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US Treasury Sanctions Russian Bitcoin Miners

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U.S Treasury Sanctions Russian Bitcoin Miners

by Shawn Amick 

 

The Treasury department announced sanctions against companies and individuals who enable fiat payments or infrastructure for bitcoin mining in Russia.

  • The U.S Treasury is applying sanctions against bitcoin mining in Russia.
  • The sanctions seek to impede the capacity for individuals to receive fiat payments, as well as computer hardware by applying pressure on the supply chain and payment processors.
  • According to the University of Cambridge, Russia is the third-largest country in the world for bitcoin mining."

The United States Treasury Department released a press release today announcing new sanctions aimed at bitcoin mining in Russia for their ongoing war in Ukraine, as they are the third-largest bitcoin miner in the world according to the University of Cambridge.

The Treasury department stated that reliance on fiat payments and the importation of computer equipment makes Russia vulnerable to sanctions if the U.S focuses on hindering the companies providing those services.

Since government entities cannot stop the actual process of mining bitcoin, the U.S Treasury decided to utilize other attack vectors that weaken the supply chain.

“Treasury can and will target those who evade, attempt to evade, or aid the evasion of U.S. sanctions against Russia, as they are helping support Putin’s brutal war of choice,” said Brian Nelson, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “The United States will work to ensure that the sanctions we have imposed, in close coordination with our international partners, degrade the Kremlin’s ability to project power and fund its invasion.”

One particular bitcoin mining company, Bitriver, was addressed in the press release thoroughly. Founded in 2017, Bitriver has three offices scattered across Russia. Legal ownership was changed to a Switzerland-based holding company in 2021. This company has been designated as operating in the “Russian Federation economy,” thereby making it and its ten Russian-based subsidiaries sanctionable.

In January, Vladimir Putin stated that Russia has distinct advantages when it comes to bitcoin mining as it relates to the energy surplus and climate conditions provided to them. The U.S Treasury agrees with the Russian president, stating “Russia has a comparative advantage in crypto mining due to energy resources and a cold climate.”

Tim Moseley

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Czechia and Slovakia in wild times

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Czechia and Slovakia in wild times

Since 1993 devided into this two states = Czech republic and Slovak republic, former Czechoslovakia. Our territory is in center of Europe but as we are relatively small two states you will not read a lot about us in the last months though we are in a way in the heart of events.
Slovakia has about 90kms border with Ukraine, Czechia not but in spite of it we are the target of many Ukrainians escaping from the terrible war conflict. Already before the battles in Ukrainian territory started in Czech Republic lived about 250 000 Ukrainians. Finding here language belonging to the Slav languages and relatively good opportunities in comparison with their home country a lot of them are staying for a long time. What is a bit surprising for me is that many left their children with their grandpas and grandmas in their home country. That shows how economically difficult must be the situation in Ukraine for long time already.


Since the end of February came over 300 000 Ukrainians to Czechia. That is really a lot to manage when you consider that Czech republic has about 10,7 million inhabitants. Slovakia is smaller with about 5,4 million inhabitants. 
Having in Czechia already family members or friends it is logical a lot of people coming from Ukraine want to stay in our country. But for Czechia it is really a very big number of people.

Ukrainians waiting on border

In 2018, the world-famous Czech demographer Tomáš Sobotka of the Vienna Demographic Institute participated in an international study that confirmed the "exodus" of residents from east to west of Europe. The study already four years before the war in Ukraine predicted a steady decline in the population of Ukraine and other eastern European states and the movement of their population in a westerly direction. The war is likely to intensify the exodus of eastern Europeans. So will there not eventually be a kind of " people-free zone " separating Russia from the European Union on the territory that the Ukrainians are defending? And is there any way to prevent the depopulation of Ukraine? According to Tomáš Sobotka, hardly. "I estimate that in the Czech Republic will remain 60 to 70 percent of Ukrainian refugees," he says.
Up to half a million refugees are likely to arrive directly in the Czech Republic. This is calculated by one of the scenarios of the Ministry of internal affairs at beginning of April.
That is really an extreme number especially when our national economy is weakened by the covid crisis. Minister of interior of Czech republic said that government has prepared several scenarios and the most probable is considered that about 500-600 thousands of Ukrainians will come.
Most of refugees want to stay in capital Praha and that is causing a lot of problems. Praha with 1.32  million inhabitants has just now already 70 000 Ukrainians which is 5,25%.

        Thank you for reading

                                             Margaret
 

Tim Moseley

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Gold silver succumb to big drop in crude oil rise in bond yields

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Gold, silver succumb to big drop in crude oil, rise in bond yields

Gold and silver prices are a sharply lower in midday U.S. trading Tuesday, on a big downside price corrections after both metals hit five-week highs on Monday. Solid losses in the crude oil market and rising U.S. Treasury yields on this day also worked against the precious metals market bulls. June gold futures were last down $26.90 at $1,959.60 and May Comex silver was last down $0.775 at $25.37 an ounce.

Global stocks markets were mixed to weaker overnight. The U.S. stock indexes are higher at midday. Still, the U.S. stock indexes have become wobbly and are now in near-term price downtrends. Risk aversion in the global marketplace remains extra elevated amid the Russia-Ukraine war that shows no signs of ending. Inflation concerns have also hurt stocks and bonds.

IMF's warning: Russia's war in Ukraine severely hurts global growth, adds to decade-high inflation

Nymex crude oil futures prices are sharply lower today and trading around $103.00 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index is firmer today and hit a two-year high. The closely watched yield on the 10-year Treasury note is presently fetching 2.898%, near a three-year high.

Technically June gold futures bulls still have the firm overall near-term technical advantage. Bulls' next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $2,000.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,915.00. First resistance is seen at $1,972.50 and then at today’s high of $1,985.10. First support is seen at $1,950.00 and then at $1,940.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 7.0Live 24 hours silver chart [ Kitco Inc. ]May silver futures bulls have the firm overall near-term technical advantage and have momentum. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at the March high of $27.495 an ounce. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $24.045. First resistance is seen at $26.00 and then at today’s high of $26.195. Next support is seen at today’s low of $25.21 and then at $25.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 7.0.

May N.Y. copper closed down 990 points at 470.20 cents today. Prices closed nearer the session low today. The copper bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage. Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at the April high of 486.00 cents. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at 450.00 cents. First resistance is seen at 475.00 cents and then at 480.00 cents. First support is seen at today’s low of 468.05 cents and then at the April low of 462.40 cents. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.5.

By Jim Wyckoff

For Kitco News

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

Tim Moseley

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The Central Hub Of The Markethive Economy – The Wallet

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The Central Hub Of The Markethive Economy – The Wallet

What Does The Wallet Do? 
What Does It Mean For You? 

 

The launch of the Markethive wallet is approaching, so it’s time to start beating the proverbial drum. It is the start of an exciting time with the advent of many integrations to follow the release of the wallet that will bring Markethive into prominence as an unprecedented platform. The combination of inbound marketing, social media, digital broadcasting, video, conference rooms, e-commerce, gamification, etc. 

Markethive is a blockchain-driven crypto economy, all-inclusive, with a distributed database system required for this decentralized, monolithic global project. We’re almost there with the release of the wallet that will initiate entrepreneurial sovereignty and open the floodgates of this divine enterprise with its plethora of systems and services, including the new interface and dashboard. 

We now have a complete working wallet with the Solana Network, and we also have a fully functional crypto merchant account. The Markethive wallet is being polished with the finishing touches, keeping mindful that it’s not just a simple wallet but a comprehensive, dynamic engine centralized for you that powers your platform and business.

Markethive is fundamentally a sophisticated inbound marketing and storefront platform, integrated with a social network, and not just another social media platform you see popping up to counter the media tech giants we’ve come to know as oppressive, censoring you and using your personal data for their own gain. 


Markethive Pay Transaction Example

 

Your Very Own Merchant Account

The Markethive platform is massive, and it lends itself to the cottage industry concept allowing members to monetize the various initiatives within Markethive. It also allows you as an entrepreneur and business owner to facilitate and promote every aspect of your business, including eCommerce payments, right from your business Storefront in Markethive. 

In other words, you will have a personal Merchant Account that you can plug in to your WordPress or Storefront group through Markethive. You will be able to utilize your chosen wallet address for payments relating to your business, and it will keep track of everything for you. You will not have to rely on APIs and third parties that can shut you down at a whim because you don’t go along with their agenda. 

 

The Functionality Of The Wallet

The wallet is not just a wallet to send coins out from Markethive to an exchange. It will house the functioning and tracking of the ILPs, your transactions, subscriptions, statements, payments, and the Vault. The Vault is home for your Markethive Credits, likened to a stable coin. 

You can fund your vault with Markethive Credits via various cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Hivecoin, Credit/debit cards, and a payment processor new to Markethive, wise.com. Due to the adversarial nature of PayPal, the processor will not be available. More updates will come as we finalize all the moving parts of this comprehensive mechanism.

With the tightening of crypto regulations by the unforgiving, anti-business sentiment of the US government, it is in everyone’s best interest to stake Markethive Credits instead of Hivecoin. If we were to stake HVC, the regulations require Markethive to report monthly all individuals' staked earnings. This would be a tedious, expensive exercise and not one any of us as a community or individual would want. 

As Markethive Credits are not classed as crypto, it sidesteps these regulations and allows us to accumulate Hivecoin passively. Utilizing the Vault by having an ongoing threshold balance of Markethive Credits is a form of staking. In other words, keeping any amount in the Vault above your monthly commitments (e.g., subscriptions) that are automatically debited from your vault generates interest. 

The higher the threshold balance, the more interest you receive, and it also increases your Hive Ranking, which also increases your interest. You cannot trade or sell your Markethive Credits; they are for purchasing services within Markethive, so the vault can be considered a debit card. 

Equally, it can be used as a bank account, except the interest received from banking your funds in the Vault would be considerably more than a regular bank account. With interest being paid to you in Hivecoin, it also has increased worth as the price of the coin rises. 


Markethive Wallet Example

 

Markethive’s Coin-Only Exchange 

Markethive is also in the process of setting up an offshore corporation to be able to facilitate a coin-only exchange wholly owned by Markethive, similar to Yobit. 

Why is it important to have our own exchange system?

Markethive has a tremendous amount of activity with its coin through its members, so the way to document that for other exchanges to view the millions of transactions is to have our own exchange. This makes it conducive for other coin-to-fiat exchanges to have Markethive on board and allow trading (buy/sell), invoking pre-eminence and increased market value. 

Markethive is not just building a non-purposeful meme coin like Doge or Shiba, nor are we creating a simple exchange. It’s a comprehensive, dynamic platform that will serve humanity on every level imaginable, helping us through these difficult times and into the light where our personal sovereignty will rise in harmony and abundance in the collective.

 

Benefits Of A Reduced Total Coin Supply 

Along with the integration to the Solano Blockchain, Markethive will drastically reduce the total supply of Hivecoin into the low millions (actual amount to be advised). This means the price potential for HVC, through supply and demand, will increase a hundredfold+ and benefit you as a Hivecoin holder.

Think of Bitcoin's total Market supply of only 21 million coins as opposed to the other altcoins with a supply into the trillions. (less supply, more demand, market price increases.)

It will also make Hivecoin kinetic and benefit you when building your business within Markethive with all the tools and services you and others need all transacted with Hivecoin. The implementation of a gamified system will draw people in, which in turn broadens your sphere of influence as you use the system. 

As this activity takes place, it expands the usage, awareness, and adoption of Markethive services, which then drives up the demand for the coin. It creates an alternative economy, a complete ecosystem for entrepreneurs of every caliber making a living online. It makes Hivecoin legitimate as it has purpose and utility, unlike so many other tokens out there that have very little to no purpose and a total supply into the billions and trillions.

 

 

Entrepreneur One Upgrades First Access. Automatic KYC

The Entrepreneur One members will be the first to receive access to the wallet. KYC (Know Your Customer) will also be implemented for all members. Notably, if you register a credit card within Markethive, you will automatically be KYC level two. Uploading your passport or driver's license and utility bill will be classed as KYC level one.    

What this means for you when building your business is that the people you are dealing with in Markethive are verified and legitimate. They are who they say they are, and your level of engagement will be much better and more genuine than on any other social network. 

It’s important to understand that the Entrepreneur One Upgrade will no longer be available upon release of the wallet. Existing, current E1 members will continue to enjoy the benefits of the upgrade, including receiving a 1/10th ILP for every year their subscription is active for up to ten years. The benefits are explained further in this article.  

 

The Premium Upgrade will also launch once the wallet is released, with many benefits for Markethive members. It increases your earning potential and allows you to monetize the initiatives Markethive has implemented. Click here to preview the features of the Premium Upgrade.

There's still time to upgrade to Entrepreneur One and be privy to the complete Markethive system that can be described as a cottage industry with money machines that champions everything else out there. You will be one of Markethive's early adopters and have a rare opportunity to cement your future of self-sovereignty. 

How can you forge your future as an Entrepreneur and get your share of ILPs with the Entrepreneur One Loyalty Program? 

By clicking on the Membership Upgrade tab on the main menu of the home page and following the prompts.

The precarious state the world is in provides us with the opportunity to take advantage of emerging technology to “unhook” from the global majority and its nefarious, corrupt systems.

Markethive truly wants everyone to succeed and have a sustainable business that’s making you a sustained income from anywhere in the world. That’s the Markethive promise, the vision, and what we’re building. 

Be with us at the Sunday meetings at 10 am Mountain time to learn more and stay updated with the latest Markethive news. You’ll find the link to the meeting room in the Markethive calendar.

God Bless you all with Light and Love. 

 

Also published @ BeforeIt’sNews.com https://beforeitsnews.com/promotional/2022/04/the-central-hub-of-the-markethive-economy-the-wallet-3033.html

Tim Moseley

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OpenAI’s major upgrade

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OpenAI’s major upgrade…

by Jeff Brown, editor, The Bleeding Edge

This AI image generator just got an impressive upgrade…

OpenAI’s text-to-image generator DALL-E just got a major overhaul. This is an artificial intelligence (AI) system developed by OpenAI that can generate images from text. Users simply tell the AI what they want to see, and the AI creates the image from scratch.

Last year, DALL-E was remarkably good at producing basic images of single objects like a chair or a cat. However, those images look almost archaic compared to what the upgraded version of DALL-E can do. Check this out:

 

OpenAI's major upgrade…

Source: OpenAI

The AI created this image in response to a request for “Teddy bears mixing sparkling chemicals as mad scientists, steampunk.”

Talk about a specific, yet complex, request – but DALL-E nailed it. The first version couldn’t come close to anything as complex as this.

Here’s another one:

DALL-E Shiba Inu Image

Source: OpenAI

This is what the AI produced in response to “Shiba Inu dog wearing a beret and black turtleneck.”

This looks incredibly lifelike. It could be a photograph of someone’s dog. But the AI created this entirely from “memory.” That’s what is so impressive.

 

 

This new-and-improved version of DALL-E also comes with an “edit” feature. After the AI generates an image, users can add items or make changes at will.

For example, the person who asked DALL-E to create the Shiba Inu image could tell the AI to make the beret a different color or maybe add sunglasses.

Then the AI would make those changes within milliseconds. And if users don’t like the edits made, they can change or undo them just as quickly.

This new generative AI is extraordinary, to say the least. It is capable of producing original art/design in a matter of seconds.

It’s not hard to imagine how technology like this can compress the creation and editing of design-quality images to mere seconds. This is a process that would take hours, days, or even weeks when done manually by a designer.

And with generative AI like this, anyone can create unique images and art.

It's not yet available to the public, but we’ll start to see this tech put to use soon. OpenAI will be licensing out the technology to other tech companies that will leverage the AI. Companies that produce software for designers and artists will likely adopt technology like this as a way to enhance creativity.

And I’m sure that there will also be some fun consumer applications that leverage this technology. I can even imagine integration with common social media applications. GIFs are so popular these days, that I can imagine that consumers would love to be able to create a custom GIF or image to add some pizzazz to their text.

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

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Philosophy of the good life – Why we need unhappiness

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Easter Sunday marks the beginning of the season of joy in Christianity, even though Jesus was crucified just two days earlier. Pretty quick. What does this turn of emotion reveal about the connection between joy and sorrow?

The government probably had it in mind: According to the Christian narrative, Easter rest is supposed to begin a time of hopeful dawn, indeed, of joy. Even as a child, however, I wondered why joy should break out so suddenly, when the Savior had just been tortured and beaten on the cross.

Unhappiness – a philosophical blank space
This childish irritation is accompanied by a basic ethical problem: What is the relationship between suffering and joy? Is unhappiness merely the absence of happiness?
For 2500 years, happiness has also been a philosophical hot potato. Its opposite, however, unhappiness, is rarely analyzed. It hangs like a sword of Damocles over the happiness-fixated study of life. There are isolated references to unhappiness factors, for example in Aristotle, who considered spoiled children and a lack of beauty to be obstacles to happiness. And yet it is symptomatic that the relevant handbook "Glück" (Happiness) published by Metzler does not contain a single entry on unhappiness, despite 84 entries.

Searching for consolation and deeper meaning
Many people probably only think about a successful life because life can still be unsuccessful. Probably, unhappiness is also one of the main motives for taking up the study of philosophy. Those who are completely happy will want to dig less deeply.

Conversely, people often only know what makes them happy as soon as they experience unhappiness and learn from it: from failure, loss, loneliness, despair, pain, illness or death. Those who are so unhappy like to imagine what it would be like to be "happy" again.

Kant's paradox: Happiness arises from pain
This results in a paradox: We may not want our own unhappiness, but we can't want it either. "So pain must precede every pleasure; pain is always first," says philosopher Immanuel Kant. "Pain is the sting of activity, and in this we feel our life for the very first time; without it lifelessness would occur."
I understand Kant here in this way: life, even the happy life, arises from pain. A life completely without the struggle against prickly unhappiness would probably also be a life without happiness.

Illusory happiness is repugnant to most people
Imagine that you could be connected to a "happiness machine". From then on, this machine would make you believe that you were in a state of complete satisfaction. Would you let yourself be hooked up? Or would you miss the contrast?
A second indication: In a famous study by Northwestern University in the USA, the quality of life of lottery winners was compared with that of paraplegic accident victims. As expected, people were very happy shortly after winning the lottery and very unhappy shortly after the accident. With a time lag, both the happiness of the former and the unhappiness of the latter diminished. And with a long interval, the accident victims actually turned out to be happier overall.

Impetus for a better life
This yields some initial answers to our initial question. First: Only those who know misfortune can appreciate happiness. Second: People can grow from individual episodes of unhappiness. Third: Many people do not simply want to receive their happiness as a gift, they want to earn it. Fourth: Unhappiness may drive us to strive or fight for a better life in each case. And fifth, overall, unhappiness thus becomes a motor of social progress, toward a better life for all.
This last thought leads back to Easter – and especially to an Easter under pandemic conditions. With all the sadness about misfortune suffered: If we learn from this misfortune, a dawn of new joy may dawn after the time of suffering.

 

 

Tim Moseley

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Gold breaks the key level of 2000 in its first unsuccessful attempt

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Gold breaks the key level of $2,000 in its first unsuccessful attempt

The combination of exceedingly high inflation and the geopolitical crisis in Ukraine were strong enough forces to run gold prices back above $2000.

The focus of my articles throughout last week dealt with how the Federal Reserve and global central banks were faced with a near impossible task to reduce rising inflation. Dramatic measures would need to be taken including raising rates to at least half of the current level of inflation. That means raising rates to 4% – 6%.

However, this alone would not lead to the endgame of inflationary normalization. To achieve that goal governments have to focus upon the primary forces that led to a 40 year high. Inflation levels began to climb long before Russia attacked Ukraine. They began as central banks globally allocated enormous amount of capital to rebuild devastated economies that occurred during the recession, and to accomplish a task without their actions leading to a recession. Secondly, the primary force taking prices higher besides global devalued currencies were and are the supply chain issues that up till now have yet to be solved.

The military invasion by Russia into Ukraine added jet fuel to the fire, magnifying supply concerns in particular the cost of energy and food. Russia is the third-largest exporter of oil to countries worldwide. And the production of grain specifically corn and wheat, have a large component exported from both Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine for example is the fifth largest producer and exporter of corn in the world, and Russia is the third-largest wheat exporter globally. Collectively they represent a respectable percentage of these grains which are exported around the world. Unquestionably, these exports have ceased or greatly diminished since the onset of the war.

The recent rise in inflation has been fueled by food and energy costs. Gasoline prices alone increased by 18% last month. Even though the United States is the number one producer of oil, was greatly affected by the Russian oil boycott by the U.S. and the European Union.

These inflationary forces I believe will remain so persistent that it is inconceivable that the supply chain issues will be resolved this year and highly unlikely that they will unwind in 2023. This concern along with global currencies continuing to be devalued is a recipe for double-digit inflation.

Investors have turned to gold and U.S. debt instruments as the safest asset class to protect against the uncertainty that currently exists. As of 5:19 PM EDT gold futures basis, the most active June 2022 contract is currently fixed at $1982. However, it is today’s intraday high that had garnered the most attention when gold traded to a high of $2003 per ounce. At the same time, it was unsuccessful in holding that price, giving back approximately $21 of that gain. The net result was that gold gained $7.10 on the day and still looks exceedingly strong. In my opinion, it is not if but when gold will breach $2000 per ounce on a closing basis and then move to higher pricing.

Currently, our technical studies indicate that there is resistance at $2000 with stronger resistance at $2016. That being said, although our technical studies do not look at the timeline needed to achieve certain price points at some point which I believe will come before the end of the year we will challenge and take out the all-time high of $2088 per ounce.

As our subscribers and loyal readers at Kitco News know my forecasts of gold reaching between $2166 – $2300 per ounce have been published over the last four months. While four months ago these predictions might have been perceived as foolish and overly optimistic. But today’s break above $2000 certainly makes that upper-level forecast more achievable and realistic.

For, those who would like more information simply use this link.

By Gary Wagner

Contributing to kitco.com

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

 

 

Tim Moseley

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THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING AN ESTATE PLAN FOR YOUR BITCOIN

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THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING AN ESTATE PLAN FOR YOUR BITCOIN

Bitcoin users need to seriously consider their plan for what will happen to their bitcoin when they pass away. Having an estate plan is necessary.

by Scott WORDEN

Have you thought about what will happen to your bitcoin when you die? For many of us, the thought has at least crossed our mind. But the number of HODLers we know that have actually put in place a legally sound plan of action ensuring both the sovereignty and privacy of their holdings is very few. This is understandable. For starters, most of us don’t expect to die anytime soon. Even those of us who have planned ahead with a well-crafted testamentary device still likely haven’t considered the nuance of proper estate planning for digital assets. And there is no digital asset we know of whose custody and conveyance requires more nuance than bitcoin.

Most people think about trusts in terms of an irrevocable trust. These trusts can be an excellent tool to confer tax advantages to both your estate and beneficiaries if crafted properly. Under such circumstances, legal and equitable title must be split between trustee and beneficiary, meaning the grantor necessarily cedes either legal control or, perhaps more commonly, a portion of his equitable claim to the trust property. While this may be perfectly acceptable for some, others may balk at the mere thought of imposing any limitations on the use and enjoyment of their bitcoin while alive. Here we will examine the revocable living trust as an estate planning instrument for your bitcoin.

Do you know what will happen to your bitcoin when you’re gone? (source)

 

WILL YOUR BITCOIN BE SECURE IF YOU DIE TOMORROW?

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

For those of us that have gone through the trouble of setting up a properly executed will, there’s a tendency to treat our bitcoin in the same manner we treat dollars in an account. This may work out just fine if our assets are held on an exchange like Coinbase or Gemini, but what if they’re not? If you died tomorrow, would your next of kin know how to access your funds? Would they know what to do with the seed phrases you buried next to the tree in the backyard, or how to interpret BIP39 punched into steel?

In a rapidly growing number of instances, proper estate planning requires a level of technical competence and understanding that the majority of estate planners do not possess. With the trend continuing towards technological decentralization, an increasingly significant portion of a decedent’s assets will no longer be accessible with a mere email or letter to the decedent's bank, stockbroker or bitcoin exchange.

Bitcoin users need to seriously consider their plan for what will happen to their bitcoin when they pass away. Having an estate plan is necessary.

Self-custodied bitcoin requires more than an account password to assume ownership. (source)

DIGITAL ASSET PROTECTION TRUSTS AND HOW THEY FUNCTION

Digital Asset Protection Trusts are a relatively new element of an estate plan. Lawyers in the estate planning community are beginning to realize that an increasing portion of an individual’s net worth can be found in this rapidly-evolving asset class. The legal community has been forced to account for cryptocurrencies, NFTs, digital photo accounts, email accounts, social media profiles and so on. While lawyers react to the idea that someone’s Twitter profile, or Bored Ape NFT is worthy of new regulation, we look to these regulations in the context of the primary digital asset we believe is worthy of preservation: bitcoin.

REVISED UNIFORM FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS ACT (RUFADAA)

Most states have either adopted the RUFADAA or plan to. In many instances, RUFADAA will empower the executor of your estate with the authority to request access to most of your digital assets in a manner that takes into account your privacy interests and the terms of service agreements of the big tech companies. But when it comes to permissionless, decentralized monetary energy, e.g., bitcoin, the RUFADAA will be of little use on its own.

This is why we at BTC Trusts recommend placing your bitcoin into a living trust. A living trust will allow you to maintain access to your assets in the same manner as you do today, but also rest assured that if the unexpected happens, those assets won’t be lost, forgotten or misused.

ACHIEVING MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY WITH A REVOCABLE TRUST

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

With a revocable trust, you may elect to act as the trustee of your digital assets pending a future event, e.g., death or disability. As both the grantor and trustee, you are free to change or amend the trust as often as you like. Unlike an irrevocable trust, the property is not protected from creditors and even though it technically belongs to the trust, it will not receive any special tax treatment while you’re alive. However, provided these assets can be managed distinctly from non-trust property, a revocable living trust can be crafted to convey your bitcoin to your heirs without limiting your use or enjoyment of those assets while you’re alive.

DOCUMENTING A SECESSION PLAN WITHOUT COMPROMISING PRIVACY

“Privacy is neces­sary for an open society in the electronic age. Privacy is not secrecy. A private matter is something one doesn’t want the whole world to know, but a secret matter is something one doesn’t want anybody to know. Privacy is the power to selec­tively reveal oneself to the world.” — “A Cypherpunk’s Manifesto” Eric Hughes

Is privacy important to you? You may or may not be aware that whether you have a will or not, the assets of your estate will pass through a legal process known as probate. Probate is a legal process that becomes public record. If you don’t want the public to know how many bitcoin your next of kin just took possession of, probate is something you want to avoid. Setting up a revocable trust or testamentary trust for your bitcoin will allow you to maintain the privacy of your holdings — something your heirs are likely to appreciate.

Disposition through probate could expose the contents of your estate to the world. (source)

How you store and manage your bitcoin while you’re alive is up to you. At BTC Trusts, we find that most of our clients with significant holdings will choose to secure their digital trust property via noncustodial, cold storage solutions. While this provides the highest level of security and privacy, it also introduces a level of technical complexity into the conveyance. Accounting for this is an aspect often overlooked at traditional estate planning firms. That’s why it’s important to select an estate planning firm that can ensure the conveyance is well documented not just legally, but in a technically sound manner as well. A competent digital-estate planner will work with clients to craft the best possible conveyance plan that will maximize security without introducing uncertainty or confusion. Don’t forget — you won’t be around to answer questions if something is unclear. Your estate planner should consider the use of smart contracts, multisignature cold storage and encryption when crafting the optimal manner to effect the conveyance.

GET IN TOUCH FOR A FREE CONSULT

Now is the time to plan for the unexpected. If you hold significant value in bitcoin, a proper estate plan is going to be needed at some point. The sooner this is in place, the more protection and more value it will provide. Take the first step and reach out today. We’ll be able to share our insights to tailor a plan that works for you and your family.

Tim Moseley

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Volatility to dominate gold market as ‘central banks running out of options’ bullish sentiment intact – Kitco’s gold price survey

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Volatility to dominate gold market as 'central banks running out of options,' bullish sentiment intact – Kitco's gold price survey

Despite a $20 retreat prior to the long weekend, the bullish sentiment continues to dominate the gold market with volatility keeping investors watching the $2,000 an ounce level again, according to Kitco's gold price survey.

During the short trading week, gold was able to breach a key resistance level of $1,975 an ounce, with June Comex gold futures touching a high of $1,985 on Wednesday. And even though prices saw a drop Thursday, gold futures are ending the week up 1.2%.

Most of the 13 participating analysts on the Wall Street side were bullish when asked about their gold price expectations for next week, with 46% projecting higher levels. Another 31% were bearish, estimating a bigger pullback. And the remaining 23% were neutral.

The Main Street side was even more decisively bullish. Out of the 1,254 participating retail investors, 72% expect higher prices, 16% estimate a move lower, and 12% are neutral, Kitco's survey showed. This was the highest retail participation since November 19.

Kitco Gold Survey

Wall Street

Bullish46%

Bearish31%

Neutral23%

VS

Main Street

Bullish72%

Bearish16%

Neutral12%

Many analysts pointed to technical progress gold made after moving past the $1,980 an ounce level, stating this was a sign of strong interest in the metal, which will continue to push prices higher.

"There is a growing belief in a long-term commodity rally along with the weakening of all major currencies. If gold can push through $2,000, it will invalidate the double top and leave it with unlimited room to run," Forexlive.com chief currency strategist Adam Button told Kitco News.

Gold has broken above multiple formations, which contributes to the bullish sentiment, said Moor Analytics creator Michael Moor.

However, with Good Friday and Easter holidays coming up, some are expecting trading to be thin due to the shortened week.

As gold price eyes $2,000 again, its 'big test' is yet to come, says MKS

"I am neutral on gold for the coming week. Technically it's in an upswing, but with so many holidays over the next few days, trading could be quiet in general, and it could be time for a pause with the price near the big $2,000/oz round number," said SIA Wealth Management chief market strategist Colin Cieszynski.

The bearish camp leaned towards a pullback next week as investors look to take profits after solid gains. However, even those who expect lower prices in the short term are confident that the overall macro environment supports higher prices going forward.

One long-term driver remains the global central banks, which are being backed into a corner by high inflation, said Adrian Day Asset Management president Adrian Day.

"We may see a pullback next week, but only shallow and 'transitory' before gold moves up again in response to higher inflation, central banks running out of options, and a deteriorating situation in Ukraine," he told Kitco News. "The higher U.S. inflation number makes some investors think that the Fed will actually tighten in a meaningful way. But in fact, it will make the eventual retreat by the Fed all the more bullish for gold. So we certainly would not be selling, but looking to add."

By Anna Golubova

For Kitco News

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

Tim Moseley

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Hivemapper Dashcam Earns Crypto

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Hivemapper Dashcam Earns Crypto

by Ashley Cassell, Editor, The New Digital World

Hivemapper Dashcam Earns Crypto

 

Aims to Compete with Google Maps

The “crypto winter” is thawing out pretty nicely now. Not only are prominent cryptos starting to bounce back in price… Innovation is making a comeback, too. So, if you got bored with all the DeFis and Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) clones, then good news: I think I’ve found the hottest crypto startup for Summer 2022.

The Google Maps Killer

What would it take to beat Google Maps at its own game? Or Apple Maps, for that matter? A worldwide fleet of GPS camera operators… And a vast amount of cash to hire them. It could be a vanity project for a billionaire – although Bezos, Musk, or Branson might find it less gratifying to the ego than, say, going to space!

Or… what if you could recruit an equally vast number of ordinary people to map out their corner of the world – by rewarding them in cryptocurrency? That’s what Hivemapper is all about.

Hivemapper, whose upcoming crypto token will use the ticker HONEY, just completed its Series A fundraising round. Now, it’s about to roll out its first device: the Hivemapper Dashcam. Just affix it to the windshield, dashboard, or exterior of your car… and the Dashcam “automatically transfers collected imagery to the Hivemapper Network” through an app on your phone.

As soon as people receive their Dashcams and hook them up to the Hivemapper Network, their devices will start mining the HONEY token, in proportion to how much map imagery (and GPS metadata) they contribute to the project. Hivemapper is built on Solana (SOL-USD), which founders say provides “the truly global scale that the Hivemapper Mapping Network needs to operate.”

Hivemapper’s crypto rewards are what sets the project apart from, say, Waze, which was absorbed into Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) in 2013.

“There are now something like 25,000 Waze map editors. These are people sitting behind their computer screen editing maps … on behalf of what is effectively a multitrillion-dollar company,” Hivemapper founder Ariel Seidman told CoinDesk. “And they don’t get paid, there’s nothing they get in return for that. They get, maybe, a Google T-shirt or a Waze hat, but that doesn’t sit right with me.”

After all, the global market for geospatial data & analytics is valued at “$256 billion by 2028,” according to Meticulous Research. And as the heavyweight champion of GIS, Google Maps can do things like raising its prices by 1,400% on app developers who need them…leaving customers scrambling for alternatives. (No wonder Google Maps is now under investigation for antitrust violations!)

But what’s the best way to snatch up some of that market share? Simply to keep the map up-to-date.

See, even with the Scrooge McDuck-like hoard of cash sitting at Apple and Google… “Street-level imagery in many parts of the world is only updated once every two years,” Seidman explains in TechCrunch! “This causes cascading logistical, municipal, and political problems. However, maps have the potential to be near real-time. An open-source, community-owned map is the only way to continuously construct a living, breathing, ever-updating view of our world.”

 

Source: Hivemapper

Hivemapper is just getting started – with the first Dashcams scheduled to ship in July. What’s next for the project? According to its whitepaper:

  • Contributors who sign up to review, annotate, and QA the map imagery will earn HONEY crypto, too.
  • Any developer can build apps that provide driving directions, traffic warnings, or custom maps (geocoding).
  • But to use Hivemapper’s APIs, developers will need to “burn” HONEY to receive Map Credits.
  • “These burned tokens then increase the number of tokens available to mint and to pay to map contributors,” capped at 10 billion.
  • Manufacturers can “seek approval” to make new hardware for Hivemapper, like cams for drones, scooters, and bikes, and add features like air-quality sensors or 3D.

Bottom line – this roadmap (so to speak) is exciting but long. It’ll take years to grow Hivemapper into a true rival to Google or Apple Maps.

 

 

Luckily, Helium (HNT-USD) provides a good model for how these projects can grow and succeed in the meantime.

Another “Proof of Physical Work” Project Grows 50X In A Year!

Helium is not unlike Hivemapper – and has a lot of the same investors, like Multicoin Capital, which provides a good, concise explanation of its investment thesis here.

Here, there’s also a physical device that mines crypto, in exchange for contributing to the network. But in this case, what you’re contributing is actually Wi-Fi coverage. By setting up a Helium Hotspot, you can share your internet connection with the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, like environmental sensors, GPS trackers, personal safety devices, and smart home/office devices. And you receive HNT crypto in return.

Unlike this new startup Hivemapper… Helium didn’t start out as a blockchain project. And without crypto incentives, it spent four years struggling to hawk its Hotspots to enough people for a robust network.

“The company was running out of money in 2017 when an engineer suggested, during an all-hands Scotch-drinking session, that more people might be willing to set up hot spots if they could earn cryptocurrency by doing it,” Kevin Roose reports for The New York Times in his memorably titled essay, “Maybe There’s a Use for Crypto After All.”

Now, the more people that use your Hotspot, the more crypto it earns. And from barely $1.50 in 2020, the HNT crypto reward is now worth over $21, even after coming through the long, hard crypto winter…a nice reward for long-term miners:

Source: CoinMarketCap

No wonder the Helium Network went from just 14,000 to 719,344 hotspots in the past year! The network is now present in 54,840 cities across 170 countries. That’s 12% growth – and 5,471 additional cities – in just the last 30 days!

Also in the last 30 days, the network seems pretty active, with users burning $4.7 billion worth of HNT for transaction fees (called Data Credits).

After all, this level of coverage for IoT devices puts the Helium Network in high demand. So in March, its leadership announced a new Helium Roaming Services program, where it will partner with other networks to provide their clients with roaming coverage through Helium. “Roaming partners and their customers, such as Volvo Group, Cisco, Schneider Electric, Accenture, and more, will dramatically increase overall usage of the Helium Network and will be important drivers of data transfer rewards for Hotspot owners.”

As we see below in its network map, Helium Hotspots are pretty popular in Europe, not to mention the United States and China:

Source: Helium

Helium is further along than Hivemapper in its fundraising, too. Having just renamed to Nova Labs (to emphasize the decentralized, community nature of the Helium Network itself), the company “just closed a $200 million Series D equity round from some big-name investors like Google Ventures, Tiger Global, and Andreessen Horowitz,” as Luke Lango reported in a recent update to his Crypto Investor Network.

“It clearly appears that Helium is firing on all cylinders right now. This remains one of our favorite long-term cryptos,” Luke concludes.

These “proof of physical work” projects also tend to be discussed as possibilities for big institutional investors.

“Where might institutional investors find value in crypto?” wonders Byron Gilliam in his Blockworks newsletter. One “possibility is protocols that provide real-world utility, like Render, Helium, or Livepeer. Those will look more like investable companies to traditional asset managers.”

Right now, though, any crypto that’s smaller than Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and Ethereum (ETH-USD) is a no-go for most institutions. This is the early advantage that we have as “retail investors”: We have the flexibility to invest like a venture capitalist in great projects like Helium – and, soon, Hivemapper.

With a $265 billion total addressable market (TAM), Hivemapper has enormous opportunities ahead. Let’s say they grab 10% or even just 5% of the market share from Google and Apple. If we put Hivemapper’s valuation similar to Helium’s ($1.2 billion today), then this is easily a 10X opportunity for a company with a cool, unique idea – that brings huge utility.

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

The Artist that came out of the Winter