2013-03-16 EPJ: Cyprus: IMF Goes Directly After Bank Depositor Money

[n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU]

Small but very nice and relevant mention:

This is an extremely bold move to prop up a government and the banksters that loan it money.  It could cause bank runs in country's with shaky finances. It also signals very clearly the importance of keeping some money in a form that can not be easily grabbed by the establishment in panic. Think gold, silver, nickels and bitcoins.

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/03/extremely-disturbing-imf-goes-directly.html

[Dusty]

This is sick.

Please someone let know cypriots that is why Bitcoin exists, I think this will learn the lesson very, very fast.

[odolvlobo]

It looks like Too-Big-To-Fail isn't just an American problem.

[Raoul Duke]

It looks like Too-Big-To-Fail isn't just an American problem.

You needed this to realise that?

Some bank in Portugal managed to "divert" 500 million euros from customers accounts only God knows where to.
The bank was bailed out by the government at a cost of 3 billion euros ultimately paid by the Portuguese tax payers.
A few months later the government sold the bank for 40 million euros to some of their friends even having offers of 200 million euros from other entities.

[deeplink]

It looks like Too-Big-To-Fail isn't just an American problem.

Which planet have you been living on in the last couple of years? Banks, even whole countries are being bailed out all over the place in Europe. This is done by complex financial constructs, so the tax payers don't even know they are paying for it until they (or their children) get the bill.

[Wekkel]

We need 10% of Europe's cash in Bitcoin 

[yokosan]

We need 10% of Europe's cash in Bitcoin 

I hear statements like this all the time.

It sounds great, but how the fuck do we do it?

[Wekkel]

We need 10% of Europe's cash in Bitcoin 

I hear statements like this all the time.

It sounds great, but how the fuck do we do it?

Let time do its inevitable work. That's the beauty of great idea's.

[knives]

It looks like Too-Big-To-Fail isn't just an American problem.

Which planet have you been living on in the last couple of years? Banks, even whole countries are being bailed out all over the place in Europe. This is done by complex financial constructs, so the tax payers don't even know they are paying for it until they (or their children) get the bill.

I know of no country "bailed out" except from Germany who went away after the 2nd WW. Marshall made it too easy for them to create the "German Ecoomic Miracle". Of course the USA did it to fight Communism, not out of love and affection for the poor Germans who came out of the war mostly demolished.

If you are referring to Greece, most of the bail out money along with internal absurd taxes route from Greece to EU banks who had Greek - high risk - bonds. By bailing them out, they defeat the definition of "high risk", but anyway. Same goes for Portugal, Spain and now Cyprus.

These countries elect governments are advertized as "responsible". Except from Italians of course, which in Germany are depicted as "irresponsible". I can't see why not bailing out banks that should have failed long time ago, makes people irresponsible.

OFFTOPIC: Funny thing that I've read on the news: Bersani (the German/EU/IMF/ECB choice for Italy), went on and on saying that if Italian vote for Grillo (an ex-comedian turn politician, but if you read the wikipedia article about him, you'll find there's much more to him than vulgar jokes) they will turn like Greece in no time. It's funny because Greece did exactly what Germany/EU/ECB/IMF said so far and didn't work out (apparently).

Go figure...

[deeplink]

It looks like Too-Big-To-Fail isn't just an American problem.

Which planet have you been living on in the last couple of years? Banks, even whole countries are being bailed out all over the place in Europe. This is done by complex financial constructs, so the tax payers don't even know they are paying for it until they (or their children) get the bill.

I know of no country "bailed out" except from Germany who went away after the 2nd WW. Marshall made it too easy for them to create the "German Ecoomic Miracle". Of course the USA did it to fight Communism, not out of love and affection for the poor Germans who came out of the war mostly demolished.

If you are referring to Greece, most of the bail out money along with internal absurd taxes route from Greece to EU banks who had Greek - high risk - bonds. By bailing them out, they defeat the definition of "high risk", but anyway. Same goes for Portugal, Spain and now Cyprus.

These countries elect governments are advertized as "responsible". Except from Italians of course, which in Germany are depicted as "irresponsible". I can't see why not bailing out banks that should have failed long time ago, makes people irresponsible.

OFFTOPIC: Funny thing that I've read on the news: Bersani (the German/EU/IMF/ECB choice for Italy), went on and on saying that if Italian vote for Grillo (an ex-comedian turn politician, but if you read the wikipedia article about him, you'll find there's much more to him than vulgar jokes) they will turn like Greece in no time. It's funny because Greece did exactly what Germany/EU/ECB/IMF said so far and didn't work out (apparently).

Go figure...

Yes the game is a bit more complex. The TLDR is that the muppets have created a huge cluster fuck that can only be prolonged by bailing each other out with tax payer money. Today the banks of Cyprus were bailed out. If they weren't, their banks would have failed => the country would fail => banks in other countries would fail => bank accounts, stock markets, pension funds fail => system failure => game over

[n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU]

Today's follow-up post doesn't mention Bitcoin or metals, but highlights relevant & continuing trends in confiscation and freezing of funds:

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the president of the group of euro area ministers, declined Saturday to rule out taxes on depositors in countries beyond Cyprus, although he said such a measure was not currently being considered.[...]

The Central Bank of Cyprus, in a letter to Cypriot banks has ordered all banks to temporarily freeze money orders and funds transfers, reports Eυρωπαϊκή Kρίση Xρέoυς.

The letter dated March 16, 2013 is marked "confidential" and temporarily prohibits institutions subject to supervision by the Central Bank from issuing money orders or  any other transfer of funds using any payment system or clearing and settlement systems, within or outside the Republic, including transfers within the same institution.

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/03/euro-minister-doesnt-rule-out-taxes-on.html

Quite likely going forward, all troll articles and comments on Bitcoin anywhere on the Internet, could be fully addressed and debunked with a single-word reply: Cyprus.

[deeplink]

Wow. Just wow.

[imanikin]

Wow. Just wow.

+1 So much for "ordinary savers" keeping most of their savings in banks, once they find out about this, and probably not only in the EU.

The banks know they can do anything, because the "ordinary savers" don't really have a safe place to put their savings, without converting it to metal or something, which is not that safe either.

Will be interesting to see if it will drive any significant funds to virtual currencies. 

[Logik]

"In financial news today, more positive signs of stability in Europe with the establishment of a special "Recovery fund" in Cyprus. The recovery fund grants investors equity in local banking sectors, further boosting the economy and the stability of the markets. The fund is proof that things are looking up for European economies"


 

[inge]

We need 10% of Europe's cash in Bitcoin 

10% European cash is a lot. If we put too fast all that money in Mt.Gox, it will not survive its own success…

[BTC Books]

We need 10% of Europe's cash in Bitcoin 

10% European cash is a lot. If we put too fast all that money in Mt.Gox, it will not survive its own success…

Yes.

Dammit, there's got to be just one really good Wall Street IT guy who'd love to completely rewrite and respec Gox's platform, in exchange for a pittance in fiat to live on and a ton of bitcoin in his back pocket.  That one guy would probably make more difference to Bitcoin than fifty speculators with seven figure buy-ins.

[caveden]

We need 10% of Europe's cash in Bitcoin 

I hear statements like this all the time.

It sounds great, but how the fuck do we do it?

• Let the Trezor guys finish their product. (or eventually somebody else).
• Drop the crippling 1Mb per block limit.

There you go, you have safe wallets for end users and a network capable of handling the load.

(I understand that "dropping the 1Mb" might take some time to be done safely though)

[molecular]

This is sick.

Please someone let know cypriots that is why Bitcoin exists, I think this will learn the lesson very, very fast.

Problem is: you can't get fiat out of cypress. It's easy getting bitcoins in, but hard getting the fiat back out. So who's going to sell them Bitcoins?

[bitcartel]

Just awesome mention.

[odolvlobo]

This is sick.

Please someone let know cypriots that is why Bitcoin exists, I think this will learn the lesson very, very fast.

Problem is: you can't get fiat out of cypress. It's easy getting bitcoins in, but hard getting the fiat back out. So who's going to sell them Bitcoins?

Are you sure? Are there laws against exporting euros from Cyprus?