March finds many more cryptocurrency losers than winners as month turns out to be a bloodbath for the sector

10:07 AM binance, bitcoin, bitcoin cash, cryptocurrency, eos, ethereum, iota, litecoin, market cap, neo, tron No Comments

The month of March is ending with a bang for the cryptocurrency sector, but not in a good way as the digital currencies in general had many more losers than it had winners.

Ever since the sector of over 1400 different cryptos reached a market cap of nearly $750 billion back in December of 2017, the overall market has lost close to 70% of its value, with future prospects also not looking great for the alternative asset.

And here on March 31 we can now take a look at the winners and losers in the cryptocurrency sector for the month.

Winners:

Tron is the only coin in the top 15 that has not lost ground in March. It hasn’t made much but that is a positive in a month that has been largely red across crypto markets. Starting out the month at around $0.042 TRX has crept up a percent or two to end it just over $0.043. In Bitcoin levels Tron has performed well moving from around 415 satoshis to end the month over 43% higher at around 600 sats.

Binance Coin has also made marginal moves upwards while all those around it have crashed. BNB started March trading at around $10.50 and ended closer to $10.70 representing a tiny increase. Against BTC is has done even better moving from 101500 satoshis to 151000 at month end, a rise of 48%. Positive company news about a Maltese move as it shrugs off the attempted hack has boosted Binance Coin.

Losers:

Ethereum has been absolutely crushed in March, starting the month trading around $860 and losing over 50% by the end of it. 

Ripple has also taken a heavy beating in March with XRP falling 45% from $0.95 to $0.52 over the past 31 days. 

Bitcoin Cash has been bashed as the top four have all lost ground. On March 1^st BCH was trading at around $1,250, since then it has lost 42% to around $725 where it currently trades. 

Litecoin has also taken a huge hit, last month it was one of the best performing altcoins, this month one of the worse. LTC has fallen from around $205 to $124 in March representing a drop of almost 40%. 

EOS, while moving up a few spots in the market cap charts, has also fallen. Trading at the beginning of the month around $8.40 it ended closer to $6 marking a drop of roughly 28%. 

Cardano has been one of the top ten’s biggest losers as it was last month with an over 50% drop from $0.30 to $0.15 at the end of the month. 

Neo had a reasonable February but a terrible March, falling massively from $130 to $52, almost 60%. 

The last altcoin in the top ten has also fallen heavily in March. Iota has lost around 41% sliding from $1.95 on March 1^st to $1.14 at the end of the month. 

Other altcoins getting a pasting in March include Monero, Dash, Nem, Ethereum Classic, VeChain, Qtum, Icon, OmiseGO, Lisk, Bitcoin Gold, Nano, Zcash and Verge. - BTC News

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The third step in changing the landscape of dollar hegemony could be in China's future establishment of the Petroyuan

9:46 AM china, dollar, energy, oil, oil trading, opec, petrodollar, russia, yuan denominated oil contract No Comments

In just one week's time, the world's current energy structure was shattered by two major events that appear to forecast the beginning of the end for the unipolar Petrodollar system.

The first of course took place on Monday when China officially initiated a Yuan-denominated oil contract, which on its first day of trading surpassed one of the two largest oil markets in volume.

The second one is still in the works, but was announced nonetheless, and it involves talks between Russia and Saudi Arabia (OPEC) to potentially create a new energy cartel that would centered around Moscow rather than Riyadh.

Now a third event is shaping up that could occur as early as the second half of this year, and it involves China demanding that all oil it purchases be done in their own currency rather than through the use of dollars.

In its efforts to make its currency more international and break the U.S. dollar’s global dominance, China is in the early stages of preparing to paying for oil imports in yuan, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting three people with knowledge of the issue. 

China could launch a pilot program to pay for oil in yuan as early as the second half of this year, two of Reuters’ sources said. Local regulators have asked a few financial institutions to get ready for pricing Chinese oil imports in yuan, the three sources at some of the financial institutions said. 

One of the sources speculated that China could begin the test with paying in yuan for the oil it imports from Russia and Angola, although the source said they had no details of anything so specific being discussed. – Oil Price

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Move over India, China, London, and New York as Sharia compliant Islamic gold contract sets records on first day of trading

9:29 AM china, dollar, Dubai, gold, records, yuan denominated oil contract No Comments

The week of March 26 - 31 may become a red letter day in the world of global finance as two powerful sea changes took place that could soon threaten Western hegemony.

On Monday China officially opened their Yuan-denominated oil contract, making it the first non-dollar financial oil instrument since the Petrodollar was established 40+ years ago.  And what was perhaps most shocking to the world was the fact that volumes on the Shanghai Energy Exchange were greater on their first day of operation than the Brent crude market located in London.

The second major event which commenced on March 29 was when Dubai's DGCX initiated its new Sharia compliant gold contract.  And like with China, it too saw record trading occur on the very first day of its initiation.

The GCC’s first and the world’s only Shari’ah Compliant Spot Gold contract (DGSG), was listed on the DGCX on March 29^th. The contract opened with world-record Exchange traded Shari’ah Compliant Gold volumes on the first day of trading. The product traded volume of 84 Kilograms worth USD 3.56 million, on its opening day. The contract’s launch follows months of planning and preparation for the DGCX, the region’s largest and most diversified derivative bourse. 

Speaking on the successful launch of DGSG, Les Male, CEO of DGCX, said: “Usually, the first few days of trading on a new product is a good gauge for us to take note of the investor appetite and interest. In the case of DGSG, it has been positive so far and we are anticipating considerable growth. It gives us great confidence and comfort in knowing that DGSG is a product that our market participants want to trade and benefit from. Indications suggest that the product will have a wider appeal throughout the GCC and traditional investment world who would like to access the world’s only Shari’ah Compliant gold contract traded on Exchange” - Mondovisione

These early results in both Shanghai and Dubai suggest strongly that over time, more and more nations and investors will shift allegiances Eastward in both the oil and gold markets.  And inevitably this will likely cause both London and Wall Street to lose significant power over the world's financial system since it means fewer and fewer players will want or use dollars to conduct these and other commodity based transactions.

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While the gold price ended down for the week, it is still up for third straight quarter

10:17 AM bitcoin, bitcoin price, gold, gold price, race, tortoise and hare No Comments

You could almost equate gold and cryptocurrencies to the story of the tortoise and the hare, with the precious metal being the slow and sure participant, and Bitcoin being the rapid but volatile front runner.

And if we were to track each one's distance here on March 30 we would find that in relation to the famous fable, the two are right now about in the middle of the race with the gold price having moved up for the third quarter in a row despite ending the week down a bit, and with Bitcoin's price still in the lead but now taking a nap as it has fallen by 70% over the past three months.

Gold futures settled lower on Thursday, posting a decline for the week, as concerns over a potential global trade war continued to ease and benchmark U.S. stock indexes strengthened, dulling haven-related demand for the precious metal. 

Gold marked a third-straight quarterly gain, but it was the smallest quarterly rise in seven years. 

June gold GCM8, -0.03% the most-active contract, fell $2.70, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,327.30 an ounce. The contract edged down by 2.1% for the week and ended around 0.3% lower for the month of March. For the quarter and year to date, it was 0.7% higher. 

Based on the most-active contract settlement of $1,309.30 at the end of 2017, however, gold futures were up 1.4% for the first quarter and year to date—the smallest quarterly rise since the three months ended March 2011, according to FactSet data. 

But gold will “eventually break through” the $1,370 level of resistance, Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter, told MarketWatch. “Despite its recent countertrend rally, the U.S. dollar remains in bear mode, and hasn’t been able break its longer-term downtrend.” - Marketwatch 

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Bitcoin falls 25% for the week as price goes below $7000 and the entire crypto sector hemorrhaging market cap

10:00 AM bitcoin, bix weir, bloodbath, cryptocurrencies, declines, ethereum, litecoin, market cap No Comments

One has to wonder if the golden days of cryptocurrencies are over, or if they are simply acting as whipping boys for investors needing liquidity for their declining stock positions.  Either way, the result has been a nearly 70% decline in the overall market cap value of the sector since December of last year.

In fact if we were to look at the results for the past seven days alone we would find not only Bitcoin falling 25% for the week, and over 70% down from its all-time high, but Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Lightcoin have led the way as the bloodbath in cryptos shows little signs of slowing.

Bitcoin Chart:

Cryptocurrency Sector Market Caps:

Major cryptocurrencies took another leg lower overnight as the persistent selling persisted, pushing most to fresh multimonth lows. 

The price of a single bitcoin BTCUSD, -6.38%  traded to an overnight low of $6,617.69, homing in on the Feb 6. low of $5947.40, a major support level for technical traders. Bitcoin, however, has had a modest pop, last trading at $6,945.89.
The overnight slump took the total value of all cryptocurrencies toward $250 billion, and at one point it shed $20 billion in six hours. 

The carnage culminated when OKEx—a Hong Kong-based crypto trading platform—was forced to roll back transactions after its futures markets plunged, trading up to $2000 below the cash market in what the company called “irregular” activity. - Marketwatch

But for those HODL'ers who believe that the trend of the last three months is simply another case of the 'boy crying wolf', don't forget what a cryptocurrency evangelist said in a podcast from March 29...

"…When Bitcoin puts in the very bearish “death cross”, the falling of price of the50-day moving average below the 200-day moving average, Bix says he’s sellingsilver to buy more Bitcoin."

 

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Everything the Fed touches turns to crap as very few Americans can now retire, and even fewer can afford a home

9:35 AM fed, federal reserve, home affordability, housing bubble, retirement, st. louis fed No Comments

Earlier this week the St. Louis Fed came out with a paper in which they were 'shocked' that so many Americans (around 65%) have less than $10,000 for retirement.  And of course this same central bank refused to place blame in its proper place from the zero percent interest rate policies they created that killed off fixed income investments.

And now on March 29, a new report on home affordability shows that workers in 70% of state counties cannot afford to buy a home in the location they reside, meaning that another of the Fed's programs (recreating the Housing Bubble) has resulted in very few being able to afford to buy a house.

Perhaps there is a trend here... everything the Fed touches turns to crap.

Housing, as we've pointed out in the past, is perhaps the most reliable bellwether of widening economic inequality in the US. And in its latest quarterly report on housing affordability in the US, ATTOM discovered that median-priced homes aren't affordable to average wage earners in an astounding 68% of US housing markets. 

In its report, the company calculated affordability by incorporating the amount of income needed to make monthly home payments - including mortgage payments, property tax payments and insurance - on a median-priced home, assuming a 3% down payment and a 28% maximum "front-end" debt-to-income ratio. 

The 304 counties where a median-priced home in the first quarter was not affordable for average wage earners included Los Angeles County, California; Maricopa County (Phoenix), Arizona; San Diego County, California; Orange County, California; and Miami-Dade County, Florida. Meanwhile, the 142 counties (32 percent of the 446 counties analyzed in the report) where a median-priced home in the first quarter was still affordable for average wage earners included Cook County (Chicago), Illinois; Harris County (Houston), Texas; Dallas County, Texas; Wayne County (Detroit), Michigan; and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. - Zerohedge

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Following China's introduction of a new oil financial market, the next step towards ending the Petrodollar coming from a Russia-Saudi partnership

11:21 AM dollars, opec, petrodollar, petroyuan, russia, saudi arabia, yuan, yuan denominated oil contract No Comments

On Monday China introduced the first non-dollar denominated oil contract in four decades and ushered in the end of the unipolar Petrodollar world.  Yet even with the new Yuan-denominated futures contract overtaking London's Brent market on volume on its very first day of trading, the real turning point between the Petroyuan and Petrodollar will occur when Shanghai achieves a critical mass of oil purchasing and producing nations using their platform more than either London or Chicago.

And that day may be coming sooner than most think as a new report out on March 29 shows Russia and OPEC led Saudi Arabia in talks to collaborate on a new energy cartel that will dominate the market for years to come, and assuredly move oil purchasing away from the dollar and into the Yuan.

Moscow and Riyadh, backed by OPEC, are negotiating a deal that would allow them long-term control of oil prices. If successful, Russia and Saudi Arabia would manage oil markets for the next two decades. 

At the moment, Russia and OPEC are signing agreements on oil production cuts on a yearly basis. However, the next deal could be much longer. 

“We are looking for a very long-term cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries,” OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said on Wednesday. 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the plan in an interview with Reuters on Monday. “We are working to shift from a year-to-year agreement to a 10-20 year agreement,” he told the news agency. “We have agreement on the big picture, but not yet on the detail.” 

If such a deal is signed, it would be unprecedented. Russia and Saudi Arabia have worked together in previous oil crises, but such long agreements have never been reached. – Russia Today

Russia's largest oil company already sells its output to China using the Yuan currency, and some OPEC nations (Iran, Qatar) also already deal in Yuan when selling energy to Beijing.

Besides the potential for a more stable price, switching away from London and the U.S. will ensure that Washington cannot use the Petrodollar anymore as a means of economic warfare against nations such as they have done in the past.  And of course it also means that fewer nations will need to hold dollars in reserve for energy purchases, leaving the U.S. to soon have to deal with the threat of inflation once these dollars start to come back home.

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The Daily Economist update for March 29 2018 - Gold, Bitcoin, and Cryptocurrency Report

11:03 AM bitcoin, bitcoin price, bitcoin vouchers, cryptocurrency, digixdao, gold, gold backed cryptocurrency, gold price, market cap, thedailyeconomist No Comments

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Even the strongest gold backed cryptocurrency cannot withstand the current onslaught on crypto prices

8:45 AM bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, digixdao, gold backed cryptocurrency, market cap, selloff, trend No Comments

While not yet fully reaching recent lows, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are showing signs of capitulation as once again the market is down across the board here on Thursday.

On March 29, the price of Bitcoin is down 6.7% to a touch near a four month low that was achieved around 10 days ago when the price fell to $7450.  And the rest of the crypto market is also following suit as only two of the top 30 cryptocurrencies in market cap value are showing green today.

Interestingly however, is how the strongest gold backed cryptocurrency is faring today since many times in the past it had bucked the trend when the overall crypto market had been in the red.

DIGIXDAO

While many analysts are pointing to the recent advertising bans by social media platforms as the catalyst for the industry's declines, it appears that there are even greater factors at work helping to drive down prices which may include liquidity needs for major owners (hedge funds), or a sustained effort by central banks to prop up their currencies.  But no matter what the reason, the trend since January has been negative for the crypto industry as a whole and the charts are telling investors that they could go much lower before finally stabilizing in price.

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The Daily Economist update for March 28 2018 - Economy and Financial Markets Wrapup

5:47 PM bonds, consumer spending, fang stocks, flattening yield curve, housing bubble, recession, stocks, thedailyeconomist, yield curve No Comments

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Own cryptocurrency, then you're a racist according to mainstream media as they seek to equate decentralized money with white supremacy

8:14 AM bitcoin, cryptocurrency, funding terrorism, hate groups, monero, money laundering, racism, white supremacy No Comments

Perhaps one of the biggest ironies in society comes from the fact that as most liberals deem themselves to be elite intellectuals, they often fail to win most substantive arguments on evidence and instead fall back to trying to slander their opponents with terms such as racist, bigot, homophone, and misogynist.  And of course once a debate turns to labeling or name calling, then that argument is immediately lost.

So with this in mind, can we now undoubtedly say that the mainstream and financial medias have finally proven their ignorance when it comes to cryptocurrenices as on March 27 we have now found two distinct stories published that are attempting to equate cryptocurrency ownership with racism and even white supremacy.

Newsweek:

Far-right podcast host Christopher Cantwell had already been denied one source of funding even before his name became synonymous with the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12 last year. The crowdfunding platform Patreon would be far from the last revenue stream to become off limits. 

After the infamous rally, the Hitler aficionado was turned away by essentially everyone else: He was banned from accessing PayPal, Stripe, and MakerSupport for promoting racism and a hatred of Jews—eliminating the ways that independent content creators typically solicit donations from their fans. 

Cantwell has been using Bitcoin since 2013 but has more recently been promoting Monero, a controversial, decentralized cryptocurrency that promises total anonymity in its transactions. He views it as an alternative way for his white supremacist fan base to give him handouts, but also as a tool that can be used by purveyors of his extremist lifestyle in a more general sense. Monero is growing in popularity among men like Cantwell for the same reason that it's being used among members of the criminal underworld—it enables them to keep their business dealings hidden from the eyes of the law. - Newsweek

Then there was Forbes earlier last week...

"As for the crypto, if it is with Bitcoin then it is relatively simple to see who has moved what to whom when because - contrary to popular belief Bitcoin isn’t anonymous, rather it is pseudonymous," says Meadows.  "So you can still hone in on the individual identities based on their behaviors.  That said, if they’re using Monero, ZCash, Dash (kinda) and others then it would be far more difficult.  What’s important to note is that regular money - fiat currency like dollars or euros - would be an easier method of moving money anonymously.” 

Perhaps but that would depend on one’s definition of “easier” For hate groups moving interstate or internationally as seen via research from the Southern Poverty Law Center, cash would be considered highly inefficient. So much so that the Center has a growing list that it has been building on hate groups that seem to have various forms of digital wallets. 

Thus it would seem that there is some, though not universal, method and level of true anonymity around certain levels of crypto usage that could escape detection from even the best of them should hate groups or anyone else want to use them. -
Forbes 

Ever since its inception, governments and their propaganda arms in the media have used the tired old themes of money laundering and terrorism funding to try to scare the public into avoiding cryptocurrencies.  However since that hasn't really worked out to well, especially in light of the fact that most of these activities occur in banks and other financial institutions supposedly regulated by the government, it appears that their next salvo is to try to equate crypto ownership with that of racism and use the fear of condemnation by the politically correct class to keep the real slaves (debt slaves) beholden to their system of devaluing fiat money.

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Screw lemonade stands, 11 year olds are becoming CEO's of their own cryptocurrency businesses

11:56 AM ceo, cryptocurrency, ico, pocket full of quarters, video gaming No Comments

Gone are the days when kids could make a little money and learn about entrepreneurship by opening up a lemonade stand or having a paper route, because in today's digital age and Blockchain era, even 11 year old's are becoming CEO's of their own cryptocurrency companies.

Video gaming has become a worldwide phenomenon, and in some cases World Championship events are bringing in more viewers than even the NBA Finals, and are second only to the Superbowl.  Thus finding a way to monopolize on this industry is a natural fit for the Blockchain and cryptocurrencies since many games require a medium of exchange to play and progress.

And this is exactly what 11 year old George Weiksner is doing through the creation of a cryptocurrency to mediate gaming token compatibility between multiple gaming platforms.

Call him the crypto kid. George Weiksner, an 11-year-old, just launched his own ICO, in between doing his homework, regular kid stuff and bedtime. 

An ICO, or initial coin offering, is a method of fundraising that seeks to garner capital by selling tokens, or virtual coins, in exchange for a particular cryptocurrency. 

Weiksner, who lives in Old Greenwich, Conn., and attends Greenwich Country Day School—as MarketWatch has previously written—has the makings of the next superstar in the world of digital currencies, which has drawn mainstream attention in the past few years. 

For his part, Weiksner sees the utility of cryptocoins that also has garnered scrutiny from regulators worldwide and scorn from traditional Wall Street titans like J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon. 

Pocketful of Quarters hopes to solve an issue many gamers face where unused and unwanted coins can’t be transferred to other gaming platforms to play different games. Weiksner aims to design a platform that unlocks coins that are “stuck” in games that gamers no longer want to play. 

“We’re trying to make it so those coins can be used in, now, another game,” explained Weiksner. 

Pocketful of Quarters is linking up with multiple gaming providers so the tokens they issue in the ICO can be used across many platforms, giving gamers access to multiple gaming outlets with a single virtual currency. 

Weiksner said Pocketful of Quarters is trying to raise the equivalent of about 1,000 to 2,000 worth of Ether in its coin offering. That equates to about $458,000 and $916,000, based on the current value of a single Ether coin on CoinMarketCap.com. - Marketwatch

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The Daily Economist update for March 27 2018 - Gold, Bitcoin, and Cryptocurrency Report

11:01 AM bitcoin, bitcoin price, gold, gold backed cryptocurrency, gold price, thedailyeconomist No Comments

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G-Coin: You guessed it, it's a new week so that means it's time for a new gold backed cryptocurrency

9:00 AM g-coin, gold backed cryptocurrency, payment, token, yamana gold No Comments

So far our prediction that 2018 would be the year of the resource backed cryptos is following through like clockwork as the 35th gold backed token has made its way to the forefront here on March 27.

G-Coin is a gold backed 'token' which is partnering with Yamana Gold to provide investors and savers another opportunity to participate in both precious metals and the Blockchain.

Emergent Technology Holdings, a US-based FinTech company is planning to release the “g-coin”. A digital token that will be fully backed by gold in an effort to create a way to trade the precious metal with more liquidity. 

Similar to the way other companies are developing ways to encode and track seafood using blockchain technology to ensure humane and legal fishing practices the company hopes to digitally encode the gold supply chain to reinforce ethically mined gold. 

Emergent is partnering with NYSE listed Yamana Gold to create “g-coins”. Each coin will be backed by a gram of responsibly mined gold which has been recorded through each stage of its processing as it travels the supply chain. 

By encoding and tracking the gold the company will be able to ensure the provenance and purity of the gold. The “g-coin” as a blockchain based asset will be a certificate of ownership to be used like any other currency for investing or as payment for goods and services. 

By using blockchain technology, Emergent is hoping to make the process of taking gold from mines to vaults easier while ensuring that every step in the supply chain is handled in an ethical way. As Davis wrote in his email discussing the “g-coin”; “You’ve got a trusted asset that is liquid, is traded globally and is fully backed by gold,” – BTC News

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Mainstream analysts starting to believe that China's new oil market could threaten the dollar's place as the reserve currency

8:02 AM brent, dollar, London, mainstream media, petrodollar, trade war, yuan denominated oil contract No Comments

It is often hilarious to watch how both Wall Street and the Mainstream Media quickly do an 'after the fact' about face when a sudden financial paradigm shift occurs that threatens their dominance over markets.

For more than a year, information regarding to the implementation of China's new Yuan-denominated oil contract was pretty much relegated to the alternative media as mainstream pundits and analysts either ignored, or vilified this move as little more than a circus stunt that would have no impact on the Petrodollar, or the oil markets in London and on Wall Street.

But after yesterday's opening salvo from Shanghai, which on its first day of trading ended up having more volume than London's Brent market, mainstream analysts are suddenly scrambling and are now accepting the fact that China could very much threaten the primacy of the dollar.

China’s launch on Monday of its crude futures exchange will improve the clout of the yuan in financial markets and could threaten the international primacy of the dollar, argues a new report by Hayden Briscoe, APAC head of fixed income at UBS Asset Management. 

“This is the single biggest change in capital markets, maybe of all time,” Briscoe said in a follow-up telephone interview. 

The launch of the oil futures <0#ISC:> denominated in China’s renminbi currency, also known as the yuan, is China’s first commodity derivative open to foreign investors. This marked the culmination of a decade-long push by the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) to give the world’s largest energy consumer more power in pricing crude sold to Asia. 

Already on Monday, Unipec, the trading arm of Asia’s largest refiner Sinopec, has inked a deal with a western oil major to buy Middle East crude priced against the newly-launched Shanghai crude futures contract. 

This helps cement the exchange’s viability and challenges the petro-dollar system, in which oil deals are executed in dollars. This would decrease demand for the greenback and boost U.S. inflation.- Reuters

Perhaps someone should inform President Trump that America has already lost the Trade War before it has barely begin. 

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The Daily Economist update for March 26 2018 - Financial markets and economic wrapup

1:43 PM banks, bonds, ecb, gdp, housing sales, petrodollar, petroyuan, stock market, stocks, thedailyeconomist, yuan denominated oil contract No Comments

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West Virginia Congressman submits bill to return the U.S. back to a gold standard

10:33 AM central bank, congressman mooney, dollar, globalization, gold, gold standard, industry, jobs, monetary system 1 Comment

On Thursday, March 22, West Virginia Congressman Alex Mooney submitted a new bill in the House to try to restore the U.S. monetary system back to a gold standard.

Citing correctly that the majority of our economic and financial problems have not been the result of simply globalization and lost industry, Mooney instead pointed out how the central bank has destroyed our money through the use of inflation since we left the gold standard decades ago.

President Trump has rightly blamed bad trade deals, particularly those with Mexico and China, for contributing to this meltdown. But the Federal Reserve deserves a share of the blame, too, since its inflationary policies priced out U.S. manufacturers from global trade. Since 2000, their prices have risen nearly 50%, compared with about 25% for German competitors—mirroring the domestic inflation rates in each country. As a result, manufacturers fled the U.S., much the way American families have fled high-tax states. 

The solution is to take control of the money supply away from the Fed and give it back to the American people—in other words, to return to the gold standard. Gold gets a bad rap in some history books because of its misuse during the 20th century. This ignores its peacetime record of high growth and nil inflation between 1834 and 1913. 

Clouding the historical picture are two fake gold standards. The Depression-era gold standard was constructed to make prices fall toward the levels that prevailed before World War I, with the disastrous result of deflation. Then, under the Bretton Woods version after World War II, only foreign central banks could convert dollars into gold. This deformity caused inflation, which skyrocketed after the Fed gained total control of the money supply in the early 1970s. 

The current Federal Reserve system benefits elites. The gold standard is equitable and puts “we the people” in control of the money supply. That’s why it was part of America’s founding and has been a key to the country’s long economic success. 

On Thursday I introduced a bill that would return the dollar to the gold standard—the first such attempt since Jack Kemp’s Gold Standard Act of 1984. Under this legislation the Fed would still exist, but it would administer the money supply rather than dictate it. Instead the market would be in charge, the supply and demand for money would match up, and prices would be shaped by economics rather than the instincts of bureaucrats. – Wall Street Journal

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ICON leads the way as cryptocurrencies down across the board, and Bitcoin struggling to hold $8000

10:21 AM bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, futures contract, market cap, trading No Comments

March 26 has not been a good day for cryptocurrencies as the top 13, and 17 of the top 20, are all in the red.

Leading the way down is the crypto known as ICON, which is down 12.1%, with even the most popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin down 4.5% as it struggles to hold above the $8000 handle.

One thing to watch this week is the price of Bitcoin leading into the end of the trading month on Thursday as this will be the CME's expiration date (March 29) for their current future's contract.

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Gold crosses strong resistance level of $1355 as dollar struggles to hold 89 handle on index

10:00 AM dollar, dollar index, dow, fed, gold, gold price, interest rates, resistance, stock market No Comments

Gold prices have continued to move higher on March 26 as the trend which started following the Fed's rate hike announcement shows little signs of slowing down.

One day prior to last week's Wednesday FOMC meeting and policy announcements, gold had fallen to a five week low of $1306.  But since that time it has gained $50 over the last four trading days to its current level of $1355.

In the meantime, the dollar has fallen approximately 140 bps over the past four trading days from its high of over 90.40 on Wednesday, down now to its current level of just over 89 on the dollar index.

While the stock markets have recovered a little bit from their Thursday and Friday bloodbaths, they still remain more than 10% below their all-time highs seen in January when the Dow reached a level of 26,616.  And this, coupled with the dollar not appearing to be a safe haven for cash, bodes well for gold as it looks to once again attempt to break through its most difficult resistance level of $1378.

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The Daily Economist update for March 25 2018 - Gold, Bitcoin, and Cryptocurrency Report

12:30 PM bitcoin, bitcoin price, cryptocurrency, euro, gold, gold price, gold repatriation, petro, thedailyeconomist, yuan denominated oil contract No Comments

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Gold repatriation in Europe is a signal of the coming end of the Euro and that nations are preparing to return to their own currencies

10:42 AM currency, euro, gold, gold repatriation, hungary No Comments

Hungary is just the latest in a string of European nations calling for the repatriation of their gold from offshore vaults.  And according to an analyst at the Precious Metal Advisory Switzerland, these moves are a signal that governments are recognizing that the Euro currency's days are numbered, and that they need to prepare for a return to their own individual sovereign currencies.

The latest trend among European countries of bringing home their gold reserves has been raising concerns in Brussels. RT talked to Claudio Grass of Precious Metal Advisory Switzerland to understand what’s behind that trend. 

According to Grass, the process means disintegration, which usually comes with instability, unrest, more government intervention and control. 

“The central banks started the repatriation already a few years ago, meaning before we had Brexit, Catalonia, Trump, AFD or the rising tensions between the Politburo in Brussels and the nations of Eastern Europe,” he said. 

Grass explained that these are all symptoms that are evident today and “therefore the central banks might have seen this coming long before the public realized it.” 

He said it is fair to say that the world is moving away from a centralized system. 

“If we follow this trend, it should be obvious that the next step should be an even bigger break up into smaller units than the nation states. With such geopolitical fragmentation comes also the decentralization of power.” – Russia Today

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While Facebook rushes headlong down the path of MySpace, a new social media app seeks to reward users with cryptocurrency

9:15 AM appics, blockchain, browsing, cryptocurrency, data, facebook, mark zuckerberg, myspace, social media No Comments

The last two weeks have provided major revelations regarding the 'king' of social media as Facebook not only experienced multiple headwinds which saw its stock fall 14%, but its CEO Mark Zuckerberg is now facing multiple inquiries and investigations for allowing the platform to abuse consumer data, and profit from selling it to any and all bidders.

Additionally, new data also suggests that Facebook has already reached peak growth, with users spending 25% less time on the site over the past few months.

What this means for entrepreneurs and users of social media alike is that Facebook's decline opens the door for alternative models and platforms to rush in and entice consumers to try something new.  And on March 25, that very thing appears to be emerging which would not only protect customer and user data, but also pay them in cryptocurrency for both browsing and creating content.

A new social media app powered by Blockchain is vowing to turn procrastination into profit by incentivizing users for creating and liking content– rewarding social media users for their time and creativity spent online. 

APPICS is going to be established as one of the first Smart Media Tokens (SMT) on the Steem Blockchain, where the concept of transforming likes into cryptocurrency has already been explored through the Steemit platform. And, if the age-old mantra of “time is money” is true, would-be users could be in for a payday, with research from the Global Web Index suggesting the typical person now spends two hours on social networks per day, with mobile usage increasing drastically worldwide. 

APPICS says it wants to reward users for their time spent online, as well as to give them full control over their content, unlike other networks where freedom of speech can be curtailed and monetization is an uphill struggle. 

The network is proposing that 65 percent of the revenue generated from content would be returned directly to creators, with 25 percent being pocketed by the users who supported their post by liking it meaning they can benefit without creating content themselves. The final 10 percent would be reinvested into the platform and to support the ecosystem. – Coin Telegraph

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The coming week forecasts for more turmoil in stocks, higher gold prices, and trade wars expanding to the level

8:52 AM central banks, gold, gold price, interest rates, intervention, stock market, stocks, taper, yuan denominated oil contract No Comments

While a 10% drop in U.S. stocks may appear to only be a correction after equity markets went more than 15 months without even a 3% pullback, Friday's close was the second time in the last two months that the Dow challenged that 10% threshold.

Jan. 26 - Dow at 26,616

Feb. 8 - Dow at 23,860 - 10.4% decline

Feb. 26 - Dow recovers to 25,709

March 23 - Dow at 23,533 - Lower lows and an 11.6% decline since all-time high

Trading week beginning March 26?

Tomorrow also officially begins China's new Yuan-denominated oil contract, and at a time when the U.S. is ramping up both economic and military pressures on the Far Eastern power.  And with global central banks focused on tapering their balance sheets and raising interest rates, the likelihood of intervention on the scale we saw for the five years leading up to 2018 appears to be fairly slim.

So what does this mean for gold and the gold price going forward?

Gold was strongly pushed down early last week, but has recovered up to close within $30 of a key resistance level ($1378).  And according to a number of sources, it could very easily move to attack this resistance over the next few days, especially dependent upon what global equity markets do beginning on Sunday evening.

Amid the threat of a trade war breaking out between the U.S. and China, Wall Street and Main Street alike look for gold prices to continue their rally next week. 

The yellow metal rose sharply this week and by late Friday morning was up some $40 from the lows of Tuesday. The first leg higher came when the Federal Reserve did not appear to be signaling any increase in policymakers' pace of monetary tightening in 2018. The second came on renewed worries about a trade war, particularly between the U.S. and China. 

"Briefly cresting the important $1,350 level this morning, the yellow metal made substantial advances in U.S. dollar price as well as value compared to equities, commodities and major currencies," said Richard Baker, editor of the Eureka Miner Report. "Only oil outpaced the lustrous one on a percentage basis." 

Twenty-one market professionals took part in the weekly Kitco News Wall Street survey. Sixteen respondents, or 76%, called for gold prices to rise over the next week. Another five voters, or 24%, looked for gold to fall. Nobody called for a sideways market. 

Meanwhile, 945 voters took part in an online Main Street poll. A total of 575 voters, or 61%, said bullish. Another 281 voters, or 30%, said bearish, while 89, or 9%, were neutral. The Street

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As China's Yuan oil contract goes online in advance of Monday's trading, Beijing adds a sweetner by removing income tax from foreigners who participate

11:34 AM china, foreign capital, income tax, petrodollar, trade war, yuan denominated oil contract No Comments

Forget tariffs and trade wars, the real battlefield may have just opened up between the U.S. and China with Beijing bringing online its new Yuan-denominated oil contract.

However while most of the world knew that March 26 was the Red Letter day for this competitor of the Petrodollar, China decided to 'sweeten the pot' so to say by announcing on March 24 that foreigners who participate in their new oil futures market will also have their income taxes exempted.

Beijing will waive income tax for overseas investors trading yuan-denominated crude oil futures contracts, the Finance Ministry announced on Tuesday. The measure, to cover both institutional and individual investors is aimed at attracting foreign capital. 

Foreign brokers will also be exempted from paying income tax on commissions they earn from dealing in the new futures contracts to be launched at Shanghai’s International Energy Exchange on March 26, the Xinhua news agency reported. – Sputnik News

This move appears not only intended to entice oil producing nations to sell their output to China rather than London or the U.S., but to also bring in foreign capital in competition to America's tax reform policies meant to do the same thing.

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As global stock markets appear to have reached their peaks, central banks mulling the buying of cryptocurrencies to replace their portfolio of equities

8:14 AM bull market, central banks, cryptocurrency, quantitative easing, stock market, stocks No Comments

Since 2009-10, the rise in global equity markets have been primarily due to a combination of Quantitative Easing (2011 - 2015), and then outright buying from the central banks themselves (2016 - 2018).

But as it is now appearing likely that the current bull market in stocks has reached a peak in January of this year, these same central banks are mulling over what to do with their proceeds as they start to dump stocks.  And according to a couple of reports out over the past month, there is a very strong likelihood that some of that money will move into the buying of cryptocurrencies.

Amidst central banks’ active reserve management skills, as elucidated above, a former central banker with the South African Reserve Bank believe in 2018, G7 central banks will start buying cryptocurrencies to propel their foreign reserves. Considering the recent popularity and upsurge witnessed in prices of cryptocurrencies, the former central banker predicts the special drawing rights and G7 country currencies will be forced to alter their foreign reserve weightages by ultimately including a basket of cryptocurrencies.

Yet besides buying cryptocurrencies as a safe haven over bond purchases or simply holding cash, there is also a growing movement among central banks to create their own cryptos, which the BIS has cautioned in their own study.

Alluding to the rapidly evolving area of central banks’ interest in digital currencies, Bank for International Settlement has come out with a report this month titled: “Central bank digital currencies”. The report published by BIS’ two committees viz.: Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures and Markets Committee suggests central banks should carefully consider the implications for financial stability and monetary policy of issuing digital currencies. 

Terming Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as a potentially new form of digital central bank money, the BIS report underscores two main CBDC variants viz.: a wholesale (for use in financial market) and a general purpose (for use by the general public). – Gold Telegraph

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The Daily Economist interview with Ernest Hancock and Freedoms Phoenix Radio - March 23, 2018

7:49 AM bitcoin, china, cryptocurrency, economics, ernest hancock, finance, freedoms phoenix, gold, thedailyeconomist No Comments

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In a roundabout way, the U.S. government is subsidizing cryptocurrency buying as college students use loans to buy Bitcoin

7:42 AM bailout, bitcoin, cryptocurrency, default, government, student loans, subsidize No Comments

We already know from past news reports that many college students use their loans for things other than education such as paying for spring break vacations, car payments, and buying iPhones.  But a new study out on March 23 shows that upwards of 20% of these students are also using that money to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The irony of course is that over 90% of all student loans are underwritten by the U.S. government (Sallie Mae), which means Washington is inadvertently subsidizing the buying of cryptocurrencies.

Chart courtesy of The Student Loan Report

Founder of the Student Loan Report, Drew Cloud, explained, “Younger Americans are certainly the most enthusiastic about cryptocurrency; they are the most active investors and want to get involved in the space in any way possible. However, I truly thought the percentage would be lower. As a college student, your budget is thin and that extra money could be used on rent, groceries, or books,” he told the Boston Globe. 

The survey “found that 21.2 percent of current college students with student loan debt have used financial aid money to fund a cryptocurrency investment,” the study found. Over four days students with debt were asked one question about buying cryptocurrency with loan money, and over one-fifth responded in the affirmative. – Bitcoin News

With an estimated 40% of students expected to default on their loans over the next 10 years, if the government should one day vote to forgive these debts would they also now inadvertently be providing a bailout to the cryptocurrency sector as well?

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The Daily Economist update for March 23 2018 - Financial markets and economic Report

1:52 PM budget, economic sanctions, home sales, housing bubble, russia, stock market, swift, thedailyeconomist, trade war No Comments

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What a novel concept! Hong Kong gives money back to taxpayers after earning budget surplus

1:46 PM budget surplus, fiscal responsibility, free money, hong kong, redistribution, taxpayers 1 Comment

There are very few politicians who would ever dream of giving back money that they did not need or use to either the people, or their departments.  And the only individuals I can recall in recent times who have done this were the Father-Son duo of Ron and Rand Paul.

However even with this anomaly, when was the last time you ever heard of a municipality giving back excess monies to their citizens (taxpayers) when they were prudent enough to run a tight fiscal budget?  None that I can remember certainly in my lifetime... until now when it was announced on March 23 that the City of Hong Kong was going to redistribute a portion of their $18 billion surplus they had ending the last fiscal year back to the people.

The government of Hong Kong has announced its decision to share the city’s record $18 billion surplus with more than one-third of its residents. 

“[We are] trying to cover more people who may not directly benefit from the budget,” said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po at a press conference on Friday. 

According to him, the handout was meant for Hong Kong residents who are 18 years old and over; who do not own a property; do not receive any government allowances; and will not pay income tax for the financial year ending next week. 

Those who meet the above criteria but have to pay income tax can still get some cash, he said. If the tax concession they receive is under $500, they will receive the difference between the two amounts. 

The finance chief singled out the “small number of people” who pay no tax but live in properties they own. If they receive less than $500 in rates waivers announced in the budget, they will get the difference between the amount waived and the cash handout. 

The handouts would cost the government an extra $1.4 billion, Chan said, explaining that they were in response to views that Hong Kong lawmakers and people had expressed “loud and clear.” – Russia Today

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Netherlands labels Bitcoin as a legitimate store of 'transferable value', but doesn't go as far as saying it is a medium of exchange

12:59 PM bitcoin, cryptocurrency, legal, medium of exchange, property, security, store of transferable value No Comments

On March 20, a Dutch court ruled that Bitcoin was a legitimate store of 'transferable value', which means that The Netherlands is the newest country to label the cryptocurrency as property or a security rather than as a currency.

Holding off from extending their ruling that the cryptocurrency was a legally accepted medium of exchange, the courts did open the door however for Bitcoin to be accepted as a legal monetary instrument.

Image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

A Dutch court classifies Bitcoin as a “transferable value” after the court ruled in favour of a plaintiff who was owed 0.591 Bitcoins (BTC), according to a court document published March 20.   

The claim was filed in a Dutch court by Mr. J.W. de Vries on 2 February 2018 against Koinz Trading BV, a non-public company, which was previously ordered by a lower court of Midden-Nederland to pay mining proceeds in the amount of 0.591 BTC owed to the petitioner, or a penalty payment up to a €10,000 maximum. 

As a consequence of the company’s failure to comply with its obligations to pay the required volume in BTC, the court ordered that the company either pay up or be declared insolvent. 

The court judgement explicitly states that Bitcoin demonstrates all the characteristics of a “property right”, and hence a claim to transfer BTC under property rights is legitimate: 

“Bitcoin exists, according to the court, from a unique, digitally encrypted series of numbers and letters stored on the hard drive of the right-holder’s computer. 

Bitcoin is ‘delivered’ by sending bitcoins from one wallet to another wallet. 

Bitcoins are stand-alone value files, which are delivered directly to the payee by the payer in the event of a payment. It follows that a Bitcoin represents a value and is transferable. 

In the court’s view, it thus shows characteristics of a property right. A claim for payment in Bitcoin is therefore to be regarded as a claim that qualifies for verification.” - Zerohedge

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Russia announces they are ready to disconnect from the dollar if needed as well as facilitate a new oil currency standard

12:45 PM banking, cips, economic sanctions, oil, petrodollar, russia, swift No Comments

For a few years now, China has prepared itself to be independent of the dollar through the establishment of their CIPS alternative platform to SWIFT.  And as of this month, we can also add Russia to this list as they appear to have completed all necessary testing of their own alternative messaging platform.

With testing taking place back in December between the banking system and Russia's largest oil company, Moscow believes they are fully prepared for either the ending of the dollar as the global reserve currency, or in the case that the West deciding to sanction them with greater severity, to be able to function outside the current monetary standard.

Global oil giant Rosneft has prepared itself for shutdown of SWIFT interbank cash transfer services, should Russia be shut out of the system as part of Western sanctions. 

A Russian equivalent of SWIFT was tested by Rosneft in December, Gazprombank Vice-President Andrey Korolyov told TASS news agency. It is the first time that the Russian SWIFT analogue has been used by a huge corporation since its introduction in 2014. 

The potential exclusion of Russia from SWIFT has worried the country’s banks since 2014, when the EU and the US introduced the first round of international sanctions against Moscow over alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis and the reunification with Crimea. However, SWIFT itself has fended off such talks. 

“Certainly, it is unpleasant, as it will prove a stumbling block for companies and banks, and will slow down work. It will be inevitable to deploy some aged technologies for information transfer and calculations. However, the companies are technically and psychologically ready for the shutdown as this threat was repeatedly voiced,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said in February. – Russia Today

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Interest rates, trade wars, and Trump veto threat send gold price up over $40 in past three days

6:36 AM china, gold, gold price, interest rates, tariffs, trade war, veto No Comments

On March 20, gold had been hard pressed to hold above $1300 as a combination of weak sentiment and front-running the Fed drove down the price to $1306.  However ever since that intra-week low, gold has not only rebounded soundly, but is nearly pushing $1350 just three days later.

At the heart of this move is the turmoil over rising interest rates, the acceleration of a trade war with China, and news out early this morning that President Trump may veto the Omnibus Spending Bill which would lead to the government shutting down at the end of the day.

On the technical side, gold has just broken through a short-term resistance level of $1345, and if it can sustain the momentum upwards to $1378, then it is likely to make a serious push towards $1400 as domestic and geo-political events will all be good for gold.

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The Daily Economist update for March 22 2018 - Gold, Bitcoin, and Cryptocurrency Report

11:23 AM bitcoin, bitcoin price, child pornography, cme, fed, futures contract, gold, gold price, human trafficking, interest rates, thedailyeconomist, uk No Comments

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Godfather Part III? Brother of drug lord Pablo Escobar going straight with introduction of Diet Bitcoin cryptocurrency

8:48 AM cryptocurrency, diet bitcoin, drug lord, godfather, pablo escobar 1 Comment

One of the primary themes from the 1990 film The Godfather Part III was how Michael Corleone wanted to eliminate his family's history of illegal business dealings and establish a legitimate conglomerate that was completely disconnected from mafia ties.  In the end however, Michael could never truly escape his family's past and it ended up costing him his daughter as well as his legacy.

This idea of someone from a notorious family trying to escape their situation and circumstances is not a new concept, but rarely does it end without tragedy.  And interestingly enough, the latest chapter of an individual trying to do this is none other than the brother of drug lord Pable Escobar who on March 21 announced he was creating his own cryptocurrency.

The blockchain space is truly full of surprises. It appears that Roberto Escobar, the biological brother of notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar, has launched his own cryptocurrency: Diet Bitcoin (DDX). 

A hard fork of the Bitcoin network, the new currency promises to offer a faster and lighter alternative to Bitcoin. Roberto’s eponymous venture investment firm, Escobar Inc, is currently running an initial coin offering (ICO), where users can buy the token at a 96-percent discount: down to $2 from $50. 

A spokesperson for Escobar Inc has since exclusively confirmed Roberto’s involvement in the project in an email to TNW. 

The Diet Bitcoin website says the total supply of 1,000,000 DDX will be split in three separate token sales: 300,000 DDX will be sold at $50 (currently discounted to $2), another 300,000 will go for $100 a coin, and the remaining 400,000 will be priced at $1,000. – The Next Web

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Human nature is the same no matter the platform as Blockchain now being used to transmit child porn as well as money laundering

8:26 AM bitcoin, blockchain, child pornography, cryptocurrency, dark web, human trafficking, money laundering, tax evasion No Comments

When the powers that be come out and jawbone that cryptocurrencies and the blockchain are evil because they can be used for transactions like tax evasion and money laundering, they are not entirely incorrect.  However what they leave out in their rhetoric and in their attempts to crucify these growing technologies is that financial crimes, tax evasion, and even funding human trafficking occur far more in their own controlled systems than it does on the Dark Web or the Blockchain.

Yet sadly, the root problem has never been the tools, technology, or innovations which can always be used for either good or evil, and instead lie at the feet of human nature, which has been engaging in corrupt, fraudulent, and diabolical activities since the beginning of time.

So with this in mind it should actually come as no surprise that in the short amount of time Blockchain technology has been available, wicked individuals are already using the platform to deal in child pornography and other illegal activities.

Researchers discovered 59 rogue files buried within Bitcoin's blockchain which contain "objectionable content such as links to child pornography," which raises risks related to storing content unrelated to cryptocurrencies on the blockchain and the potential legal pitfalls.  

The discovery of the illegal content on Bitcoin's blockchain could, according to the scientists, "jeopardize a whole cryptocurrency" with more than 600 transactions containing logged conversations, emails and forums discussing Bitcoin and including money laundering and backups of the WikiLeaks Cablegate data also unearthed.  

The threats to the blockchain have been exposed for the first time in a paper presented at the Financial Cyrptography and Data Security conference on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao: A Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of Arbitrary Blockchain Content on Bitcoin. 

"As of now, this can affect at least 112 countries in which possessing content such as child pornography is illegal. This especially endangers the multi-billion dollar markets powering cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin," the paper states. -  Sputnik News

While 99.9% of individuals conducting business on the Blockchain are doing so in a fair and legal manner, that last .1% is always just enough to put a crack into the doorway for politicians and agenda mongers to propagandize their evil for their own benefit, and allow them to usher in more laws and regulations which will over time restrict the Blockchain from evolving fully into the platform it was originally intended for.

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The Daily Economist update for March 21 2018 - FED DAY! And other financial and economic news

11:36 AM 10 year bond, credit, dollar, fed, gold, libor, libor ois, rate hike, thedailyeconomist No Comments

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UK exchange to initiate their own cryptocurrency futures contract that will not just provide cash settlement, but also deliver cryptocurrencies

9:33 AM bitcoin, bitcoin exchange, cryptocurrency, delivery, futures contract, settlement, uk No Comments

When the CME opened up a Bitcoin futures contract back in December of last year, the one interesting caveat within it was that there would be no actual delivery of  the cryptocurrency.  In fact all contracts would be cash settled, meaning the contract acts simply as a paper trade versus a normal contract for a commodity that would allow for delivery of physical goods.

However there may soon be a cryptocurrency futures contract arriving that will provide investors access to the cryptos upon demand as a company in the UK is preparing to initiate a futures contract that will provide settlement through cryptocurrency delivery.

Coinfloor, a London-based group of cryptocurrency exchanges for institutional and sophisticated investors and traders, plans to launch a futures exchange for digital assets that will include the first physically delivered bitcoin futures contracts. 

The new exchange, CoinfloorEX, will allow miners, hedge funds, traders and sophisticated investors to unlock the financial potential of bitcoin at scale, through specifically designed cryptocurrency contracts and operational controls, supported by institutional grade risk management and governance, Coinifloor announced in a press release. 

By offering the first physically delivered cryptocurrency futures contracts, CoinfloorEX was designed to protect investors and traders against price slippage on positions at the time of settlement, as well as concerns of market manipulation. 

The settlement is based on physical delivery rather than an index price from across other exchanges, providing greater pricing transparency. 

Access to Coinfloor’s spot exchange will allow investors to convert bitcoin to fiat currency post-physical delivery, providing opportunities for longer-term currency appreciation or through meeting bitcoin-denominated obligations. 

The exchange is secured by 100% multi-signature cold storage, protecting client portfolios from theft, loss or other security issues associated with partially online or online only storage. - CCN

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Global central banks provide reasons behind their accumulation of gold while the U.S. remains silent in new survey

9:14 AM central banks, gold, gold accumulation, gold price, gold standard No Comments

It seems that nearly all central banks except the United States are now focusing on either repatriation, or accumulating gold as the global financial system spirals towards its next liquidity or debt crisis.  And in a survey conducted by Bullionstar earlier this month, 41 of the top gold holding central banks responded to the questionnaire while only one remained silent.

And that one was the United States.

Taking the list of official sector gold holders compiled by the World Gold Council (which uses IMF data sourced from the individual banks), the Top 40 gold holders on this list were identified. While most of the Top 40 gold holders are national central banks or equivalent, there are also a small number of international monetary institutions in the Top 40, namely, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A similar question was sent out to each bank and institution. The question was: 

“in the context that central banks hold gold as a reserve asset on their balance sheets, can Central Bank X clarify the main reasons why it continues to hold gold as a reserve asset?” – Bullionstar via Silver Doctors

Germany:

Gold is a type of emergency reserve which can also be used in crisis situations when currencies come under pressure.”

Austria:

“Gold is an essential part within our strategy for crisis prevention and crisis handling and is held as liquidity reserve but is also a means to diversity our investments.”

Switzerland:

“As part of a good diversification of currency reserves, a certain proportion of gold can help reduce the balance sheet risk. The Swiss Federal Constitution, art. 99 stipulates that the SNB has to hold a part of its currency reserves in gold.

Poland:

“Gold, due to its attributes is a quite specific asset, and traditionally has been an important component of central bank’s foreign reserves.

...

While these are just a few of the over three dozen central banks that responded to the questionnaire, you can see that the primary reason for each bank is nearly the same... to act as a reserve and to protect their currencies in the event of a monetary or financial crisis.

Which begs the question then... would gold accumulation accelerate if the world decides to go back to a form of the gold standard?  And outside of completely devaluing their currencies, how much gold, or how high a gold price, would be necessary to backstop their debt and money supplies?

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Gold bounces back nearly $20 from yesterday's declines as markets await another expected rate hike from the Fed

8:45 AM dollar, dollar index, fed, gold, gold price, interest rates, rate hike No Comments

For no particular reason yesterday, the dollar soared over 40 bps while gold fell to a three week low of around $1307.  However as the Fed prepares in a few hours to announce their next interest rate policy shift, not only has the dollar lost all of yesterday's gains, but gold has recovered all of its losses and is now well above even where it started at the beginning of Tuesday's market open.

Gold futures on Wednesday edged up from the three-week lows notched in the previous session, shaking off a firmer dollar ahead of a widely expected interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve and potential clues on how aggressive the central bank panel will be with rates from here. 

Investors across financial markets have priced in expectations the Fed will raise its benchmark rate by a quarter-percentage point. Investors are watching for hints that new Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and team will signal four rate rises in 2018 rather than three as previously signaled. 

The rate announcement comes out at 2 p.m. Eastern, followed by Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.m. -  Marketwatch

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The Daily Economist update for March 20 2018 - Gold, Bitcoin, and Cryptocurrency Report

11:16 AM bitcoin, bitcoin price, cryptocurrency, fed, g20, gold, gold price, petro, rate hike, regulations, sanctions, stablecoin, thedailyeconomist, venezuela No Comments

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The StableCoin sector of cryptocurrencies is picking up steam as new one will back its crypto with Swiss real estate

10:18 AM gold, liquidity, real estate, resource backed cryptocurrency, stablecoin, unbacked cryptocurrency, volatility No Comments

It appears that resource backed cryptocurrencies finally have a label in the industry as more and more are falling under the term of a StableCoin.

StableCoins are cryptocurrencies that represent stability in price and have much lower volatility than unbacked cryptos such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.  And they encompass a myriad of resources such as gold, diamonds, oil, and now real estate.

Liquidity and volatility are two issues that dog almost every blockchain technology startup and cryptocurrency, which is why “stablecoins” are becoming popular. Backed by gold, oil, fiat, and other, more established currencies, assets, and utilities, stablecoins offer an interesting alternative to regular cryptocurrencies. 

Today, SwissRealCoin (SRC) has announced its estate-backed cryptocurrency platform, which enables access to Swiss real estate value for investors around the world.
By backing the coin with real estate, SwissRealCoin hopes to provide a more stable option. 

“Real estate is a very traditional and stable asset class and therefore a very good choice for a real stablecoin,” Marc P. Bernegger, cryptocurrency entrepreneur and ICO advisor at SwissRealCoin, told me. “Switzerland stands out for its stable economic fundamentals in international comparison. Positive GDP growth, very low unemployment, a stable and liberal government, and a very low debt-to-GDP ratio help ensure a prosperous environment for our stablecoin.” 

The money raised through the SwissRealCoin ICO will be invested in Swiss commercial real estate assets. A percentage will also go into the development of its blockchain platform, which includes algorithms that the company claims will  help maintain a reasonable profit and minimize the downside. – Venture Beat

To date, cryptocurrencies falling under the guise of a StableCoin have held their value much better than unbacked cryptos, as seen by the fact that most gold backed ones have increased in price at the same time that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have declined by more than 50% since their all-time highs back in December of 2017.

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