Free Republic

A reader sent me this graphic which is circulating on social media. Whenever I see an unattributed image like this going around I want to verify it, lest it be photoshopped, a deep-fake or some derivation of “urban legend”. Sure enough, if you go to NatWest bank’s website, right here – you see this cash withdrawal policy spelled out for all to see: This isn’t actually new Here in Canada, for at least a few years – predating COVID, the big four banks have been routinely asking you why you are taking cash out whenever you withdraw anything over a...

International Man: In practically every country, the allowable limit for cash withdrawals and transactions continues to be lowered. Further, rampant currency debasement is lowering the real value of these ridiculous limits. Why are governments so intent on phasing out cash? What is really behind this coordinated effort? Doug Casey: Let me draw your attention to three truths that my friend Nick Giambruno has pointed out about money in bank accounts. #1. The money isn’t really yours. You’re just another unsecured creditor if the bank goes bust. #2. The money isn’t actually there. It’s been lent out to borrowers who are...

Cheques or cash payments of more than $10,000 will not be accepted next year, raising concerns about the government one day adopting problematic central bank digital currencies. ... The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) starting in 2024 will no longer allow citizens to pay tax debts over $10,000 by cheque and will mandate payment via electronic means under a new rule that is part of a federal omnibus budget bill likely to become law soon. Since 1917, the CRA has allowed anyone with tax debt to pay by “cash or cheque,” but beginning next year payments of more than $10,000 will...

Last week, Fox News aired a segment discussing the possibility that the US dollar will cease to be the global reserve currency and what that would mean for Americans. The tone of the piece suggested that a “catastrophic” decline of the US dollar was not only possible, but perhaps even imminent. CNN last week also aired its own segment suggesting the US will face “a reckoning like none before” if the “dollar’s dominance” in the global economy falls significantly.Much of the analysis was framed to stoke the public’s fears of Chinese geopolitical power, and the Fox segment was especially hyperbolic...

Among many claimed benefits, cryptocurrencies supposedly offer two significant benefits over fiat currencies: 1) autonomy and 2) discretion. This past week, the U.S. federal government took them both down. The U.S. Department of Justice issued a press statement that it had seized $2.3 million in cryptocurrency. The seizure was the result of the FBI's Colonial Pipeline investigation. As a reminder, Colonial Pipeline, the U.S.'s largest pipeline for refined oil products, was the victim of a cyberattack. Against the U.S.'s wishes and policies, Colonial Pipeline paid millions in ransom to retake control of the pipeline. According to the FBI, they had...

When you hear the word, “dollar,” you probably think of the U.S. dollar. It is, after all, the most widely used dollar in the world. In fact, the U.S. dollar (known as USD at international currency exchanges) is accepted in many cities, countries, and regions of the world either as primary or secondary currency. The U.S. dollar is also currently the reserve currency of many countries. A reserve currency is a specific type of money held by central banks and international financial institutions to trade with one another.The United States is not the only country to use an official currency...

JM Bullion You Tube CNBC interview /b> LinkAlso Reuterus Retail investors turn attention to silver as GameStop shares retreat,P> A rally in the price of silver lifted the metal to an eight-year high on Monday but those gains faded as some investors questioned the ability of social media-driven traders to move prices in a bigger, more liquid market. The retail traders’ darling, GameStop Corp, sold off, giving up all of Friday’s strong rally, but other shares caught up in the Reddit rally, including BlackBerry Ltd and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc, extended the advance that has brought pain to short-sellers. While...

The gold bears have finally caved under the deafening barrage of fiscal and geopolitical catalysts, from Fed hints to intensely brewing conflict with Iran. But there is one key trend that stands to push gold up beyond $1,700--regardless of the day’s news. Of course, it’s difficult for the bears to ignore a nearly $50/ounce gain for gold, which is now trading well above its 5-year high.

Russia and China took another step away from the US dollar after the two countries agreed to develop bilateral trade using the ruble and the yuan. It was just one of the major deals reached after the presidents of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, held talks in Moscow on Wednesday. “Russia and China intend to develop the practice of settlements in national currencies,” Putin told journalists at the news conference following the talks. He added that the states have signed intergovernmental agreements on expanding the use of the yuan and the ruble in bilateral financial operations. A...

Investing.com - Bitcoin and the other leading cryptocurrencies all sold off sharply on Monday, after China banned individuals and organizations from raising funds through initial coin offerings, saying the practice constituted illegal fundraising. The People’s Bank of China said in a statement earlier that it had completed investigations into ICOs, and will strictly punish offerings in the future while penalizing legal violations in ones already completed. Individuals and organizations that have completed ICO fundraisings should make arrangements to return funds, the PBOC said, issuing the strongest regulatory challenge so far to the burgeoning market for digital token sales. It also...

With Saudi Riyal forwards plunging back below 3.81, dramatically weaker than the current peg, Bloomberg reports that Saudi authorities are cracking down on currency traders as speculation mounts that the world’s biggest oil exporter won’t be able to maintain the riyal’s peg to the dollar as revenue plunges. Saudi Arabia ordered banks in the kingdom to stop selling some products that allow speculators to bet against its currency peg just days after demanding information from lenders on the offerings, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency sent a circular to banks this week saying...

The stock market is having a horrible time so far in 2016, with the S&P 500 down more than 9%. Gold, on the other hand, is up nearly 10% year-to-date and hit a four-month high of just under $1200 per ounce on Monday before dipping 0.7% Tuesday to $1189.30. It's a bit of a cliche to say that people turn to gold in times of uncertainty: Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. Gold did phenomenally well from 2000-2011 but really suffered after hitting nearly $2000 per ounce in 2011. From 2011 to 2015, the yellow metal pretty much fell in...

Billionaire investor George Soros told the World Bank this week that the planet is on the verge of a third world war that could arise out of an economic collapse in China. “If there is conflict between China and a military ally of the United States, like Japan, then it is not an exaggeration to say that we are on the threshold of a third world war,” Soros said during a Bretton Woods conference. . . . . Soros said the only solution to the prospect was to allow China to join the IMF’s basket of global currencies so that...

LONDON (AP) — The euro could soon be doing something it's only done a couple of times in its 16-year existence — trading 1-to-1 with the dollar. Europe's single currency has since May been on a downward trajectory against the dollar, mainly because of the divergence in economic performance between the eurozone and the United States. Where the eurozone's recovery from the global financial crisis has been at best anemic, the U.S. economy appears to be going from strength to strength. And that divergence is hurting the euro's fortunes. From $1.40 last spring, it is now trading below $1.10 for...

Here’s something I didn’t know about the Swiss National Bank: “Many economists believe that balance sheet losses are irrelevant for a central bank, so they should play no role in policy. But the SNB is 45 per cent owned by private shareholders, many of whom are individuals, who receive dividends from the SNB. The rest is owned by the cantons, which have been complaining recently about insufficient cash transfers from the SNB.This ownership structure contrasts sharply with most other central banks, which are in effect government departments, wholly owned by the treasury and therefore the taxpayer. The Swiss set-up makes...

Chronic problems have been flaring up in financial markets lately, and some of them may emanate from the United States. Yet none of these issues have seriously damaged the exalted status of what Washington Irving once called “the almighty dollar.” In fact, a familiar pattern has been emerging: When the world’s financial system runs into trouble, the position of the dollar as the world’s crucial currency becomes more formidable. Eswar S. Prasad, a Cornell economics professor and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, has written a thoughtful new book that clarifies this counterintuitive phenomenon. Its title is “The Dollar Trap:...

10 Countries Hoarding Enormous Stockpiles Of Gold Mamta BadkarJanuary 16,2013AP Photo/Newmont Mining Germany is reportedly repatriating gold it has stashed with the New York Fed and the Bank of France, and some policymakers want to bring back all their gold in case the financial crisis worsens. People continue to debate whether gold is or should be considered money. However, this hasn't kept the world's central banks from increasing their gold reserves. The World Gold Council estimates that central banks have purchased 500 tons of gold in 2012, up from 465 tons last year. Analysts attribute some of the support in...

In the second half of the show, Max talks to Jim Rickards about a BRICS currency, gold and the fog of currency war.

China and Japan have agreed to start direct trading of their currencies, officials announced during a visit here by Japan’s prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda. The move was among several that emerged from Mr. Noda’s meetings with President Hu Jintao. Japan will also apply to buy Chinese bonds next year, allowing it to accumulate more renminbi in its foreign-exchange reserves. China is the world’s second-largest economy while Japan is the third largest, and the currency agreement is part of a move away from using dollars. Chinese officials have said recently they would like to broaden the global use of the renminbi,...

Are You Prepared For What’s Coming? Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2011 Nov 16, 2011 - 05:35 AM Michael A Burnham writes: The US$ is the world reserve currency and a huge amount of it is used in international commerce and held in foreign banks. What is the real value of the US$ or any currency for that matter? Money is no longer backed by gold or anything other than “good faith”, thus coined “fiat currency". Whenever the US Treasury runs short of money, it auctions Treasury notes…IOUs. But since there are fewer interested buyers in the world today, it then...