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Bitcoins up now $9.40 today http://www.coindesk.com/price/
Bitcoins up now $8.49 today http://www.coindesk.com/price/
Any deal still goes to referendum but Tspiras would campaign for a yes vote
Bitcoins up now $7.57 today http://www.coindesk.com/price/
Greece ATMs down to 50 euro limit
http://redliontrader.com/greek-banks-did-something-sneaky-to-limit-cash-withdrawals-to-e50/
Bitcoins up $5.96 today http://www.coindesk.com/price/
The political theatrics continue...
Juncker makes last-minute offer to Greece: Sources
1 Hour Ago
Reuters
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker made a last-minute offer to Athens in a bid to reach a bailout agreement before the deadline expires on Tuesday, European Union and Greek government sources said.
Under the offer, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras would have to send written acceptance by Tuesday, in time for an emergency meeting of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers to be held and agree to campaign in favour of the bailout in the planned July 5 referendum.
However, there was little sign that Tsipras was prepared to drop his repeated rejections of the bailout offer, which he has dismissed as a "humiliation" for Greece.
A Greek government official said that it listened with interest to what was being proposed but said: "Alexis Tsipras will vote "no" on Sunday".
Tsipras would have to send a written acceptance of the version of proposals from the lenders published on Sunday, with a pledge to campaign for them to be accepted in the planned July 5 referendum.
The offer published on Sunday incorporated a proposal from Greece that would set value-added tax rates on hotels at 13 percent, rather than at 23 percent as originally planned in the lenders' proposals. It was not immediately clear whether there would be any additional changes.
If the offer were accepted, the euro zone finance ministers could adopt a statement saying that a 2012 pledge to consider stretching out loan maturities, lowering interest rates and extending an interest payment moratorium on euro zone loans to Greece would be implemented in October.
The offer would be conditional on a letter to Juncker, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande arriving in time to arrange an emergency meeting of the Eurogroup on Tuesday.
VIDEO: Greece: First ever Greek Bitcoin ATM installed in Athens suburb
Will Grexit Force Bitcoin Price to Spike like the 2013 Cyprus Collapse?
Bitcoin prices are on the move upward. Bitcoin volume trading is on the move upward. Greece is on the move downward to a total collapse. Coincidence? I think not.
Why? This has all happened once before, over two years ago and maybe we can all learn from the experience, especially all the day traders and speculators out there.
Lessons from Cyprus
So let’s take a look at where we’ve been as far as bitcoin price and where we may end up going in the near future. Let’s all be bitcoin speculators, in a week where the Greeks have an entire week to speculate on their economic future, with an extended bank holiday in effect.
Let’s travel back to March of 2013, when less than 1000 km away, Cyprus was going through a similar economic turmoil. The fine details aren’t of great importance here, but what did happen was an economic “bail-in” following a “bank holiday,” which is beginning in Greece today. The holiday in Cyprus lasted over a week, with banks not re-opening on Monday, March 19, and remaining closed until the 28th.
The bank returned at that time with a nice levy of capital controls against the people, a punishment for keeping their funds inside. Throughout the month of March, similar acrimony and public rhetoric ensued, leading many to pull their funds, and some to begin investing in economic alternatives, only not in the trusted old standards like gold, silver, and real estate. The market moved toward a relatively new digital currency called bitcoin.
As of March 1, 2013, bitcoin (BTC) was commonly trading at major exchanges at less than US$40 per digital coin. What would happen next is what made many people worldwide start to notice the little-known cryptocurrency for the very first time. As the situation in Cyprus became more and more dire, interest and prices for bitcoin moved up in an inverse fashion. Bitcoin prices had more than doubled by the time Cyprus banks reopened, and when the capital controls initially took effect, prices skyrocketed on the demand.
Bitcoin had risen from less than US$40 to more than a 400% increase within the forty days ending on April 9. Gold and silver prices were unaffected, moving hardly at all through this specific period of the economic collapse of Cyprus.
Why this was the case is as speculative as the interest only in the digital currency at the time, but the facts remain. Upon peaking in the US$230 range, prices quickly plummeted back to US$60-70 within days as short-term capital controls eased in the region.
Grexit: a boon for bitcoin?
Will Bitcoin price relive its previous speculation glory upon the coming Grexit restabilization? The evidence is already signaling its beginnings. Bitcoin prices have risen approximately 10% in the last two weeks, the most upward movement in months.
However, the situation is different now over more than two years ago, with tens of thousands of merchants like Dell, Microsoft and Expedia selling BTC for fiat currency. This is done on a daily basis, to pay daily expenses, creating constant downward price pressure. This certainly wasn’t the case globally in March of 2013.
Bitcoin today will have a much tougher road ahead if it wants to gain anything close to that much upward price momentum, so a 400+% price increase is highly unlikely within the next few weeks. Interest in Bitcoin from Greece has more than doubled recently, according to Vaultoro, which specializes in Gold and bitcoin exchange sales. This supports the price increase.
Supporting evidence of a groundswell of interest in Bitcoin comes from the last week of trading in multiple major markets. LocalBitcoins.com is posting 2015 record volume trading for bitcoin in several markets including Russia, India, Sweden, South Africa and even Europe’s region overall. Activity hasn’t been this high since the end of 2014 when prices were almost double their current rates.
Prices are up, interest in Bitcoin is up, and another looming economic collapse is a recipe for incredible highs for currency speculators. Should anyone expect US$1000 bitcoins by August? No, but don’t be surprised if history repeats itself, and bitcoin gains much more than the current 10% increase.
Now seems to be a good time to ride the wave for speculators. Bitcoin is a high-risk, high-yield investment, and should not be speculated on by novices for short-term gain. This economic history based on a nation’s turmoil also shows that prices will return to near normal after a short-lived bull run, so keep this in mind.
Are millions of Greek buying Bitcoin and driving the price up based on the nation's local demand? Highly unlikely. Greece is a very small market with a big brand name. It is a fraction of the size of major players like France and Germany when it comes to GDP or any economic metric. There may be a bunch of new BTC owners in Greece over the last couple of weeks, but far from enough to move the global bitcoin market alone.
Most likely, speculators all over the world are seeing the Grexit as an opportunity to stimulate the BTC market, and are just buying against each other’s greed. This is why I don’t put a great deal of stock into the USD price, because it is a metric for speculators, not a good measure of Bitcoin’s overall value.
It may be a great time for all you day traders, but for those of us with more of a long-term vision of this currency, your life shouldn’t be affected much. Bitcoin price may be going somewhere shortly, but the currency is here to stay.
Greece leaving the euro is history before our eyes, if it happens. Fascinating times.
Greek Currency Crisis to Fuel Funds to Bitcoin?
Greeks are moving their funds to bitcoin, which might be a better store of value in case they revert to the drachma.
Greece has to pay the IMF 1.6 billion EUR tomorrow and if they fail to do so, they might be forced to exit the euro zone
It has been months since the Greek government and its creditors have tried to hammer out a plan to avoid default and a potential exit from the euro zone. Over the weekend, talks between the negotiation teams broke down once more, putting Greece closer to leaving the shared euro currency and possibly reverting to the drachma.
Capital controls have already been imposed in Greece in order to prevent a bank run, and these include having withdrawal limits on ATMs. The Greeks are starting to fear that their own currency might not be worth anything, leading several to move their money to bitcoin instead.
Bitcoin and Greek Buyers
Financially-savvy Greeks who know all too well that the reintroduction of the drachma might leave them with a worthless currency have started investing in bitcoin, as this cryptocurrency could prove to be a better store of value. After the weekend, the price of bitcoin opened significantly higher, as the rally was buoyed by Greek buyers.
According to Joshua Scigala, co-founder of Vaultoro.com, the company has seen a 12% increase in bitcoin buying originating from IP addresses in Greece. This phenomenon was also seen during the crisis in Cyprus a few years back, which boosted bitcoin prices by over 700% during the months that the ECB imposed capital controls on its banks.
Greece is facing a 1.6 billion EUR debt payment deadline to the IMF tomorrow and if they are unable to meet this obligation, bitcoin could draw more supported from frustrated citizens hoping to hold on to their purchasing power. The ECB has declined to expand its emergency assistance fund to the nation, which will be having a bailout referendum next weekend.
The lack of any solution to the crisis could prompt more capital flight, even from other members of the euro zone as the existence of the euro could soon be questioned.
From discussions I've had with friends in Greece, it seems the government is communist. My friends are hoping the vote is yes and they'll stay in the euro but are afraid no will be the outcome. They really don't know what the people will vote and will leave Greece to move to Australia if vote is no. There's no chaos there but there is definite concern. To me, it seems like the communists have democraticly taken over Greece. W/ Russian ships out of Syria, they need to go somewhere in the Mediterranean. To me, it seems like we are watching history before our eyes and Greece is leaving the euro. Out of posts
Good question
Greece. Russia agree to explosive gas deal. June 19, 2015
http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/19/news/greece-russia-gas-deal/
I think Greece in bed w/ Russia. Russian ships need a base in the Mediterranean now that Syria is out
Agreed. Looks like bottom bolli on weekly is support now.
Political theatrics. The Greeks invented it. Game theory. Tspiras the best in the world.
Greece debt talks: EU chief feels 'betrayed'
The European Commission chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, has said he feels "betrayed" by the "egotism" shown by Greece in failed debt talks.
He told a news conference that Greek proposals were "delayed" or "deliberately altered" and the Greek people "should be told the truth", but the door was still open to talks.
Greece has called a surprise referendum and Greek banks are closed for a week.
European stock markets saw big falls on Monday after the weekend's events.
The negotiations were not "a game of liar's poker", Mr Juncker said. "Either all win or all lose".
He said the talks were broken "unilaterally" by the announcement from the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that he was calling a referendum for 5 July.
The Greek government responded to Mr Juncker's comments by saying: "An essential element in indicating good faith and reliability in negotiations is sincerity."
Mr Juncker said that he still believed a Greek exit from the euro was not an option and insisted that the creditors' latest proposal meant more social fairness.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed those comments on Monday, saying Greece had received a "generous offer" but adding she would not be opposed to further talks with Greece after Sunday's vote, Reuters reports.
Don't you have family back home?
Just talked to Greek friends. Word on the streets are they are hoping referendum gets cancelled.
Did you buy the fear?
Greek banks expected to open for pensioners Thursday-govt source
ATHENS, JUNE 29
Greek banks are expected to open 850 branches for the payment of pensions on Thursday, though they remain shut for other business all week, a Greek government official said on Monday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that if banks continued to be supported by the European Central Bank's emergency funding line (ELA), a current daily limit of 60 euros at cash machines may be increased.
"Bank branches will open earlier than Monday," an official told a news briefing, later clarifying that it was only for pension payments. "There is an effort to open them on Thursday."
Icahn tried to warn everyone
Hopefully you've been trading nbg. There have been a number of trading opportunities here this year.
I shared that same sentiment. Now I don't know. Greeks invented political theatrics. Greek entertainment is to trick and trap (Homer).
Earlier in his life, Sisyphus tried to trick Zeus and trapped Thanatos, the personification of death in Greek mythology.
The Greeks tricked the Trojans by burning their camp outside of Troy and sailing away to hide on a nearby island, and by bringing a colossal wooden horse within the walls of Troy with Greek solders hiding inside.
At August 18, B.C.480 the battle of Thermopile Greeks pretended to be overwhelmed by the Persian fleet, and tricked the Persians by pretending to escape and hiding a part of their fleet behind the Persians, and after surprising them.
Nowadays, one could say Greeks are pretending to be on the West side, only milking the West, but they are looking toward the East.
Shutting down the Greek market has trained attention on exchange-traded funds tracking its stocks, adding an element of speculation to their prices as long as the Athens bourse is closed.
In the U.S., owners of the Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF will have less information in deciding how much the security is worth, while in Europe the Lyxor ETF FTSE Athex 20 may see added volatility. An official with Greece’s Capital Markets Commission said the Athens Stock Exchange won’t open Monday as the country moves to avert the collapse of its banking system.
Traders will price the ETFs “on the information they have in front of them, and what they have is limited,” said Kevin Kelly, chief investment officer at Recon Capital Partners in New York. “Investors or advisers need to be prepared for how this is actually going to affect their portfolio.”
While a minor plot in the larger Greek saga, the ETFs have captivated investors in recent months as they looked to express views on the future of its markets. When Egypt’s exchange was shut for two months during the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, investors bid up the Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF only to see it plunge when the exchange reopened.
In a prospectus published on its website, Global X noted that it may be unable to buy or sell securities or financial instruments should an exchange or market close. The fund may be unable to price its investments and could incur trading losses in such circumstances, it said.
Fluid Situation
“The situation in Greece is fluid and we are monitoring events closely,” said Bruno del Ama, Global X’s chief executive officer, according to an e-mailed statement Sunday.
While owners of country ETFs often must guess whether stocks will rise or fall when overseas exchanges are closed for holidays, forecasting a market as volatile as Greece, particularly if the halt is extended beyond a day or two, presents special challenges. The benchmark ASE Index surged 16 percent last week after dropping 11 percent the previous one.
Investors won’t be completely in the dark about Greek shares. Many of the Global X’s biggest constituents have listings outside of Greece, including Coca-Cola HBC AG, which makes up 20 percent of the fund.
ETFs, the fastest-growing segment of the money-management business, are bundles of securities that change hands on an exchange like stocks. In normal times, they move in tandem with indexes that reflect prices for public companies and rarely veer from those levels by more than a few percentage points.
‘Anxious Traders’
No such prices will be available in Greece for as long as its markets are closed. As a result, ETFs tracking the stocks will resemble closed-end funds, which often trade at greater spreads to their underlying assets, according to Eric Balchunas, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.
“Don’t be surprised if you see GREK’s volume double or triple during this time,” Balchunas said, referring to the ticker of the Greek fund traded in the U.S. “The ETF will be the only game in town for anxious traders who want to express an opinion on Greece as the drama unfolds.”
The direction of the ETF is an urgent matter to investors who have pumped money into the fund every single week of 2015, including $37 million in the five days ended June 26. In total, it received $278 million this year, with its market cap reaching an all-time high of $366 million on Friday.
ETF Premium
The ETF has been trading at an average premium of 1.1 percent to the value of its assets this month. Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF and mutual fund research at S&P Capital IQ in New York, expects the premium will turn into a discount.
“Without the net asset value being easily calculated, we would expect the price will trade at a discount as the market is closed and people will be exiting,” Rosenbluth said. “But I think people who are in this are prepared.”
For the companies who manage the funds, an extended closure complicates the process through which they balance supply and demand for ETFs in one market while keeping its prices aligned to trading levels in another.
Normally, when demand grows for an ETF, its overseers issue new shares to institutions in exchange for bundles of the stocks or other assets that underlie it. In the case of the Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF, that process was halted by the security’s adviser for almost two months while Egypt’s exchange was closed.
“Markets are obviously not going to react favorably,” Joseph Tanious, an investment strategist at Bessemer Trust in Los Angeles, said in a phone interview. The firm oversees more than $100 billion. “I suspect even ETFs are going to take it on the chin.”
Text message from friend in Greece
Greek Tragic my dear just tragic , the communist party playing games with the Greek people , we are waiting to see what will happen next week , no money no honey , we are still calm and we will see what the people will vote next Sunday for the referendum and I wish that everybody will vote for the Euro , no worries about us , Nikos says better to leave the country and go to Sydney his brother wants us to go and leave there , let's pray and hope for the best ! Love you
Carl Icahn called it. Sell everything. Buy bear ETFs or short anything. Whole world markets gonna crash.
Greece to shut banks, stock exchange on Monday as crisis deepens
Greek banks and the stock exchange will be shut on Monday after creditors refused to extend the country's bailout and savers queued to withdraw cash, taking Athens' standoff with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to a dangerous new level.
Greece's banks, kept afloat by emergency funding from the European Central Bank, are on the front line as Athens moves towards defaulting on a 1.6 billion euros payment due to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday.
The ECB had made it difficult for the banks to open on Monday because it decided to freeze the level of funding support it gives the banking system, rather than increasing it to cover a rise in withdrawals from worried depositors.
Amid drama in Greece, where a clear majority of people want to remain inside the euro, the next few days present a major challenge to the integrity of the 16-year-old euro zone currency bloc. The consequences for markets and the wider financial system are unclear.
The head of Piraeus Bank, one of Greece's top four banks, speaking after a meeting of the country's financial stability council, said banks would be shut on Monday while a financial industry source told Reuters the Athens stock exchange would not open.
"It is a dark hour for Europe....nevertheless from where we're sitting we have a clear conscience," Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said earlier in an interview with the BBC.
Asked whether Greece would close banks and impose capital controls he said: "This is a matter that we'll have to work overnight on with the appropriate authorities both here in Greece and (with the ECB) in Frankfurt."
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet with his cabinet at 1700 GMT (1.00 p.m. EDT) on Sunday. Varoufakis and Central Bank Governor Yiannis Stournaras said there would be announcements afterwards.
Greece's left-wing Syriza government had for months been negotiating a deal to release funding in time for its IMF payment. Then suddenly, in the early hours of Saturday, Tspiras asked for extra time to enable Greeks to vote in a referendum on the terms of the deal.
Creditors turned down this request, leaving little option for Greece but to default, piling further pressure on the country's banking system.
The creditors want Greece to cut pensions and raise taxes in ways that Tsipras has long argued would deepen one of the worst economic crises of modern times in a country where a quarter of the workforce is already unemployed.
Pro-European Greek opposition parties have united in condemning the decision to call the referendum on the bailout terms, but people on the streets of Athens backed the decision.
"I want him (Tsipras) to knock his fist on the table and to say 'enough!'," said resident Evgenoula.
The IMF has pressed European governments to ease Athens' debt burden, something most say they will only do when Greece first shows it is trimming its budget.
STOCKING UP ON CASH
Long lines formed outside many ATMs on Sunday, including some of 40 to 50 people outside some in central Athens.
The Bank of Greece said it was making "huge efforts" to ensure the machines remained stocked.
The German foreign ministry said tourists heading to Greece should take plenty of cash to avoid possible problems with local banks and some tourists said they were joining the ATM queue
"I am trying to go over to the bigger banks," said Cassandra Preston, a Canadian tourist. "I am here for another month and I would like to make sure I have some cash on me."
The ECB has kept the banks afloat in recent days with increases in its funding line, a form of overdraft with the euro zone's central bank system.
But on Sunday it said it would hold the funding line at the same level as Friday, despite the deposit outflows. The central bank said it was monitoring the situation and stood ready "to reconsider its decision."
There is growing opposition to the funding line because it would fall to the bloc's other members to pay if Greece were to leave the euro zone.
In economic powerhouse Germany, other southern states that have suffered austerity in return for EU cash and poor eastern countries with living standards much lower than Greece's, many voters and politicians have run out of patience.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble openly questioned the solvency of Greek banks - a key condition to qualify to receive such finance.
RELATED COVERAGE
› IMF chief Lagarde says disappointed over inconclusive talks with Greece
› Across spectrum, German leaders condemn Greece's rejection of EU deal
› Merkel "holds keys in her hand" to save Greece, Varoufakis says
"The ECB has always said that as long as Greek banks are solvent, then emergency loans, the ELA, can be granted," he said on Saturday. "And now there is naturally a new situation that because of the developments the liquidity and solvency of Greek banks, or some Greek banks, could be in doubt."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has invited leaders of all the major German parties to a meeting in Berlin on Monday to discuss the crisis.
DEAL STILL POSSIBLE
The 18 other countries sharing the euro countries have blamed Greece for breaking off negotiations and pledged to do whatever it takes to stabilize the common currency area.
European Council President Donald Tusk said on Sunday he was in contact with all the governments of the euro zone to ensure Greece remained in the single currency
Several officials said there was still time to return to the negotiating table.
"To those who wonder what's next, 1. Greece should stay in euro; 2.The door is still open for negotiations on latest EU Commission proposals," EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Sunday urged the Greeks to continue talks.
"I cannot resign myself to Greece leaving the euro zone ... We must find a solution," Valls told Europe 1, Le Monde and iTELE in a joint interview.
International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde said that if the July 5 vote produced "a resounding yes" to remain in the euro and fix the Greek economy then the creditors would be willing to make an effort.
(Additional reporting by Deepa Babington in Athens; Writing by Anna Willard; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Janet McBride)
I'm here for money, not fun
I forgot the convertible notes ie toxic financing. With par value down to .0001, next thing up will be increase AS to 5-10 billion.
Shorting Cctl is a winner. No website. Rising AS. Increasing dilution. No word from management in 6 months. 7 name changes. Easiest short ever.
If www.coincitadel.com worked, maybe I would.
6.10.15 cctl hits recent high of .0022 on record volume. After hours, scumbag CEO raises authorized from 400 mill to 1 bill and has diluted every day since. History will repeat itself. Scummy CEO will kill any run. Just look at how good the chart was looking on 6.10.15. Greedy CEO. Don't get screwed.
I bet your other runners had a working website. Maybe after another 2-9 billion increase they can finally get one going?
Greeks are all talk and no action. Greeks will vote to Yes
At least 179 out of a total of 300 lawmakers voted late on Saturday in favor of the referendum, scheduled to be held on July 5, Press TV reported.
In a speech ahead of the vote, Tsipras said he was confident that "the Greek people will say an emphatic no to the ultimatum" by the country's lenders -- the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund.
He also voiced confidence that "in the aftermath of this proud no, the negotiating power of the country will be strengthened."
"The creditors have not sought our approval but have asked for us to abandon our dignity. We must refuse," the premier noted, adding that the referendum "was not an attempt at a split with Europe but a split with the practices that are an insult to Europe.”
Earlier in the day, European Union finance ministers rejected an extension of the Greek bailout program, which expired on Tuesday, at a meeting in the EU’s de facto capital, Brussels, just hours after the Greek side declined the creditors’ latest offer.
On Friday, the troika of international lenders offered a €12-billion ($13.4-billion) extension of the current bailout deal to Athens provided that the cash-strapped country accepts the list of austerity reforms under a new accord between the two sides.
The offer was rejected by Greece, which called instead for the referendum to let the Greek people decide on the matter.
Following its 2009 economic crisis, Greece received two bailout packages in 2010 and 2012 worth a total of €240 billion ($272 billion) from its creditors in return for implementing harsh austerity measures.
Greece won't make the payment w/o a deal. Why would they? They'll just go in arrears and have the referendum on July 5th as planned while making all the EU leaders pissed.