democrat

ya

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1554 on: September 01, 2021, 07:50:14 PM »
BTC going to 60 K, soon.

ya

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1555 on: September 05, 2021, 07:10:40 AM »
Sept 7, a lot of folks are going to buy 30 $ worth BTC, in solidarity with BTC becoming legal tender in El Salvador. The govt of El Salv, is giving its entire population 30$ to start using BTC. The on-chain analytics is showing BTC is ready to move up.

ya

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Bitcoin vs. $hitcoin
« Reply #1556 on: September 05, 2021, 01:04:07 PM »
Bitcoin vs $hitcoin

https://youtu.be/TIkqBZnrKJM

« Last Edit: September 05, 2021, 01:30:05 PM by Crafty_Dog »

ya

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Discussion with Marc Faber
« Reply #1557 on: September 05, 2021, 02:35:53 PM »
I think you will enjoy this discussion with Marc Faber, in 2 parts

https://youtu.be/fDf24HkFXKE

https://youtu.be/7-0Ym5CoDS0
« Last Edit: September 06, 2021, 05:15:06 AM by Crafty_Dog »

ya

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1558 on: September 07, 2021, 04:51:39 PM »
Today was an interesting day, i.e. the day El Salv started using BTC as legal tender. Nearly every exchange stopped functioning (crashed) and there are tens of them. Could be buy the rumor and sell the news or the IMF trying its best to crash BTC. The IMF has been making nasty statements towards El.Salv and they may have tried to show who is boss.

G M

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ya

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1560 on: September 11, 2021, 01:49:41 PM »
Willy Woo commentary
Top level summary for 11th Sep 2021 (current price $45.6k):

Macro & mid-macro: The network is coming into a macro region of capital influx, further supporting the view of re-accumulation and a strong rally late this year and into 2022.

Short term: Short term and long term investors, including whales, are now in strong accumulation, taking this opportunity to buy during this pull-back. Meanwhile we are in a volatility squeeze environment. Fundamentals are forming a bullish divergence to price action and as such, it points to this price pull back being a bear trap (that’s to say price moving to trick people into a bearish expectation while price snaps back suddenly bullish). We experienced a similar environment in July when price collapsed to $28k before a strong rally above $50k.

Price action expectation: I’m awaiting a price squeeze back into the $50k+ range once accumulation has completed, I expect this to happen this coming week.

Price action conviction: Medium (downrated due to correlations to equity markets which has been weak recently and could pull BTC down with it should the SP500 break long term support.).

Crafty_Dog

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Mary Anastasia O'Grady
« Reply #1561 on: September 14, 2021, 05:53:27 PM »


El Salvador Runs a Bitcoin Scam
The cryptocurrency as obligatory legal tender undermines dollarization.

By Mary Anastasia O’Grady
Sept. 12, 2021 4:17 pm ET


Ever since Iran was denied access in 2012 to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a Brussels-based global banking network known as Swift, the axis of evil and its allies have intensified their search for a way to move illicit money electronically, outside the legal banking system.

Getting kicked off Swift is “like getting knocked back into the financial Stone Age,” says Joseph Humire, executive director for the Center for a Secure Free Society. “Without it, governments are reduced to physically moving around pallets of cash.”

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele doesn’t have to worry about that possibility anymore because on Sept. 7 El Salvador made bitcoin obligatory legal tender. By adopting a nonbanking currency that will coexist with the U.S. dollar but trade outside the internationally protected banking system, Mr. Bukele ensures that he will be able to move money electronically, even if his government should face sanctions.

The bitcoin law also gives Mr. Bukele a path to end dollarization and return to a government fiat currency that can be printed as politicians desire. This has alarmed advocates of stable money because, by dollarizing in 2001, El Salvador ended the specter of hyperinflation and devaluation.


It may be that Mr. Bukele believes that bitcoin will behave better than the dollar as a medium of exchange and a store of value. But if so, he got an education on the day of the launch. The website of the e-wallet Chivo, which the government is using to circulate bitcoin, crashed. Meanwhile the dollar value of the cryptocurrency traded down as much as 17%.

The rocky start highlighted the dangers of obligatory bitcoin for a poor country that needs investment and growth. Salvadorans who receive bitcoin—in remittances or in commercial transactions for example—will either have to accept the possibility of losses incurred by holding this volatile asset or sell it through Chivo, which is a government-sponsored enterprise with little transparency.

Article 8 of the law says that the government guarantees “automatic and instant convertibility” to dollars. It’s unclear how that works in real time or the risks to taxpayers. But as Florida Atlantic University economist William Luther points out “those who make the exchange won’t be getting dollars in their Chivo accounts but rather dollar-stable coins.” As you will see in a moment, this opens the door to a possible de-dollarization of the economy without the public’s approval.

A 2015 paper published by Mr. Humire’s center—titled “The Anti-Dollar Alliance”—discussed an effort, led by Russia, China and Ecuador “against the global dominance of the U.S. dollar.”


The paper described a 2014 meeting in Bolivia of foreign delegations from these countries, along with dozens more. “One of the loudest voices came from Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa who held several conversations with his Chinese counterparts to affirm the need to reform the international financial architecture.”

As Mr. Bukele’s government grows ever closer to China and tensions with Washington increase, it isn’t unreasonable to see his bitcoin law as an experiment in circumventing the laws that Mr. Correa so detested.

There is no evidence that Mr. Bukele dislikes dollars. He undoubtedly knows they are the world’s monetary standard and surely would like to have more of them. But he wants to get around the rules governing their circulation in the international financial system. Still, the bigger near-term risk to the nation may be the threat to currency stability.


The Chivo e-wallet allows Salvadorans in the U.S. to send money home without incurring money-gram fees. But it could also be the first step to breaking dollarization, which is popular.

The stable-dollar coin is a parallel digital asset with a fixed exchange-rate to the dollar. In other words, it’s a new currency created by the government.

To get it into circulation, the government has to get the largely unbanked nation into digital money. The bitcoin law does this by forcing merchants to accept the digital currency—Article 7 of the law—via Chivo.

When Salvadorans convert their bitcoin to dollars, they don’t receive dollars in the e-wallet. Instead they become holders of stable-dollar coins, which are only a claim to real dollars.

At that point, Salvadorans hold an asset backed by the full faith and credit of, well, Mr. Bukele’s government. It can rename that stable-dollar coin at any time, but it is most likely to do so only after it gains widespread use. It can also renege on its promise to peg it at one-to-one to the dollar, essentially devaluing the asset.

It would be impossible to stop this unpopular confiscation of assets because the dollar-equivalent coin in the Chivo e-wallet would be issued and backed by the government, which, by the way, is highly indebted. If this looks familiar it’s because it’s a gussied-up version of Argentine convertibility.

Write to O’Grady@wsj.com


ccp

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Bitcoin as national currency
« Reply #1562 on: September 15, 2021, 07:00:14 AM »
interesting article
and take on bitcoin adoption by countries as currency

as for Ms O'Grady she appears to be conservative :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_O'Grady

would I rather have my finances backed by. the US dollar
or gold ? 

probably gold or bitcoin

too soon to say bitcoin.  :-o

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1563 on: September 20, 2021, 03:53:47 PM »
What happened to GBTC today?

Crafty_Dog

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Stratfor: El Salvador's BTC gambit
« Reply #1564 on: September 23, 2021, 02:43:47 PM »


The Benefits, Risks and Constraints of El Salvador's Bitcoin Gambit

El Salvador's use of bitcoin as legal tender was intended to boost the developing nation's economy. But implementation difficulties will likely serve as a cautionary tale to other nations looking to implement national digital currencies. Bitcoin became legal tender Sept. 7 in El Salvador. Given the unprecedented nature of the move to adopt a cryptocurrency on a national scale, little can be forecast about how this will affect the country's macroeconomics, business climate and citizens. The initial rollout of the country's Bitcoin wallet, Chivo, has been rocky, as the app was down for the majority of the first day and has since crashed several additional times. In addition to technological issues, the move has also given rise to unrest, with a widespread backlash breaking out against the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender.

Just days after the president submitted the bill, the law passed June 9 by a supermajority in the Salvadoran legislature, with 62 members voting in favor of the bill, 19 opposing and 3 abstaining.

The lopsided legislative vote aside, recent polls show two-thirds of Salvadorans disagree with the government's move, with many skeptical of its financial implications.

Protesters burned bitcoin ATMs — which can exchange bitcoins for dollars — in widespread protests from Sept. 15-16.

To encourage the public to use Bitcoin, the government is giving every Salvadoran citizen the equivalent of $30 dollars in bitcoin when they download the Chivo app, leading to an immediate explosion in the use of the app among those with internet access. This surge does not ensure continued use, however, as Salvadorans may download the app to spend the money, then stop using the digital wallet. Additionally, the Salvadoran government has installed roughly 200 ATMs that will allow citizens to exchange the cryptocurrency for dollars and withdraw cash, in addition to approving a reserve of 550 bitcoins to facilitate these transactions.

Benefits, Risks and Constraints

The move may remove the heavy fees associated with sending remittances; at present, an average of 10% of transactions goes to financial intermediaries. Remittances currently account for roughly 20% of the country's gross national income. While remittances could indeed increase through the use of Bitcoin, public pushback against the currency will limit this, as will the significant portion of the country that lacks internet access. As only 66.2% of the population uses the internet, the government will have to mount an aggressive internet access campaign before a majority of the population can make payments in the currency

Increased use of digital wallets and other apps may make it easier for those without bank accounts to transfer their money online. This would create greater security around finances, allow the government to tax more payments — as employers may now pay employees in bitcoins — and prevent cash theft. As of 2021, 70% of El Salvador's population had no bank account.

The adoption of Bitcoin may increase foreign direct investment in El Salvador. The government has launched several cryptocurrency-related incentives, such as the decision not to impose a capital gains tax on bitcoins and the allowance of permanent residency for crypto entrepreneurs. This may incentivize bitcoin miners and ATM manufacturers — due to large government purchases of ATMs that convert bitcoins to dollars — to relocate their business to the country.

As the move to make Bitcoin legal tender gains international attention, cryptocurrency enthusiasts around the world may travel to El Salvador to see the experiment live. When a small beach town in the country, El Zonte, began a micro experiment actively encouraging residents to use bitcoins, the town saw an influx of global tourism, becoming one of Central America's top tourist destinations. Though the ongoing global outbreak of COVID-19 is likely to stifle this effect, El Salvador's aggressive vaccination campaign may put potential tourists at ease.

Bitcoin's volatility heightens the likelihood of temporary losses in value for businesses and individuals in El Salvador who conduct transactions in cryptocurrency. This threat will likely disproportionately affect small businesses, which are more vulnerable to financial shocks. Additionally, a drastic price drop or increase may lead to a potential rush on cryptocurrency ATMs, causing security risks.

The volatility associated with El Salvador's move to adopt Bitcoin may lower the market rate of the country's foreign debt, potentially threatening El Salvador's ability to access external financing ahead of bond redemptions. This may pose difficulties, as the country will need roughly $3.5 billion to $4 billion in foreign funding per year to finance its deficit, which has climbed to roughly 90% of GDP.

The move has already created tensions between the government and the International Monetary Fund, which considers cryptocurrency as legal tender "a threat to macroeconomic stability" and potentially harmful to financial integrity through its use in illicit activities. El Salvador is currently in negotiations with the IMF for a $1 billion program to patch budget gaps through 2023. Should the volatility of Bitcoin affect macroeconomic policy, it would likely hamper these negotiations, hurting the already poor performance of the country's sovereign bonds.

Without sufficient monitoring and regulation, it is unlikely that El Salvador will be able to stop criminal groups — namely Barrio 18 and MS-13 — from using the platform to launder money and move large sums of money between the United States and El Salvador. This would further delegitimize Bitcoin, which has been used for money laundering in the past. Though the government has laid out regulations on the cryptocurrency, it is unclear how effective regulatory measures will be since the government commonly selectively applies regulation.

As the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender is unprecedented, lawmakers in several other regional countries are looking to El Salvador's experiment to gauge its feasibility. Legislators in Panama, Mexico and Paraguay have proposed similar laws, though they are unlikely to pass. Should the experiment prove successful or countries deem it would work out better for them than for El Salvador, other countries may choose to adopt cryptocurrencies as legal tender or create government-sponsored cryptocurrencies pegged to an existing currency, such as in the Eastern Caribbean. Other dollarized economies, such as Ecuador, Panama and Zimbabwe, may consider adopting a cryptocurrency as legal tender or creating a nationalized cryptocurrency should the move reduce El Salvador's reliance on the dollar.

The Eastern Caribbean currency union launched a digitized version of the Eastern Caribbean dollar called "DCash" in April 2021, making it the world's first currency union to implement a blockchain-based currency.

ya

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Strike API
« Reply #1565 on: September 23, 2021, 05:56:37 PM »
Breaking news: this is hugely disruptive, pl. do consider reading
https://jimmymow.medium.com/announcing-the-strike-api-c18a4e9c54de
« Last Edit: September 23, 2021, 07:36:25 PM by Crafty_Dog »

ccp

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Xi going hard core Mao
« Reply #1566 on: September 24, 2021, 08:24:03 AM »
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/china-declares-cryptocurrency-transactions-illegal-132728572.html

The Chinese and the World is in for real hurt .

We are in cold war for 30 yrs. 

Biden and his handlers
still playing soft

"we are trying to prevent cold war"

G M

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Re: Xi going hard core Mao
« Reply #1567 on: September 24, 2021, 10:25:44 AM »
A financially collapsing China is very dangerous. Luckily, we have the bestests, smartest people running things, so it’s fine!


https://finance.yahoo.com/video/china-declares-cryptocurrency-transactions-illegal-132728572.html

The Chinese and the World is in for real hurt .

We are in cold war for 30 yrs. 

Biden and his handlers
still playing soft

"we are trying to prevent cold war"

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1568 on: September 24, 2021, 11:50:39 AM »
GBTC (and COIN) apparently very unhappy with this news , , ,

Some rather undisciplined articulation here with some interesting ideas mixed in:

https://bombthrower.com/articles/china-is-showing-us-what-it-would-take-to-ban-crypto/
« Last Edit: September 24, 2021, 12:02:24 PM by Crafty_Dog »

ya

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1569 on: September 24, 2021, 06:07:20 PM »
China has tried to ban BTC tens of times. If they cant ban it, no one can. BTC went down about 5K, but its now back up to where it was 2-3 days ago. China bans are having little effect. They are scared of BTC, they want Chinese CBDC.

ya

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jack mallers
« Reply #1570 on: September 25, 2021, 06:36:48 PM »
I have shilled Jack Mallers before, check this amazing video from 1:00 hrs as to what his achievement does for payment systems world wide.

https://youtu.be/oWZ3Lczu3j4?t=3595
« Last Edit: September 26, 2021, 12:19:06 AM by Crafty_Dog »


ya

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1572 on: September 26, 2021, 06:22:40 PM »
BTC mining is 70 % green. Texas is leading, where all the flared gas is being captured for mining. Nuclear mining is coming too. Society progresess with increase in energy consumption...the so called Kardashev type I civilizations.

ccp

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1573 on: September 27, 2021, 07:48:47 AM »
Hi ya

"BTC mining is 70 % green"

can you source this

anti bitcoiners make it sound like bitcoin is  burning fossil fuel

like mad



ya

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1574 on: September 27, 2021, 05:34:54 PM »
There are several publications where the 70 % number has been cited https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-shockingly-renewable-energy/ , I have to clarify that refers to the US/Canada. More than 50-60 % of the coal based mining was in China, most of it has been shut down. However, the exact calculations are complex, because it also depends on the price of BTC. Higher price, correlates with higher hash rate, i.e. more energy use. The most detailed report is this one.
https://nydig.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/NYDIG-Bitcoin-Net-Zero.pdf


ya

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1576 on: September 29, 2021, 04:49:18 AM »
Prez of El Salvador has been tweeting about using Volcano geothermal heat to mine BTC, also might sell "Volcano Bonds".

https://twitter.com/i/status/1442949756993490945

Also this https://bitcoinist.com/the-president-shows-el-salvadors-volcano-bitcoin-mining-rigs-first-steps/
« Last Edit: September 29, 2021, 05:06:56 AM by ya »

ccp

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Bitcoin in US China more green then thought
« Reply #1577 on: September 29, 2021, 04:54:29 AM »
Thanks ya



ya

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Re: Money, the Fed, Banking, Monetary Policy, Dollar, bitcoin, crypto, Gold/Silver
« Reply #1579 on: September 29, 2021, 05:14:25 PM »
BTC note from Willy Woo:
Top level summary for 30th Sep 2021 (current price $41.2k):

Macro & mid-macro: Long term investors are now at their peak levels of accumulation. If history repeats, we can expect two or more months of re-accumulation followed by a strong rally.

Short term: While price action has been locally bearish coming off China news, long term investors have been buying.

Price action expectation: Sideways between $39k and $47k over the next 2 weeks, this may change if new changes come in, I’ll let you know.

Price action conviction: Medium.


ya

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This is the reason, one needs to store coins in a digital vault at the exchange (though the IRS and govt can get at it) or better self custody using a hardware wallet (there is small learning curve). The worst place is to keep coins on the exchange.

Crafty_Dog

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Washington Times: Laos offers cheap energy in Bitcoin mining pitch
« Reply #1582 on: October 04, 2021, 05:40:20 AM »
CRYPTOCURRENCY

Laos offers cheap energy in Bitcoin mining pitch

U.S. warns of environmental disaster

BY RICHARD S. EHRLICH THE WASHINGTON TIMES BANGKOK | The impoverished nation of Laos, fueled by abundant hydroelectric power from the Mekong River, is shrugging off U.S. warnings of disastrous environmental problems and stepping in after China’s crackdown on Bitcoin mining and trading.

Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh announced last month that Laos would create and deal in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other blockchain-based currencies, making Laos the only Southeast Asian country to officially permit and participate in the web-based currency.

Bitcoin miners need plentiful power supplies to perform the dense mathematical computations that produce

the currency. China allowed them to feed on its cheap electricity for several years, mainly in the provinces of Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Sichuan and Yunnan.

Beijing rocked the cryptocurrency markets in May by tightening regulations and shutting their systems. On Sept. 24, China’s central bank declared all transactions involving Bitcoin and other virtual currencies illegal. The Associated Press reported that Chinese officials were concerned that Bitcoin and other digital currencies disrupted the financial system and had become increasingly popular withmoneylaunderingrings. Worried foreign investors struggled to export expensive, delicate, massive computers out of China while scouring the world for other places to set up. In its scramble to capture the Chinese business, Laos is taking on some big rivals.

“China has shot itself in the foot by going after its Bitcoin miners,” Forbes reported. “The U.S. is becoming a big-time miner in its wake.” Mining is allowed in Texas, South Dakota, Nebraska, North Carolina and other states.

International miners have also moved operations from China to Canada, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia and elsewhere.

Mining, or “minting,” fresh crypto involves constructing and operating huge linked computer “rigs” to determine a 64digit hexadecimal “hash” number based on increasingly complex algorithms, essentially guessing trillions of possible random answers. By doing so, miners confirm Bitcoin and transactions are genuine and add them to the blockchain.

Decentralized miners collect a commission in Bitcoin after validating 1 megabyte of transaction data.

The result, cryptocurrency advocates say, is a new kind of money that moves safely, seamlessly and anonymously over the internet beyond the control and regulations of governments and central banks.

In the global competition to attract miners, several countries in the Northern Hemisphere boast of year-round icy temperatures to cool giant, heat-generating databases.

That’s not a pitch Laos can make. Its mountainous jungles are usually hot, but ultra-cheap Laotian hydroelectricity is proving a potent lure.

With 73 hydroelectric plants in operation, Laos’ main export is electricity. Electrical power represented 30% of the country’s total exports, valued at $6 billion last year.

Laos also offers inexpensive real estate, a low-cost workforce, loose regulatory enforcement and special economic zones with financial sweeteners for outside investors. On the negative side, an opaque bureaucracy, limited transportation routes, corruption and an inefficient legal system could dampen enthusiasm.

For Laos to turn a profit, foreign cryptocurrency businesses would need to build, operate, repair, clean and test crypto databases inside large warehouses linked to hydroelectric stations.

The Laotian ministers of finance, energy and mines, planning and investment, technology and communications, and public security say they are ready to help.

Local investors for mining and trading include Wap Data Technology Laos, Phongsubthavy Road & Bridge Construction Co., Sisaket Construction Co. Ltd., Boupha Road-Bridge Design Survey Co. Ltd., the Joint Development Bank and the Phousy Group, according to the government-approved Laotian Times.

The government’s Bank of Laos will issue regulations for cryptocurrency use, even as the country relies on U.S. aid, Chinese loans, Thai investment and other foreign sources to fuel its economy.

El Salvador last month became the first country to embrace cryptocurrency as official legal tender.

In Laos, it is against the law to buy or sell cryptocurrency. Still, many Laotian businesses quietly accept cryptocurrency as payment and advertise opportunities to invest in digital currency, The Laotian Times reported.

Despite presenting itself as a hammerand- sickle communist country, Laos has welcomed international capitalists from East and West seeking to exploit its natural resources.

Laos anticipates that crypto miners will harness the Mekong River and its tributaries for fast cash, but U.S. concerns focus on the proliferation of hydroelectric dams and its environmental impacts.

The Mekong begins in Tibet’s glaciers, crosses China and meanders from the northern Laotian border into Cambodia. The river then broadens into southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta and washes into the South China Sea near Ho Chi Minh City.

The U.S. has backed Cambodian and Vietnamese efforts to curb Laotian dam construction and enforce regulations on the seasonal timing and quantity of water that flows to maintain the two downriver nations’ fishery and agricultural sectors.

Critics say the dams create some of the worst environmental crises in Southeast Asia and are concerned that Beijing has joined other investors to rush construction and extract quick profits.

Most Laotian hydroelectric power is sold to the government-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, which lights up Bangkok, Chiang Mai and other cities. Laos needs just a small share of the electricity it generates because of the modest needs of its scattered population of 7 million.

Chinese companies built many of the dams, and Thais and others built and financed several. A total of 140 dams are ultimately expected to be constructed in Laos.


Crafty_Dog

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Pandora Papers
« Reply #1584 on: October 04, 2021, 05:25:03 PM »
Third post of day


https://amgreatness.com/2021/10/04/newly-released-pandora-papers-reveal-billions-hidden-from-tax-laws-by-the-wealthy/

Coincidentally the PP would seem to work to the advantage of those who want to end financial privacy/independence.
« Last Edit: October 04, 2021, 05:26:38 PM by Crafty_Dog »

ccp

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of course Manchin caving and bribed as we knew he would
« Reply #1585 on: October 06, 2021, 07:09:37 AM »
https://www.yahoo.com/news/manchin-signals-may-raise-1-184900946.html

losing those 2 Georgia Senate seats
was turning point

I am still not clear Trump did not hurt us there
with his big mouth

but of course the dems have rigged the voting system
with armies of pain operatives going door to door getting people to sign
of finding out who and how they can send in mail ballots for with no real way to confirm the votes

my guess the bill will pass for 2.5 T

ccp

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Disconnect between crypto and stock market
« Reply #1586 on: October 06, 2021, 10:03:16 AM »
bitcoin
and ethereum are rising

while the stock market deteriorates

and gold and silver languish

is this not a first?

people fleeing their dollars into crypto.  8-)

better than investing into a trillion dollar US coin.

 :-D


Crafty_Dog

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WSJ: Central banks taper-- take cover!
« Reply #1587 on: October 06, 2021, 01:53:25 PM »
As Central Banks Taper, Investors Should Take Cover
Previously, the European Central Bank and the Fed offset each other’s impact. No such luck this time.
By Dimitris Valatsas
Oct. 6, 2021 2:32 pm ET


Do you have too much money? Losing sleep over that ballooning bank account? Perhaps not. But spare a thought for Jerome Powell and Christine Lagarde, who must lead us all out of a global monetary glut. Facing essentially the same pandemic-era problem, the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have come to the same solution: drastically cut monthly net asset purchases. Unfortunately for financial markets, they will be pulling back at the same time, setting up 2022 as the year of the “taper tandem”—the fastest liquidity drain in a decade.

Monetary data indicate that advanced economies are awash in money, thanks to central banks’ voracious buying of financial assets. In March 2020, amid financial panic over Covid-19, the New York Fed was creating money to buy up to $75 billion of assets every day. Around the same time, the ECB announced an emergency program targeting €1.85 trillion ($2.15 trillion) of purchases in total. Plentiful liquidity helped governments, businesses and households survive lockdowns. Cash flows collapsed but bankruptcies barely increased. Asset markets and the real economy exited the crisis on a strong footing.

The Covid public-health crisis seems to be abating, but the infusion of money never stopped. The two central banks are still buying roughly $235 billion of assets every month between them. Because neither the U.S. nor the EU has capital controls, this additional liquidity flows freely across borders, flooding markets everywhere. For global liquidity, it does not matter much which of the two central banks is doing the purchasing.

The result has been a feverish rally in nearly all assets, suppressing borrowing rates, inflating stock prices, and even creating assets where none existed. The financial system is having to invent new kinds of assets because not enough exist to absorb the deluge of central bank liquidity. More than 6,000 cryptocurrencies are now being traded, not to mention nonfungible tokens, which supposedly establish ownership of easily copied digital artworks.


With inflation picking up, the central banks are reining in purchases. The ECB has already begun, announcing a move to a “moderately lower pace of net asset purchases.” The Fed essentially promised to do so this quarter, warning markets that “a moderation in the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted.”


In two respects, the key term here is “moderate.” First, it reveals the banks’ concern that markets will react too abruptly to the policy change. Second, it is untrue. The two banks’ combined net purchases are scheduled to go from the current pace of about $235 billion a month to zero in 12 months, a deceleration of about $20 billion a month.

The last time net purchases were reduced in the U.S., setting off the “taper tantrum” of 2013-14, the Fed’s deceleration pace was $8.5 billion a month over 10 months. But at the time, the ECB was gearing up to start its own purchases, providing markets with a counterbalance. When the ECB implemented its own taper in March 2017, it took 21 months to complete it, decreasing net purchases by an average of €3.9 billion a month. The snail’s pace—and the ECB’s resumption of net asset purchases 11 months later—helped counterbalance the net sales of securities by the Fed.

In both these episodes, the two central banks offset each other’s impact, damping the aggregate effect. This time, however, the two banks are set to taper in tandem, amplifying the effect on money flow. This should terrify investors. Recent pioneering research by Xavier Gabaix and Ralph Koijen shows that flows not only move asset prices; they move them disproportionately. A dollar added to the stock market can increase aggregate market valuation by as much as $5. A dollar subtracted can have the opposite effect, decreasing aggregate valuation by $5.

No flows are more sizeable or more predictable than a big central bank’s purchase schedule. As the world’s two major central banks prepare to turn off the taps, financial markets are on notice. Frontier assets such as NFTs will likely be the first to fall—but experience suggests that no asset class is safe from a liquidity drought. As the taper tandem unfolds, investors and asset managers will need all the downside protection they can get.

Crafty_Dog

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WSJ: Digital currency panopticon
« Reply #1588 on: October 06, 2021, 02:31:13 PM »
second post

Dangers Of a Digital Dollar
If widely used, it would give the central bank unprecedented power over the financial system.
By Alexander William Salter
Oct. 5, 2021 6:17 pm ET


The Federal Reserve plans to consider the idea of launching a U.S. digital currency. Central bank digital currencies are a hot topic among monetary-policy makers world-wide. More than 80 countries, representing 90% of the world’s gross domestic product, are looking into the technology. But these currencies come with serious risks. Without additional privacy measures, central bankers shouldn’t establish them.

You are likely familiar with privately issued digital dollars, such as electronic balances in checking accounts. Central bank digital currencies are similar, except the liability is on the central bank, rather than private banks. One benefit of tying digital currencies to a central bank is that payments would also be processed by central banks, strengthening national and international payments systems and potentially lowering transaction costs. They could also address economic inequality by offering the “unbanked” a way to access the financial system via a direct account with the central bank.


But too often digital currency enthusiasts focus on the good and ignore the bad. Central bank digital currencies are a perfect example of what Yale political scientist James C. Scott calls the “seeing like a state” mentality. Governments have strong incentives to simplify society for the purpose of social control. Bringing commerce within a centrally managed payment system is a textbook example. If widely used, these currencies would give central banks unprecedented power over the financial system. Without additional safeguards, virtually all transactions would be a matter of public record. Financial privacy would be difficult to maintain. Also, since this currency would be a liability of the Fed, the Fed could place conditions on its use to nudge users in desired directions.


Imagine your digital balance shrinking slowly over time to motivate rapid consumer spending. Or the Fed blocking payments to politically disfavored businesses. This isn’t a huge stretch: The Fed has already involved itself in social and environmental policy. It is souping up initiatives for supporting economic “equity” and quietly pressuring banks to disclose their plans for mitigating climate-change risk. The temptation to manage a central bank digital currency in line with these agendas would be strong.

For these reasons, some central bankers, such as Fed Gov. Christopher Waller, oppose creating their own digital currency. In a recent speech, Mr. Waller emphasized concerns about privacy and government control of payments. One of his comparisons is highly illustrative: China, the major economy that has made the greatest strides toward a central bank digital currency, could use that technology “to more closely monitor the economic activity of its citizens.”

Perhaps constitutional safeguards in the U.S. would prevent the Fed from abusing its oversight of a digital currency. But it is unwise to put the government in that position. All the benefits of this technology can be achieved through alternative and narrowly targeted policies. The costs, however, could be extreme. As Edmund Burke once said, “The thing itself is the abuse.” The best way to prevent a financial panopticon is to not build it at all.

Mr. Salter is an associate professor of economics in the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University and a senior fellow with the Sound Money Project.

DougMacG

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Re: of course Manchin caving and bribed as we knew he would
« Reply #1589 on: October 06, 2021, 02:46:29 PM »
ccp:
"losing those 2 Georgia Senate seats
was turning point

I am still not clear Trump did not hurt us there
with his big mouth"
--------------------------------------

Agree!  Right or wrong on the Georgia election scandal, Trump could not put his own unwinnable post-election issues aside for the party and the country to win those two seats.  He held a big, timely rally to help them and instead divided the party further with his big mouth.  Scorched earth exit.  Now the 51st Dem vote in the Senate is VP Kamala Harris.  There is no excuse for a party that controls 30 state legislatures to not have 51 US Senators.

ccp

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bitcoin up because of Soros???
« Reply #1590 on: October 06, 2021, 03:47:03 PM »
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/06/investing/bitcoin-price-george-soros/index.html

 :-o

I would say this is money better spent then scattering it around to Democrat leftist causes

I suppose his profits will go

to causes then destroy America further...........


ya

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« Last Edit: October 11, 2021, 11:28:00 AM by ya »


ya

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Yes, I am waiting for them to call the CEO of Bitcoin for congressional testimony. :-D
« Last Edit: October 11, 2021, 02:48:52 PM by ya »

ccp

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how about we run up bitcoin till it makes JP Morgan execs. hurt
« Reply #1595 on: October 12, 2021, 01:25:59 PM »
https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/infrastructure/576408-jp-morgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-says-bitcoin-is

What is the intrinsic value of a dollar bill?

Except what someone says it is .  Not even backed by Gold
so some government  keeps printing it and claims it has value.   


What is the intrinsic value of gold?  except it is used in electronics

What is the intrinsic value of a diamond? (cutting roads)

Oil has value it runs our energy sector.

What is the intrinsic value of a Picasso etc?


Crafty_Dog

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COINBASE CEO in WSJ
« Reply #1596 on: October 15, 2021, 02:03:26 AM »
Coinbase CEO: We Need a New Approach to Regulating Crypto
Clear rules would benefit the public, and my company doesn’t seek to be the industry’s gatekeeper.
By Brian Armstrong
Oct. 14, 2021 12:47 pm ET


The crypto era began 13 years ago with the publication of Satoshi Nakamoto’s seminal paper, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” Two years later, the first commercial bitcoin transaction took place when someone bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoin, roughly $571 million today. Today, more than $6 billion in bitcoin transactions happen every day and tens of millions of Americans own some form of crypto currency.

Crypto can bring millions of people into the economic system through immediate, nondiscriminatory access to services. It adds renewed transparency to our financial system through blockchain technology and challenges undemocratic political regimes, which can seize bank accounts and close businesses. It lets people avoid high currency-exchange fees and barriers to remittance flows.


Coinbase, a platform for accessing the broader cryptoeconomy, has, since its founding in 2012, seen regulation as beneficial. Clear rules of the road allow for technological innovation and investment and give the public and policy makers confidence that these markets are fair. I’ve expressed some frustration with recent actions by regulators. My concern is that entrepreneurs and businesses have little visibility into what regulators expect of us. The positions regulators take often aren’t applied in ways that seem consistent or equitable.

On Oct. 14, Coinbase published online its “Digital Asset Policy Proposal: Safeguarding America’s Financial Leadership.” The document is meant to spark a conversation about regulating crypto—one that isn’t anchored in specific products or enforcement actions, but instead takes a high-level view of the changing financial system and the new technology that underpins it.

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This isn’t only about my company. Coinbase arguably benefits from an unclear regulatory environment—it’s a large enough company to absorb the cost, while competitors likely wouldn’t be. Our policy proposal is about enabling more crypto startups, getting the average consumer access to better financial services, and helping America stay at the forefront of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology.


In recent weeks Coinbase has had more than 75 meetings with legislators, other digital-asset companies, crypto innovators and academics, whose feedback informed the suggestions in our document. Among the key points:

First, the government should regulate digital assets under a new framework. Our existing financial regulatory system doesn’t work effectively for the open, decentralized networks that crypto has created. Regulation was built around a series of financial intermediaries—transfer agents, clearing houses and traditional brokers—which don’t play a part in crypto transactions. It’s widely agreed, for example, that it’s difficult to determine whether a digital token is a security. As a result, regulators rely on the so-called Howey test, from a 1946 Supreme Court decision about whether contracts to sell or manage citrus groves in Florida should be considered securities, to answer that question.

Second, responsibility for this new framework should be assigned to a single federal regulator and a new registration process established for marketplaces for digital assets. In the tradition of other markets, a dedicated self-regulatory organization should be established to strengthen the oversight regime and provide more-granular supervision of such marketplaces. Together they can set new rules for everyone. The industry is currently dealing with an impenetrable array of regulators in the U.S.—an impossible patchwork for entrepreneurs and the public that relies on them for protection.

Third, this separate framework should have three goals to ensure holders of digital assets are empowered and protected: 1) Enhance transparency through appropriate disclosure requirements. 2) Protect against fraud and market manipulation. 3) Promote efficiency and strengthen market resiliency. Each of these goals should be accomplished while recognizing that crypto has unique and novel characteristics.

Finally, it’s important to promote interoperability and fair competition. To realize the full potential of digital assets, marketplaces for digital assets must work with products and services across the cryptoeconomy. If fully realized, this can enshrine competition, encourage responsible innovation, and promote a thriving developer ecosystem. No single company, including Coinbase, should be a gatekeeper for this industry.


My company believes its recommendations will help put the country on a path to resolve the most confusing parts of today’s crypto regulatory system and create new protections for the public. Coinbase believes they will also promote innovation and enhance competition—for all market participants. Washington can set a new global standard for enlightened regulation and further the cause of economic freedom.

Mr. Armstrong is CEO and a co-founder of Coinbase.

ccp

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I have heard people are having money disappear from coinbase accounts


ya

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I have heard people are having money disappear from coinbase accounts

The saying is "not your keys, not your coins".