Investment/Trends

Venezuela says ‘petro’ cryptocurrency pre-sale will be in hard currency

"Leftist President Nicolas Maduro is hoping to capitalize on the success of cryptocurrencies by creating one for Venezuela as the bolivar plunges to all-time lows and the country struggles with hyperinflation. Critics decry the petro as simply a way for the cash-strapped government to issue debt without being constricted by U.S. sanctions. But the U.S. Treasury last week warned that Americans engaging with the petro could still find themselves in violation of those sanctions. Many in Venezuela have used cryptocurrencies in recent years to evade strict currency controls."

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The Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts

"Countries like the United States and Russia began nuclear testing in the mid-1940s. France, England, and China jumped on the bomb bandwagon a few years later. And with each detonation, radioactivity levels in our atmosphere increased. That meant each time steelmakers were blowing oxygen into new steel, they were also blowing nuclear particulates into it. That’s not true for the steel used to fabricate pre-1942 vessels, which is virtually radiation-free. And its clean status makes this metal particularly valuable for some technical applications of nuclear medicine and, more commonly, the development of nuclear energy and weapons."

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Drug lords make billions smuggling gold to Miami for jewelry and phones

"Much of that gold comes from outlaw mines deep in the jungle where dangerous chemicals are poisoning rainforests and laborers who toil for scraps of metal, according to human rights watchdogs and industry executives. In comparison, the U.S. gold supply, mostly mined in Nevada and Alaska, offers stiff competition and regulations. Big companies control the big mines. Smaller companies looking to deal in U.S. gold are restricted to buying recycled 'scrap' gold from pawnshops and jewelry stores. To gain a competitive edge, many U.S. gold traders look south."

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Peak Cantillon Effect: Swiss National Bank Prints Its Way To Prosperity

"The SNB raked in ENORMOUS investment profits because they printed hundreds of billions of francs, which inflated the prices of assets that they themselves were buying. And today, because of those artificial investment gains that they engineered for themselves, the SNB is now the most profitable company in the world. Oh, and just so you know the other half of the story, while the central bank is raking in record profits, total debt in Switzerland has skyrocketed."

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Banks Like Capital One Are Enforcing Bans on Cryptocurrency Purchases

"This isn’t the first time a national bank has taken such a strong and aggressive stance against digital currency. Last October, many customers of TD Bank experienced severe delays and blocks to their accounts while trying to purchase bitcoin on Coinbase. PNC Bank has also begun taking measures against bitcoin by preventing customers from buying it directly through their bank accounts."

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FBI Software For Analyzing Fingerprints Contains Russian-Made Code

"In a secret deal, a French company purchased code from a Kremlin-connected firm, incorporated it into its own software, and hid its existence from the FBI, according to documents and two whistleblowers. The allegations raise concerns that Russian hackers could compromise law enforcement computer systems."

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There Will Be No Viking Longboats Cruising the Mississippi

"Switzerland-based Viking Cruises, which wanted to build and send small cruise ships up the Mississippi River, leaving new tourism dollars for river towns in its wake, is backing off its plan. Our own federal laws are to blame. More specifically, President Grover Cleveland's Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA). The 1886 law requires that in order to ferry passengers between ports in the United States, the ship must have been built in the United States and be owned and operated by Americans."

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Vermont Becomes the Ninth State to Legalize Recreational Marijuana

"Today Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed a bill making his state the ninth to legalize marijuana for recreational use and the first to do so through the legislature rather than a ballot initiative. The new law, which takes effect on July 1, allows adults 21 or older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana in public, to grow up to six plants (two of them mature at any one time) per household, and to keep whatever they produce."

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