Fiat Money

Video of the Day: F*ck the Fed

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On this day, when the banker-cartel commonly known as the Federal Reserve is set to announce its latest decision in central planning, I thought it would be wise to revisit an old, yet classic video which calls out this neo-feudal institution for the state-sanctioned criminal enterprise it is. Neal Fox summarizes my sentiments exactly with three … Read more

Jeffrey Lacker: “Fed Has No Interest in Stopping Bitcoin”

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While I don’t believe a word the professional criminals at the Federal Reserve say about anything, this is nonetheless an interesting clip from CNBC earlier today. The guest was Jeffrey Lacker, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Of course, I do note that after Lacker says his statement about the lack of … Read more

The Times of India: “Almost Every Passenger on a Flight from Dubai to Calicut Was Found Carrying 1kg of Gold”

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Watching Indian bureaucrats attempt to halt more than one billion human beings’ desire for gold has been one of the more entertaining and pathetic stories of all of 2013. It is one that I have covered on many occasions, the latest being my post from earlier this month:  Gold Smuggling Increases 7x in India and Surpasses Illegal Drug Trade.

Well it appears the trend continues, potentially at an accelerated rate, as we just learned that, incredibly, “almost every passenger on a flight from Dubai to Calicut was found carrying 1kg of gold.” As I have said many times in the past, if an Indian wants their gold, they will have their gold. 

CHENNAI: Faced with curbs on gold imports and crash in international prices leaving it cheaper in other countries, gold houses and smugglers are turning to NRIs to bring in the yellow metal legally after paying duty. Any NRI, who has stayed abroad for more than six months, is allowed to bring in 1kg gold.

It was evident last week when almost every passenger on a flight from Dubai to Calicut was found carrying 1kg of gold, totalling up to 80kg (worth about Rs 24 crore). At Chennai airport, 13 passengers brought the legally permitted quantity of gold in the past one week.

“It’s not illegal. But the 80kg gold that landed in Calicut surprised us. We soon got information that two smugglers in Dubai and their links in Calicut were behind this operation, offering free tickets to several passengers,” said an official. The passengers were mostly Indian labourers in Dubai, used as carriers by people who were otherwise looking at illegal means, he said. “We have started tracing the origin and route of gold after intelligence pointed to the role of smugglers,” he said.

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Paul Krugman Once Again Irrationally Attacks Bitcoin…Here’s My Response

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The last aggressive anti-Bitcoin tirade I recall from Paul Krugman was written on April 14th of this year. It was such an irrational piece of drivel that I decided to respond to his Op-ed nearly paragraph by paragraph in my piece, Paul Krugman Goes on the Attack: Calls Bitcoin “Antisocial,” which I strongly suggest you read if you haven’t already.

What is most interesting about that previous article in hindsight is that he wrote it right after Bitcoin experienced its first major crash of 2013 (there have been two thus far, both after greater than 10-fold increases in the price). While I know Krugman periodically attacks Bitcoin, it’s interesting that this latest Bitcoin hit piece also came directly after the second crash. For those who are holders of Bitcoin, this should be taken as a very positive price signal going forward. Krugman’s prior article was written the day before the abolsute low price for the decline was reached at $50/btc on April 15th. It seems that Krugman becomes particularly comfortable slamming Bitcoin only after a price crash.

In any event, his latest Op-ed is almost as bad as the first one, and so I thought it’d be worthwhile to highlight his ignorance, irrationality and blatant use of statist propaganda once again. So let’s go.

From the New York Times:

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Video of the Day: Greenspan Calls Bitcoin a Bubble

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I have to admit I was starting to get a little worried in recent days as certain folks who’s opinions I hold in very low regard started to rethink their prior clearly poorly researched opinions on Bitcoin. Personally, I would prefer small thinkers and professional media trolls to continue to mock and bash Bitcoin at … Read more

Picture of the Day: The Bitcoin Black Swan

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Yep, this pretty much says it all. Take that Banksy.  * I have no idea who created this image and where it came from, but great job to whoever made it. Like this post? Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G Follow me on Twitter.

Is Venezuela Selling Gold to Goldman Sachs?

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The following article was published in the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional, and it appears to imply that the struggling South American nation has agreed to sell or swap the gold it still holds overseas at the Bank of England to Goldman Sachs.

This is one of the major problems with gold. Despite what some may say, it is probably the most manipulated asset on the planet. Given the fact that so much of the gold is in the hands of sovereign nations and Central Banks that can be pressured by the U.S. empire, this is what happens. In fact, as I have said on many occasions, many of the Central Bank purchases we hear about do not consist of countries actually moving gold to within their borders, but rather just paper purchases. This does nothing to tighten supply/demand for gold. The main countries who’s Central Banks actually appear to buy and deliver gold within their borders are China, Russia, Iran, and well, Venezuela. Until that changes, gold will be relatively easily manipulated, which is exactly why I support Bitcoin and why is taking off as it has.

From a sentiment perspective I think gold is buy, but personally I am waiting to see if we get one more major flush.

Here are excepts from the article courtesy of GATA. I believe it is a google translation and the actual sourced article in Spanish can be found here.

Venezuela’s Central Bank and Goldman Sachs are ready to sign an agreement to swap or exchange international gold reserves, with a start date in October, as stated in the contract, and until October 2020.

The negotiated amount, equivalent to 1.45 million ounces of gold, are deposited in the Bank of England and the transfers are made directly to Goldman Sachs once delivery times are stipulated.

The operation involves the delivery of gold from the central bank, which will receive dollars from the U.S. firm. The transactions are made through the creation of a financial instrument that is traded in the international market.

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My Thoughts on the Bitcoin Hearing

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To my Twitter followers, thanks for bearing with me today through my non-stop messaging on the Senate’s Bitcoin hearing that just wrapped up. I hadn’t intended to write a post on it, but upon further reflection I have decided it is worth putting some initial thoughts down in a more formal format. Unlike most people … Read more

My Recent Webinar with TF Metals Report

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It’s been a little while since I joined the always witty and entertaining Turd Ferguson of TF Metals Report for an interview. Last week, we sat down and conducted a webinar where the site’s premium subscribers we able to ask me on the spot questions on pretty much any topic they could think of. It … Read more

Picture of the Day: Bitcoin Reaches Record Market Capitalization of $2.64 Billion

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Oh the times they are a changin’. The total value of all the bitcoins in the world, something that didn’t even exist five years ago, is now worth $2.64 billion. While impressive, Ben Bernanke and his merry minions of monetary mayhem still create the equivalent of over 30 new Bitcoin markets every single month by … Read more