Latest posts of: Gyfts

Regulation is inevitable, you're right. But it's perhaps not the regulation that you might think. Free markets need regulation, but the idea behind regulation is to encourage free enterprise. With crypto currency, by design, regulations are not needed because it's a decentralized entity. Regulations really just means taxing crypto at high rates so that central banks don't have to worry about it being a threat to their currency reserves. If they were smart, they would implement crypto into their financial systems, but that would require taking in a currency that they are not able to manipulate.

Quote from: titular on March 25, 2022, 05:23:45 PM

Quote from: LFC_Bitcoin on March 22, 2022, 06:31:38 PM

Some people might be able to bypass some sanctions but it’s quite tough to be able to. Most exchanges are KYC & aren’t allowing Russian nationals to trade with them atm. You can avoid sanctions by using crypto but how are they supposed to buy significant amounts of crypto when exchanges won’t accept their fiat?

That is sort of the big issue. The issue isn't their ability to initiate a bitcoin transaction, the issue is exchanging that bitcoin into fiat. Most of the off/on ramps are exchanges that use SWIFT to send customers their funds in the form of fiat currency.

Needless to say, completely evading these sanctions will not be an easy task for Russia. However, I have a feeling they will find a way.

Individuals in Russia can avoid the sanctions if they choose to operate using Bitcoin. Russia as a nation doesn't have any other way to avoid sanctions other than using their own currency to conduct commerce, which they have openly said is the plan with countries they deem unfriendly. It used to be that Russia and other countries would use USD as a reserve currency. That isn't the case anymore. If they wanted to use Bitcoin to avoid sanctions outright, they needed to increase their reserves to the tune of billions in bitcoin/crypto years ago. They can't start after the sanctions are already in place with Rubles in the ground and expect to be successful.

Quote from: paxmao on March 29, 2022, 11:04:36 AM

Every business open in Putin's Russia as of now is contributing to finance the killing.

Is every business open in China now complicit (maybe criminally liable?) in the modern day Nazi-like concentration camps of many millions of muslims? https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/new-details-torture-cover-ups-china-s-internment-camps-revealed-n1270014

You'll see none of the companies pulling out of Russia also pull out of China. Russia's economy is small enough for many of these enterprises to not feel any significant hit to their revenue by withdrawing their operations in Russia. Can't say the same for China. These businesses are not withdrawing because they care.

It's not too fair to critique Biden, he doesn't make any of his own decisions: https://twitter.com/jacobkschneider/status/1508584855440969735

He has all his talking points written by his staffers, all his policy proposals focus group'd, and every speech prewritten by professional writers and recited from a teleprompter. When he does go off the script, it's either threatening biochemical warfare or calling for regime changes. You'd think with all this rehearsal, things would be going more swimmingly than they are now. Apparently not.

Quote from: Sithara007 on March 19, 2022, 03:02:37 AM

Quote from: LUCKMCFLY on March 19, 2022, 01:38:00 AM

Well, as you know, politics is something irreverent to everything that represents good customs, on the one hand there is talk about Venezuela's oil, and yes, they are allies of Russia, but on the other hand the USA negotiates with Venezuela and on the In a short time the Colombian government went to the same president to speak to Biden in the White House to tell him that Colombian oil is better than Venezuelan oil, then the roles are reversed and now the business is in Colombia, there is talk that there are Russian bases in Venezuela , and that there are US bases in Colombia, then this game of give and take is simply to have a status quo and guarantee US consumerism, the US is not interested in Ukraine, it will no longer enter NATO, we must be realistic, Russia it will not leave it anymore, now the USA's concern is to be well with them, and well with Europe, then the USA wants to be well with God and the Devil, so these are things that they do not see in Europe, or they see it and turn a blind eye, That's why I say, the conflict is political or geo-political where the only ones who benefit are the rulers and the people suffer, in this war the people never win.

Now the US is pampering not only to Venezuela, but to Iran as well. Still, the increased output from these two, on top of the increase from the other OPEC nations won't be able to fill the shortfall from Russia. If the Americans and their allies go ahead with their stupid move of prohibiting oil and gas exports from Russia, then the global economy will collapse in a matter of few months. Crude has already crossed three digits and is on course for $150 per barrel in the short term and $200+ in the long term. Natural gas prices are now at oil equivalent rates of $300-$400 per barrel in Europe.

This is what's most troubling about the U.S's dependency on oil. They will gladly look towards Iran or Venezuela for oil instead of increasing their own production. Iran is a terrorist state, and Venezuela is pro-Russia. I suppose they could beg OPEC to increase production, but it doesn't make much sense to ignore the reserves they already have control over. I speculate it's so that the Biden administration does not upset the green sector lobbyists by appearing to be pro-oil. But in a time of crisis, you'd think there'd be an exception.

Quote from: franky1 on March 26, 2022, 12:30:49 AM

c. undo certain over regulations. EG 'bitlicence' in NYC
but may require having a different 'licence' regulation insteaD

How much have you heard the government undoing regulations? You think the far left wing of American politicians are capable of deregulation? Biden's executive order is exactly what people fear it is, the pathway down the road of strict regulation and high taxes in order to discourage usage. They don't want anything to compete with USD and they sure wouldn't mind the extra tax revenue. Most politicians don't understand anything about Bitcoin beyond the surface level "digital currency" notions.

The elites get to drive full sized motor vehicles, while the rest of us are left with scooters, says a lot about the current predicament with energy, doesn't it? Reminds me how politicians and climate change grifters meet for a climate summit, in which they take their private jets and travel across the globe. The alternative to high energy prices aren't for the lower class to lower their energy needs, it's to increase energy production and ditch "green" energy initiatives which do not come close to meeting demands.

Quote from: cheezcarls on March 26, 2022, 05:57:57 PM

What are your opinions on this one guys regarding the double taxes imposed by the Indian government to their crypto citizens? Thanks!

This shouldn't come as a surprise. Bitcoin can't undergo a traditional ban because of the difficulty to enforce. A ban would be nothing more than a gesture. Instead, India would rather allow Bitcoin to be legal and milk it for tax revenue. The dual purpose is generating more funds for the government to misuse and to incentivize people to avoid crypto usage/investments.

Biden says Putin cannot stay in power: https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/26/politics/biden-warsaw-saturday/index.html

I'd be less worried about the Russians killing Putin and more worried about the West trying to implement a regime change. Putin would use nukes before he would involuntarily give up power. And it isn't apparent to me how much the Russian people are against the war. The amount of propaganda coming out of Russia would make you believe there is still widespread support for Putin, but that isn't a true indication of public support. The Ukrainian side of the propaganda war would make you believe the contrary. Truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Anyway, the chance of nuclear weapons being used are probably higher than what Ukrainians would be comfortable with, but still unlikely relatively speaking (one can hope, at least).

Quote from: Lucius on March 23, 2022, 12:08:58 PM

Quote from: Rockstarguy on March 23, 2022, 10:58:47 AM

I Have been observing the way price of things are going up right from 2013 up till this time , add to the pandemic in 2019-2020 that caused high level of inflation to the world.

Some natural inflation is quite normal and expected, and the average person will certainly not feel it too much on his skin if his government adjusts wages to rising inflation. Some 10 years ago, the price of 1 kg of bananas in my country was about 0.7 EUR, today it is about 1.4 EUR, which means that it has doubled - but the average salary has more than doubled, so no one complains about the price of bananas.

The problem is when the price literally jumps by 100% overnight, so the price of 1 liter of sunflower oil is now just under 3 EUR, and until recently it was half as low. No country can solve this problem in the short term, which means that purchasing power is drastically reduced, and people have to give up a lot of things to survive. The pandemic and economic policies of most countries of the world are paying off, and on top of all that, Russia's aggression against Ukraine is making the situation even worse.

I'm not a pessimistic person, but hard days are ahead of us - luckily for those who were intelligent enough to invest in Bitcoin, things will still be a little easier than for the average man who is completely addicted to fiat.

There's nothing natural about inflation. Central banks purposefully use inflation to keep currency in circulation in order to control economic activity. The banks target it at 2 percent, or so we're told. The reality is that endless printing results in the inflation rate much higher than what they target. The normal supply and demand model shouldn't be influenced by the total money supply (at least that would be a problem Bitcoin would solve). The pandemic suppressed the supply, but demand increased when most governments decided to close up their economies and stimulate them artificially by printing currency.

I'm reading threads from experts on the matters related to the war in Ukraine, and apparently there are supply chain issues affecting the Russian military to the extent it is causing a stalemate. Apparently Russian troops are low on resources and exhausted and need to be replaced, which can take months. I presume aluminum exports from Australia won't help.

Quote from: davis196 on March 20, 2022, 06:51:46 AM

Aluminum is not the most "critical export" for Russia.
...
I'm sure that the Russians won't mind reducing their aluminum export

That isn't the point. Russia has the liberty to alter their trading partners during times of economic sanction. India and China would step up and do business perhaps, but those types of trading transactions take time. The procurement of raw materials doesn't happen on a whim. Aluminum might not be a critical export, I don't have the technical knowledge to say either way, but it isn't good for war business.

According to the source, only the "friendly" countries have that option. I can't imagine the incentive they would have to pay in crypto unless Russia doesn't accept their local currency (or whatever reserve currency they might be using). Russia is wise to use Bitcoin to avoid sanctions, but crypto isn't circulating enough on the global stage by whatever "friendly" countries to warrant Bitcoin output through commerce between the nations. The only two large players are India and China that are willing to accept Russian oil, and they don't strike me as being pro-Bitcoin.

Quote from: Welsh on March 25, 2022, 06:19:07 PM

Quote from: hatshepsut93 on March 25, 2022, 04:47:17 PM

We are very-very far from it, so at this point it's all just theorizing. But I wouldn't be so sure that Bitcoin can not be banned, circumstances can radically change in a very short time, I think the recent events have proved that to everyone.

This was somewhat predictable. Russia had already taken Crimea eight years prior, that was the first stage of the attack, it was always known that they didn't want Ukraine to join Nato, so when they threatened to, Russia made their move. So, this was somewhat predictable. Russia knew the amount of sanctions it would receive, and they know its not sustainable in the long run. The West as much as we like to pretend we don't need Russia, we are reliant on it. Its not as simple as switching a button, we will be reliant on them until a few years have passed at the very least.

The Russian invasion of Crimea was the aftermath of the Maidan Revolution when the West supported, then, President Yanukovych's removal. The NATO talks really didn't come to fruition until Biden was in office. Trump was more anti-NATO than most of the previous U.S. presidents so Russia probably felt more threatened by Biden than they did of Trump. Even if the sanctions were predictable (to be frank, I don't think anyone predicted this type of economic rebuke of Russia's invasion), it's clear Putin is way over his head.

Sanctions historically haven't been too successful. Reason being is that sanctions affect the ordinary people, not the government, so they're not inclined to readjust their positions unless the tanks come rolling in or if their people stage a coup.

Quote from: Yogee on March 21, 2022, 09:44:20 PM

Quote from: DVlog on March 19, 2022, 07:58:02 PM

....
2. why did Russia annex Crimea?

a) There is a trillion dollars worth of gas reserve found in the basin of Crimea which Russia wants. This was the main and first reason behind the Russian occupation in Crimea.

b) Crimean seaport Sevastopol didn't freeze in winter which makes it unique from most other seaports in Europe. This means Russia can operate business even in winter through this seaport. Not only that it can be used as a naval fleet for the Russian navy the whole year. And its location gives Russia the power to conduct any naval operation to the whole of Europe.

... ]

I'm having difficulty understanding the first one since they were still paying Ukraine before the previous President was overthrown via coup d'etat with the help of the West in 2014. Russia was more likely threatened so they had to do a pre-emptive strike before the newly installed leader would change the deal or completely ignore it. I believe that's the main reason for the Crimea annexation.

You're correct. The economic incentive is not there for Ukraine. Assuming the war does not last years and that Russia could take over Ukraine tomorrow, their economy is still in the gutter and Rubles is becoming more worthless as the sanctions continue. Ukraine doesn't have enough natural resources in order to justify invasion. If it did, the U.S. would have troops on the ground at this moment.

Quote from: KingScorpio on March 25, 2022, 01:11:30 AM

how is zelinski different he also sends his army into the death hoping it will somehow stop putin

besides what are you supposed to do with your army except using it,

Using your army does not make your army is expendable, you know. Ideally, you'd like them to return home. I am critical of Zelenskky urging any grown man to take up arms against the Russian army. As if the idea of handing an untrained solider an AK-47 and sending him off to fight in the trenches against the Russian army is anything other than a death sentence. But, I hold it to a higher regard than most imperialism expeditions so I can't blame him. Self defense is not imperialism.

Quote from: Tash on March 24, 2022, 06:25:14 PM

Donetsk and Luhansk did have a referendum and 90% voted to be a indepented nations.
What the outcome of the negotiations will be we will find out.
Lviv Oblast more or less is the same size as Luhansk and bigger than Slovenia, Montenegro or 50 countries in the world, was once a independent state, Galicia-Volhynia, it was also part of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
and the West Ukrainian People's Republic and Poland, when it was part of the Lwów Voivodeship of the Second Republic of Poland.
From November 1918 — June 1919 part of an independent West Ukrainian National Republic.
The region only became part of the Soviet Union under the terms of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939.
You dare to predict what the outcome of a referendum would be in the oblast if the people given the choice to be indepented and if the behave, work hard to have the option to join Eu and Nato?

In Zakarpattia Oblast seven villages the Mukachivskyi Raion (couple of thousand people) are of Hungarian decent ask them if the want to be part of Hungary and instantly become EU citizen or stay a minority in the proven abusive Ukraine. It isn't only Donetsk and Luhansk people who suffer in Ukraine.

Well those referendums were not "legitimate." (Seems we recognize legitimacy to be Western acceptance, though that shouldn't necessarily be the standard). My point is, under any normal circumstances a democratic election would just result in an independent nation for these regions. Zelenskky seems unwilling to accept the truth that some territories are gone, but he's a politician and that is their normal standard (I haven't kept updated on the negotiation talks, so it may be that Zelenskky has already conceded those regions, I don't know).

Quote from: Tash on March 24, 2022, 06:25:14 PM

About time you show some respect for the President Grin

https://youtu.be/oua0Puihrkc

I wish I had not watched that. You should put a warning on that video.

Quote from: Tash on March 24, 2022, 05:25:10 PM

Quote from: merchantofzeny on March 24, 2022, 04:36:35 PM

Quote from: Tash on March 23, 2022, 06:20:18 PM

Quote from: merchantofzeny on March 23, 2022, 05:30:55 PM

snip

Donbas was part of Ukraine for 25% of Ukraines history (92 years out of 367)

Almost a century and only now they are complaining about being "treated badly"?
..........

Some are married for decades at some stage a partner becomes increasingly abusive (in this case 16000 dead in 8 years), then it's time for a divorce. This "family" feud is no execption.
We will find out how many Countries Ukraine will be split, only 3 or 4, 5..... (West Ukraine, Ukraine, Donetsk, Luhansk People's Republic....)

Donetsk and Luhansk are gone. These regions would probably have voluntarily isolated if they were given the choice anyways. Ukraine will still be Ukraine, a single nation. Just carve out the exception for those two regions.

If we're talking a divorce, Putin seems to be going through a rough patch with some of his advisors.

See here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-23/putin-adviser-chubais-quits-over-ukraine-war-and-leaves-russia

Long time Russian advisor leaves Russia over Ukraine war. Might seem like Putin is in a bit of a ditch. Lucky for him to get out alive.

Quote from: romero121 on March 23, 2022, 12:00:25 PM

CBDCs never serve as a threat to the adoption of cryptocurrencies. As more people are getting into the cryptocurrency usage it isn't possible to restrict people from using bitcoin with mere ban. Whether it is Nigeria, China, Thailand or some other country people continue to use even after ban. People once used to cryptocurrency will never think of CBDC which is a digital form of having control over ones finance.

CBDC's are designed to compete with crypto currency. They're just a digitalized version of fiat currencies that can be controlled more efficiently. The plan most of these central banks are going to try is introduce CBDC and out-compete crypto, and then coordinate with the government to regulate crypto's or tax it at a high rate so people revert to these banks' currencies. Most ordinary people couldn't tell you the difference between a crypto currency and a CBDC, so it's an easy sell for a bank to pitch their own centralized token - attach the buzz word "block chain" to it and have people consume it without thinking.

Quote from: D-law on March 23, 2022, 10:38:11 PM

Quote from: Gyfts on March 23, 2022, 09:39:08 PM

Russia is demanding payment for oil in rubles from "unfriendly countries": https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-business-europe-moscow-4790d3d85ac2cf9a8d8b19d2717c0e03

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Putin told a meeting with government officials that “a number of Western countries made illegitimate decisions on the so-called freezing of the Russian assets, effectively drawing a line over reliability of their currencies, undermining the trust for those currencies.” “It makes no sense whatsoever,” Putin added, “to supply our goods to the European Union, the United States and receive payment in dollars, euros and a number of other currencies.”

Just one of many ways to circumvent sanctions. These countries imposing sanctions are not ignorant, they knew what they were doing. They just felt supporting Ukraine was a worthy cause. Putin is correct - there is no incentive for him to accept any other currency if sanctions can wipe away any assets Russia has on a whim. EU is left with the predicament of either not importing Russian energy or utilizing rubles in their transactions with Russia.

And Utilization if this rubble's gives them or makes the valuable right ?
I see Europeans will get the bad side of it, if they're not ready buy gas with rubble's.
But everyone needs gas for transportation and heat, increase in price might also come up in this case since everyone wants energy and gas.

Europe will have to cave in, or find alternate energy sources. It's interesting to see the shock by Westerners that see USD being dumped by major countries, as if these unforeseen consequences of sanctions were truly inconceivable. Any crypto currency advocate saw this coming from miles away, many members of this forum. Russia's been emptying out their USD reserves for years now, and when they've been trading with China they haven't been conducting their transactions in USD as they once did. Good luck to USD, I suppose. And good luck to Europe in their search of energy.

Russia is demanding payment for oil in rubles from "unfriendly countries": https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-business-europe-moscow-4790d3d85ac2cf9a8d8b19d2717c0e03

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