Golden trail: Dubai to Chennai via Delhi

"Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths on the trail of 16kg gold boarded the Delhi-Chennai Rajdhani Express when it neared the outskirts of the city and followed the smugglers all the way to city before seizing the contraband and arresting four people, including two Sri Lankans, on Friday. Investigators intercepted the train when it reached Gummidipoondi railway station and boarded it. They identified the smugglers and tailed them to a house at Kodambakkam where they delivered the consignment. This is the second major seizure since March when DRI caught a senior diplomat from the UAE for allegedly smuggling 37kg gold jewellery." Continue reading

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Send Micro-Transactions With Zero Fees via Coinbase

"We launched an exciting feature today: off blockchain micro-transactions between Coinbase accounts! Here is a bitcoin transaction I just sent myself for 1 satoshi (that is 0.00000001 Bitcoin). The transaction arrived instantly, confirmed instantly, and cost zero in fees. This was possible because it did not touch the 'blockchain' (the public ledger of all bitcoin transactions), and instead was sent directly between two Coinbase accounts." Continue reading

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New Silver Liberty Dollar QR Coin Obtains Live Bitcoin Prices

"Vaughn Perling had the courage to issue The New Liberty Dollar with a strikingly similar appearance to that of the NORFED Liberty Dollar while von NotHaus was awaiting sentencing on counterfeiting and fraud charges. However, Vaughn Perling added a disclaimer to his website that the purchaser acknowledges that The New Liberty Dollar is a 'silver piece medallion, and not any government issued coin.' The new QR engraved medallions enable a user of the coin to obtain real-time 'manufacturer’s suggested trade value' which is based on the silver spot market price. The price will be in Bitcoin as well as other crypto and national currencies." Continue reading

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Bill Bonner: What does money represent?

"Higher wages do not get you anywhere if prices rise too. What you really need is higher productivity. How do you get that? You need to save money (rather than spend it) and invest in things that produce more...thus providing the profits necessary to pay more to the people who produce it. Really. Is that so difficult to understand? For the last 42 years, the feds have encouraged Americans to spend their money, rather than save it. And they've encouraged people to buy things made by foreigners, rather than make things themselves. This was the consequence (perhaps unintended) of Richard Nixon's pure paper money system." Continue reading

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Nazi gold and currency wars – A full guide

"Nazi gold is a phrase that refers to the bullion looted by the Nazis in the run up to and during the Second World War. Gold clearly plays a strong role in history and features as both a political and economic weapon during the Wars of the 20th Century. Upon invasion Nazis would loot a country’s gold reserves, along with other valuable assets, and promptly work to devalue the sovereign currency. This pillage of the financial system is not well known but it served effectively as a weapon in their campaign to take-down whole nations. The Nazis consolidated their power by holding gold whilst their victims were consigned to weak paper currencies." Continue reading

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A Helping Hand for Bernanke and Co.

"Especially in the spirit of Mr. Bernanke’s commitment to transparency and accountability, his concluding remarks surely encourage the prospects for passage of the pending legislation introduced by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, to constitute a Centennial Monetary Commission, HR 1176. The legislation’s purpose: 'To establish a commission to examine the United States monetary policy, evaluate alternative monetary regimes and recommend a course for monetary policy going forward.' The duties set forth for the commission fully coincide with Mr. Bernanke’s public call." Continue reading

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Why bitcoins are 60% more expensive in Argentina than the US

"The country’s citizens, faced with an annual inflation rate of around 25%, are turning their backs on their national currency. Official figures put the annual rate of inflation at around 10%, but private economists estimate it to be more than double this. In February 2011, the government started issuing fines of up to 500,000 pesos ($123,442) to economists and consulting firms that refuted the official figures. To access dollars legally in Argentina, buyers have to make a request through the central bank and AFIP (the tax revenue office), which check how much the buyer is requesting and what it is for." Continue reading

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Bill Bonner: The worst candidate to replace Ben Bernanke

"Ben Bernanke is leaving the Fed at the end of the year. The leading candidates to replace him are all fully committed to continuing his policies, which consist of providing as much credit rope as you need to hang yourself. People come to think what they need to think when they need to think it. When they approach the 'end of their rope' phase of a financial catastrophe they need to believe that they have no choice but to play out a little more line. Doubts give way to desperate faith. Reflection is abandoned for action. All of the announced candidates for Bernanke's job -- Yellen, Summers and Kohn - are believers." Continue reading

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Bitcoin: newest frontier in e-money management

"Over the last year, many wealthy Russians lost billions of euros in the Cyprus economic crisis. The Russian government announced plans to intentionally weaken the ruble - plans that were never realized, but which caused quite a scare. President Vladimir Putin banned government officials from holding bank accounts and securities abroad. Historically, the Russian ruble has been a tumultuous currency, suffering major fluctuations throughout the 20th century. For those distrustful of Russia's financial institutions, then, Bitcoin's decentralized basis in math and code may provide an increasingly viable alternative." Continue reading

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