Alternative News

Brazilian Central Bank Launches Intervention Program To Stop The Bleeding

"The new intervention program announced by the BCB Thursday sees the central bank offering $500 million of dollar swaps in the currency derivatives market on a daily basis for the rest of 2013, and $1 billion of FX spot lines on Fridays. Essentially, the BCB is taking a big short position in the U.S. dollar. The BCB is conducting the majority of the real-bolstering intervention in the derivatives market as opposed to the spot market because under the latter scenario, the central bank has to burn through the U.S. dollar component of its foreign reserves in order to prop up the currency, whereas with swaps, foreign reserves don't come into play." Continue reading →

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Internet Giants Got Millions From Taxpayers to Cover PRISM Spying Costs

"Internet giants like Google and Yahoo received millions of dollars from the NSA to cover their surveillance under the PRISM program. These payments occurred after a federal court ruled that surveillance requests the companies handled under the PRISM program were unconstitutional. The document also shows the NSA was anxious to get certifications from the FISA Court to authorize surveillance beyond the possible expiration of the law that authorized that surveillance. The law was set to expire on December 31, 2012, but the NSA received authorizations under that law to continue its surveillance until September 23, 2013." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin and the New Fourth Estate: An Interview with Cop Block

"In a world where the flow of money can be so easily controlled by a government that has vested interests at odds with the good of the people, Bitcoin begins to show its true usefulness. Bitcoin was a lifeline to Wikileaks and may be a lifeline to Edward Snowden; and moving forward there is little doubt we will have to help other organizations and individuals who have transgressed the government in our name. I have recently had the pleasure of talking with Pete Eyre of Cop Block, an organization dedicated to exposing and reigning in the abuses of our state and local police forces. Cop Block accepts Bitcoin donations." Continue reading →

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The Top 5 Bitcoin Shops

"There are increasingly less limits to what you can buy using Bitcoin, especially if you’re lucky enough to live in Berlin’s Kreuzberg area. Here are our top current picks for spending those hard earned BTC online: 1. All4BTC allows you to buy almost anything online with Bitcoin, provided you would be able to get delivered using Fiat. 2. BtcTrip.com Buy flights, and soon, rent cars and book hotels using BTC. 3. Gyft allows you to buy gift cards from almost any store, and accepts Bitcoin. 4. BitMit - Bitcoin’s answer to eBay – you can buy and sell using BTC, eBay auction style. 5. BitPremier - where you can buy Ferraris, Yachts, luxury apartments, art and more." Continue reading →

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Alydian targets big ticket miners with Terahash hosting

"In a little under a week, serious miners will be able to host Terahashes of ASIC mining power from Alydian – but only in large quantities. The Californian company is preparing to host ASIC mining equipment for its customers, using yearly contracts. Its launch day pricing was $65,000 per Terahash, and mining hosting contracts are only available in 5 and 10 Th/sec blocks. So, if you’re thinking of running a miner in your basement, you are not its target market. Alydian will be going after institutional-level investors that want to move large amounts of money into bitcoins. The question is, how is it getting the capacity so early, and what will it mean for everyone else?" Continue reading →

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BitShares P2P trading platform to offer dividends on bitcoins

"BitShares is the brainchild of Invictus Innovations. It will consist of a protocol and a piece of software called Hydra, which will offer three separate services: a decentralized identity management system called BitNames, a secure chat and messaging system codenamed BitCom, and a peer to peer trading exchange. Both the protocol and the software will be open source, said Charles Hoskinson, who is co-founder of the project. His co-founder Daniel Larimer is a software engineer with a background in networked C++ applications. They secured 'mid-six figure' funding from Chinese private equity firm BitFund.PE." Continue reading →

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Scientists release test to combat counterfeiting of legendary ‘cat poop’ coffee

"The Asian palm civet eats coffee cherries, the fruit of the coffee plant. They digest the soft fruit and excrete the seeds in their feces, which, according to connoisseurs, gives the coffee a flavor unlike any other in the world. The fact that people will pay exorbitant amounts for real Kopi Luwak has led to a thriving black market in fake Kopi Luwak. Some people sell regular coffee beans and claim they are the famous civet coffee. Others adulterate Kopi Luwak beans with regular coffee beans, hoping drinkers won’t notice the inferior quality. Scientists have developed a test that checks for the unique chemical fingerprint on Kopi Luwak." Continue reading →

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Learn Bobby Tay’s $2.7 Trillion Sigma Secret

"His company was so impressive to the Arabs that they sent Mr. Tay home with $100 million to invest in Singapore’s industrial-property market. Sabana is a shari’ah-compliant REIT, meaning it adheres to Islamic financial principles. That’s appealing to a large swath of the Middle East that is eager to find a place outside the U.S. and Europe to put money to work. Singapore is a natural destination because of the safety of the banking system and the surety of the legal system. In 2011, an estimated $2.7 trillion was looking for a shari’ah-compliant home, and with a shari’ah-compliant REIT kicking off a dividend of 10% at the time, well there was no question the Arabs would invest." Continue reading →

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