Government

It Is Our God-Given Right To Alter Or Abolish Our Government

13/10/2021 by Idelto Editor

I think it’s high time many societies around the world work to abolish the so-called democracies that are restricting the rights of individuals.

The below is a direct excerpt of Marty’s Bent Issue #1093: “It is our God given right to alter or abolish our current government.” Sign up for the newsletter here.

Above is but one tweet in a long thread of sanity from our good friend Miles Suter. The thread starts with this tweet:

When the Founding Fathers declared their independence from the British Monarchy, they left the above message not only as a justification for their actions at the time, but as guiding principle for any civilization of people to come after them. And freaks, I think it’s high time many societies around the world begin to take these guiding principles to heart and work to abolish the many so-called democracies around the world that are restricting the rights of the individuals within their countries. Whether it be the US, Canada, Australia, or a number of other countries who market themselves as free societies; people need to begin standing up and asserting their rights by actively ignoring and disobeying leaders who deserve absolutely no respect.

There have been rumors flying that many airline pilots and air traffic controllers in the US have been engaging in civil disobedience by staging coordinated “sick-outs” to send a message to an airline industry and a federal government that are attempting to thrust vaccine mandates on them. Your Uncle Marty has been unable to confidently discern what is actually going on as there is an insane amount of conflicting information coming from many different sources. None of which I have much trust in. However, we do know that thousands of flights have been canceled over the last few days.

I would not be the least surprised if a sick-out is actually happening. I hope it is, and if it is, I hope it continues. The tyrants running this country need to feel pain. They need to be disobeyed. They need to be embarrassed. Their power needs to be abolished because it has grown too strong. This is not how a Constitutional Republic is supposed to operate.

Which brings us back to Miles’ tweet at the top of this rag. Individuals need to exit the system by displaying civil disobedience. This communicates to the tyrants that their power is fickle. All it takes is a minority of strong willed men and women to send a message. A message that communicates that it is the citizens who actually hold the power in our society. The individuals who wake up and go to work every day to do their jobs as part of a complex economic organism that is dependent on its individual parts functioning well. If some of these individuals feel they are being lorded over instead of treated like free people with inalienable rights, they can disrupt the complex economic organism by refusing to obey and refusing to do their jobs. If coordinated and sustained, their civil disobedience can send a very strong message. It seems like that could be happening in the airline industry at the moment. Again, I hope it is.

Beyond this, individual states need to begin asserting their autonomy more aggressively. We witnessed states begin to do this over the last two years as the federal government grew drunker and drunker with power. The trend needs to expand and accelerate moving forward. Here’s to hoping that it does.

Finally, we need to hit them where it hurts, their purse. More specifically, their control of the purse. This is why bitcoin is such a powerful tool and one that should be adopted as quickly and by as many people as possible. The control over the money – whether it be how it is created or how it can be sent and received – is a very high leverage form of control. Adopting bitcoin destroys that leverage and levels the playing field for individuals.

Freedom in the Digital Age can be achieved. We can escape the nightmare federal governments around the world are creating for their citizens. In fact, it is the Right of the People to actively attempt to do so. Are you willing to stand up and fight back?

Sri Lanka’s E-commerce Platform Kapruka to Introduce Crypto Payments

10/10/2021 by Idelto Editor

Sri Lanka’s leading online retailer, Kapruka, has unveiled plans to introduce support for cryptocurrency payments. The news comes as the South Asian country intensifies efforts to adopt legislation tailored to regulate its blockchain space and attract investments from the crypto industry.

Kapruka to Launch Cryptocurrency Payments Within Weeks

Kapruka (Kapruka.com), a major e-commerce platform in Sri Lanka, has revealed its intention to start accepting payments in cryptocurrency quite soon. Kapruka’s founder and Chairman Dulith Herath made the announcement on Twitter this week. Quoted by the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror newspaper, the executive stated:

Kapruka plans to accept crypto payments within the next couple of weeks.

Founded in 2005 by the Sri Lankan entrepreneur and web-technology specialist, Kapruka has established itself through the years as Sri Lanka’s largest retailer on the internet. Besides its core business, it has also ventured into cross-border e-com exports and last-mile delivery among other areas, including payment solutions and B2B baking services.

Kapruka is now on its way to becoming the second Sri Lankan company to offer its customers a cryptocurrency payment option. The first local business to take the path of crypto adoption was MTB.lk, a platform that organizes mountain bike tours and holidays. MTB.lk took the step in September and is now accepting coins for its services.

Meanwhile, the government in Sri Lanka is gearing up to regulate crypto-related activities and attract investments from the industry. A committee of experts from both public and private institutions was recently set up to prepare a report on the legal acts and rules needed to facilitate the development of the digital banking, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrency mining sectors in the country.

Digital Technology and Enterprise Development State Minister Namal Rajapakse is a key figure behind the move as he secured the necessary approval from the Cabinet to gather a team of professionals. Rajapakse, who also coordinates youth, sports, and development projects in Sri Lanka, recently revealed a plan to set up a cryptocurrency exchange at Colombo Port City, Sri Lanka’s special economic zone and international financial center.

Kapruka’s announcement of the upcoming introduction of crypto payments on its platform comes as the country’s crypto space is still unregulated. Up until recently, financial authorities have had a restrained attitude towards cryptocurrencies with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka issuing a warning notice earlier this year for the risks associated with crypto investments.

Do you expect more Sri Lankan companies to begin accepting cryptocurrencies as the government regulates the industry? Tell us in the comments section below.

Ukraine Is Building A Digital Future With Bitcoin

29/09/2021 by Idelto Editor

Embracing Bitcoin could be Ukraine’s greatest geopolitical move to usher in a prosperous future.

Bitcoin, among other cryptocurrencies, may soon be used legally in Ukraine, once President Volodymyr Zelensky signs the legislation passed by Ukraine’s Parliament on September 8. This law will protect owners of virtual assets and exchange platforms from fraud, and rumors abound that Ukraine is gearing up to transition to a fully digitized economy and deem bitcoin as legal tender. The legislation will help to determine how Ukraine will regulate the cryptocurrency market in the future as well as officially allow Bitcoin businesses to operate within the country.

Since the creation of Bitcoin in 2009, cryptocurrencies have gone from being a fringe topic and a little-known technology to a prolific financial instrument that has galvanized the public and grown to play a larger role in and reshape our global economy. The cryptocurrency economy is the next trillion-dollar opportunity and is still in the beginning stages of innovation.

The Ukrainian government, or more so the Ukrainian public, understands this opportunity and is driving societal progress towards taking the necessary steps to partake in this economic growth with recent legislation. Ukrainian representatives have reportedly gone to El Salvador to meet with officials there, as the country has already made bitcoin legal tender, to potentially learn more about the implementation.

Bitcoin is a form of currency which is exchanged solely in the digital world and is meant to be completely decentralized from government. This allows users to oversee and approve transactions on the blockchain — a decentralized public ledger — which is a growing list of records that can’t be changed. These open, online ledgers eliminate the need for a trusted intermediary such as a bank.

Drafting pro-bitcoin legislation is an important step for the booming cryptocurrency industry that reflects Ukraine’s public sentiment. Cryptocurrencies are popular in the country and it is estimated that over 5.5 million people, 12.7% of Ukraine’s total population, currently own some form of cryptocurrency, according to payment platform Triple A. The blockchain data firm Chainalysis ranked Ukrainians among the top adopters of cryptocurrency in the world in September 2020.

The bitcoin mining space has interesting implications for Ukraine’s energy sector as Ukraine produces almost half of its electricity through 15 nuclear reactors. Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy argued that bitcoin mining “is a contemporary and efficient way to use excess energy.” The Ministry of Energy has been looking for innovative solutions to tackle the issue of wasting energy and improve efficiency as the sector is plagued with inefficiencies and financial losses.

The bitcoin mining industry is an ideal partner to consume surplus power from nuclear reactors by taking excess electricity and using it for bitcoin mining. This would help maintain energy output requirements, while helping to attract new investment funds for Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. This opportunity positions the Ukrainian government as a strong support node for the whole mining network. It will help provide clean and sustainable bitcoin mining as well as a free market solution to the inefficiencies of the energy sector.

The financial implications are vast. The state-run firm that operates the country’s nuclear power plants, NAEC Energoatom, posted losses of over $170 million in 2020. Bitcoin mining gives Ukraine’s energy sector some life to emerge from this financial black hole. The mining project is already in play, as Energoatom “agreed on a deal that will see it supply energy to mining operators from Bitfury’s crypto mining division.” As a result, the Ukrainian government could mine bitcoin and hold it within its reserves, or they could deposit it into an account for every citizen or sell the bitcoin to boost the national GDP.

Ukrainians earned around $400 million from bitcoin investments in 2020, making Ukraine’s bitcoin investors some of the richest in the world. The bitcoin craze in Ukraine isn’t just limited to the public but has been embraced by Ukraine’s civil servants and large swaths of the government. Ukraine’s civil officials in early 2021 reported owning over $2.6 billion of bitcoin, noting that “the largest number of owners of cryptocurrencies work in city councils, the Ministry of Defense and the National Police.”

According to the World Bank, almost 10% of Ukraine’s GDP in 2020 was from personal remittances being sent to Ukraine. Many Ukrainians have emigrated and continue to send money back home to their families, paying exorbitant money transfer fees via traditional banking methods. However, bitcoin has changed everything. It allows Ukrainians a quicker and cheaper way to send money across borders without a bank or service operating as a middle man.

Before the days of bitcoin, the bank or service would convert the money, transfer the funds into the recipient’s country and then convert the funds back into the local currency. However, a study by the World Bank found that fees average around 6.38% of the amount sent.

Even worse than the fees, the Ukrainian public has very little trust in the Ukrainian banking system due to severe corruption. Several large banks have collapsed, the Ukrainian government declared more than 90 banks insolvent and many people lost money due to a constant flow of banking scandals. In 2016, the government stepped in to nationalize PrivatBank which made up 20 percent of Ukraine’s banking sector after the government discovered over $5 billion dollars was missing from its ledgers. The Ukrainian banking sector is widely believed to be dysfunctional and is dominated by corrupt oligarchs.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, Ukraine’s economy took a nose-dive and the national currency, the Hryvnia, lost 70% of its value against the dollar. This further undermined the savings and spending power of the public. Now the average person with smaller savings will often hide their money at home and won’t bother storing it at a bank.

Even before this pattern of nefarious behavior, the Ukrainian banking industry did not develop the same way as it did in the West after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The process of transferring funds was problematic due to a lack of infrastructure. Unscrupulous methods were then developed with financial instruments such as vouchers and exchanges that allowed for extensive money laundering schemes and questionable business practices.

Given the high degree of corruption in the government, business and banking sectors, the unlawful asset seizures by corrupt politicians and the collapse of several of Ukraine’s prominent banks, it is only reasonable that the decentralized nature of bitcoin appeals to the people. Ukrainians have turned to bitcoin to protect their assets. The young, innovative population eagerly looks to the future and is ready to leave behind the scandalous and broken system. The desire for change is great and the bitcoin prospects for Ukraine are enormous.

A supportive framework from the Ukrainian government for the digital asset space will allow more companies to grow in the space, fund state taxes and drive further innovation as adoption of bitcoin will only increase. With high adoption rates and the state promoting bitcoin-friendly legislation, Ukraine has a chance to become one of the world’s leading bitcoin hubs. This opportunity should not be wasted.

This is a guest post by David Kirichenko. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.

Indonesia Will Not Ban Cryptocurrencies Like China, Minister Says as Crypto Trade Soars

25/09/2021 by Idelto Editor

Authorities in Indonesia do not intend to follow China’s example of imposing an outright ban on cryptocurrencies, a government official said, noting the country will limit itself to ensuring they are not used in illegal activities. The statement comes after local crypto exchanges registered a serious increase in turnover this year.

Indonesia to Tighten Regulations Without Prohibiting Crypto Transactions

The Indonesian government will not follow in the footsteps of China, which has confirmed a ban on all cryptocurrency transactions, the country’s Minister of Trade Muhammad Luthfi emphasized in comments to local media. The official added, however, that the government is looking into how to make them less prone to being used in illegal financial activities. Quoted by Berita Satu and the Jakarta Globe, Luthfi stated:

We don’t prohibit it, but we will tighten the regulations.

Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum, and dogecoin are currently regarded as assets and commodities in Indonesia. Their legal treatment allows residents of the Southeast Asian nation to trade the digital coins, but using them as a means of payment is not permitted.

This week, the Central Bank of China stated that transactions involving cryptocurrencies are illegal, echoing previously imposed restrictions. All related financial activities, including crypto trading, token sales, and transactions with virtual currency derivatives are also banned. The announcement, which hurt cryptocurrency markets, comes after a months-long crackdown on bitcoin mining and trading across the country.

Indonesian Crypto Trading Spikes in First Half of This Year

China’s reiterated firm stance on decentralized money affected crypto prices in Indonesia, too. Bitcoin (BTC) fell 7.4% on the country’s largest exchange, Indodax, to 595 million Indonesian rupiah (below $41,000) right after the PBOC notice on Friday. The price of the leading cryptocurrency by market cap has since recovered to 609 million rupiah per coin ($42,650 at the time of writing).

According to the reports, Indonesian crypto trade has been flourishing in the past year and a half. Transactions on 13 domestic exchanges authorized by the Futures Exchange Supervisory Board have increased by 40% in the first five months of 2021. During 2020, the transaction volume reached 65 trillion rupiah ($4.5 billion), the quoted data shows.

Meanwhile, the number of individuals involved in trading exceeded 6.5 million in May, from 4 million at the end of last year. Luno Indonesia, another major exchange operating in the country, expressed confidence it could double or even triple its customer base from the current 700,000 users. “The growth is breakneck today… Crypto is booming,” the platform’s manager Jay Jayawijayaningtiyas said Wednesday.

Do you think the popularity of cryptocurrencies will continue to grow in Indonesia? Tell us in the comments section below.

Bitcoin Will Truly Drain The Swamp

24/09/2021 by Idelto Editor

The often-quoted phrase could actually mean something if the incentives behind politics change.

“Same Same, But Different Same”

While Trump recently popularized the “drain the swamp” phrase, his execution and point-of-view were flawed.

Politicians in the United States have been viewed in a negative lens for at least the last few decades. The problem is that our people have become so desensitized to this way of thought that nothing gets done to rectify the situation. Nihilism has been co-opted all the way up to the legislative level.

How common is it in your discussions with family, friends and peers to refer to our political leaders as liars willing to do or say whatever it takes to get your vote? It’s common amongst my peers; I would imagine it’s no different for you. Why is this?

Consider for a moment the incentives for an individual to run for a political office. What are the perks? Well there’s the glaringly obvious: you get to choose what happens with legislation that you deem is required or justified, with some input from your constituents (if you want to consider their points of view). But there are also second-order perks, like the pensions that are guaranteed after completion of their term. Or my personal favorite: voting on policy (like the most recent infrastructure bill) and specifically how The State (referring to the whole of the U.S. federal government) spends and allocates funds acquired by either tax revenue or money printing.

Since 2008 we’ve seen a butt-load of money printing. This is documented here by the Fed as the M1 money supply. The Fed itself explains that the definition of what M1 consists of can be arbitrarily changed. This is all to fund activities ranging from bailing out bankers in 2008 (and then not prosecuting a single individual that was actually responsible) to printing nearly 40% of the circulating supply of dollars ever created in order to fund an economic shutdown in a (futile) attempt to prevent the spread of the virus. This is without taking into consideration the plethora of systemic issues within our infrastructure including, but not limited to: civil rights, public health, healthcare, student loans, Social Security, pensions and then there’s the funding of what many are calling America’s “Forever War” state that we’ve been in since our victory over Nazi Germany (and, really, for the entire life of our country).

It is for these reasons that I propose; politics and government have inextricably become married to the Federal Reserve. The Fed has slowly become the lender of only resort to the U.S. and to support the Petrodollar. And what’s worse is that this bank account can manifest dollars out of thin air with zero effort.

Fix The Incentive Mechanism

Drain the swamp. Via Yves Moret on Unsplash

Trump had the right idea: “drain the swamp.” You have no idea how much it pains me to say this because, as a human being, I find him deplorable. But that shouldn’t prevent anyone from agreeing with the point-of-view of any individual. Unfortunately he didn’t have the foresight or clarity of mind to see one important fact: if we don’t change the incentive structure, it does not matter who we replace the current leadership with.

Furthermore: if we don’t fix the money, today’s problems will simply manifest again in the future.

This problem needs to be faced today. We need a better currency today. No revolution, whether cultural or confrontational, in today’s environment will accomplish anything if we don’t alleviate the incentive problem.

This problem isn’t just within the Federal Reserve, it’s also due to the lobbying relationships in Washington that I touched on in my previous article. This relationship is allowing for external parties to prod, probe and press politicians to affect legislation that can benefit particular entities or industries (maybe for a modest fee or kickback, we can infer).

Our world continues to show how much we need bitcoin the asset and Bitcoin the network.

Our leaders continue to show how much we need a money that is not under their purview.

Furthermore, our leaders and those closest to the money printer continue to show not only their incompetence with regards to money management, but also their stubbornness to admit that the music is slowing down and the number of chairs to claim are growing sparse.

If the United States of America does not make significant moves to: 1.) accept humility and admit that there is a need to learn about this world-changing asset, 2.) take action on the efforts to learn from reputable and knowledgeable members of the Bitcoin community, and, last but not least, 3.) consider that maybe our world could actually be better with a monetary asset and policy that does not fall prey to human greed or fallibility.

It’s not that bitcoin is a fantastic risk-return investment, it’s that Bitcoin is a fundamental necessity.

This is a guest post by Mike Hobart. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.