Replies to post #2188 on Mining Sector Ideas

[gfp927z]

Bigworld, >> climate change nonsense <<

Yes, and the it looks like the 'reversal' decision is coming from the highest levels -- Federal Reserve, big banks, Blackrock, etc. It sounds like a major change in LT strategy, and it's about time. China-Russia-BRICS are eating our lunch, so now the gloves come off. And it won't be sanctions, de-SWIFT-ing, proxy wars, etc. Those were tried, and have failed. Now we go with the pro-growth approach that can bring countries back into the US fold. At least I hope that's the plan, because that's the only thing that can work.

Looking back at the climate change strategy, the original goal was to find a global problem that would require a global solution to justify building out the global governance apparatus (UN, IMF, World Bank, etc). They tried global cooling, ozone hole, etc, before settling on global warming, and the broader 'climate change'. The goal was modified from building global governance, to blocking economic development in emerging countries, not because of climate, but to prevent the rise of prosperity in these emerging countries. Historically, a robust and growing middle class is a key threat to an entrenched ruling oligarchy. So the oligarchy works to keep emerging countries backward, struggling, and in debt. This is described by Webster Tarpley in his book 'Against Oligarchy'. Historically the other big threat to oligarchy is overpopulation (--> Covid?)

Anyway, to have any chance of stopping / reversing BRICS expansion, the US / West finance oligarchy will need to quickly restore the US into being a force for good (global economic development). So the first thing to jettison is this climate nonsense. But with dozens of countries leaving the US orbit and clammoring to join BRICS, the hour is late. The oligarchy has finally 'awoken' (as evidenced by the Federal Reserve and banks abandoning climate change), and the Trump period ahead is likely their last chance to turn things around.



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[gfp927z]

Bigworld, Here's another sign of an awakening within the US / Western elites (link below). But it's going to take a lot more than these piddly efforts. The US / West needs to create a brand new Development Bank, focused on funding emerging country development projects. This is the main appeal of China-Russia-BRICS ---> their BRICS New Development Bank, since the recipient countries get infrastructure, power grids, ports, roads, etc.

The problem with the IMF and World Bank is they are so distrusted and reviled around the world, no one will believe they have changed their stripes. So under newcomer Trump, create a brand new US Development Bank, fund it with the $100-200 bil saved from ending the Ukraine war, and start lending that money to emerging countries around the world for development projects. So out compete China / BRICS, and emerging countries will come back into the US fold. This is all it would take, but there is little time remaining to do it. Having a rebel in the White House will make the new policy more credible. This approach would bypass the discredited IMF / World Bank (widely known as an asset stripping operation), and emerging countries would choose to remain in the US orbit because it's in their own best interests.

Under the new US Development Bank, the terms could match the favorable terms given by China / BRICS, which include --> no IMF type austerity requirement for the recipient country, no attempts to asset strip the country's mineral / natural resources, no attempts to interfere in the country's domestic affairs, etc. In other words --> a fair deal. Imagine that - a non-crooked deal. Those crooked IMF deals could only exist in a unipolar world where there is no funding alternative. That world is gone, so the US has to quickly adapt to the new multi-polar reality, or end up a 'former' empire.


>>> Secretary-General Welcomes IMF Decision Allowing Rechannelling of Special Drawing Rights to Multilateral Development Banks through Hybrid Capital Instruments <<<

https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=175685681




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[gfp927z]

Bigworld, Could Biden's grifting operation pale in comparison to Trump's?


>>> Trump promotes meme coin, raising ethics issues as value soars


The Washington Post

by Tony Romm

1-19-25


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-promotes-meme-coin-raising-ethics-issues-as-value-soars/ar-AA1xtHO8?cvid=ac5ccc526e85490ec27341770881673c&ei=34


Ahead of his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump launched and promoted a new cryptocurrency venture, raising fresh ethical questions about his attempts to monetize the incoming administration’s deepening political ties to the industry.

Throughout the weekend, the project soared in value as Trump and his aides prepared to reenter the White House. As soon as Monday, Trump is expected to issue new policy directives that could loosen crypto regulation and send the price of bitcoin and other assets skyrocketing.

Trump’s new project is known as a meme coin, a highly volatile sort of token that crypto enthusiasts can buy and sell tied to an online trend or personality. In this case, it’s an image of Trump pumping his fist inspired by the assassination attempt in July. Dubbed $TRUMP, the incoming president fashioned the new offering as a way for his supporters to “celebrate everything we stand for.”

On paper, it may have generated potentially billions of dollars in wealth for the Trump business, just hours before he is set to begin a term in which he has promised to turn the United States into the “crypto capital of the planet,” as he told industry supporters at a major conference last year.

Buyers are receiving what essentially amounts to a digital playing card, the purchase of which is supposed to symbolize a show of support, not an investment opportunity or political donation, according to lengthy disclosures posted online.

But a digital firm affiliated with the Trump organization owns 80 percent of the supply, the project disclosed, and appears to collect a fee on sales. Trump has also promoted the project to his roughly 97 million followers on the social media site X, and on Sunday, he steered followers to a similar meme coin tied to incoming first lady Melania Trump.

By Sunday evening, the total value of the $TRUMP project had reached more than $67 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, which tracks crypto prices and computed the figure by estimating the total market capitalization if every coin were in circulation.

Two of the president-elect’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., described the project this weekend as the “hottest digital meme on earth,” and they promised the Trump family’s separate crypto project — a new token and platform called World Liberty Financial — would be the “future of finance.”

Jordan Libowitz, a senior vice president at the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington who studies crypto, said the coin reflected the extent to which Trump could seize on “every government lever in his reach to make money for himself.”

Norman Eisen, a former White House ethics adviser during the Obama administration, said that, out of all of Trump’s conflicts as a businessman turned president, this “may be the most profound.”

“He’s launching a major, new multibillion-dollar venture in the burgeoning crypto industry, where he has the most profound conflict of interest between [what] he’s seeking to gain and his duties to regulate that industry — which now includes himself,” Eisen said. “This may represent the single worst conflict of interest in the modern history of the presidency.”

Eisen also noted that foreign governments could buy into the meme coin, raising its value and enriching Trump’s wealth, thereby violating the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution.

“Cryptocurrency should thrive but should also be appropriately regulated, and when it is not, [it] could be abused as a conduit for money laundering, tax evasion and terrorist financing,” Eisen warned.

A spokesman for the Trump transition did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization also did not immediately respond.

The venture underscored Trump’s sharp turn from crypto skeptic to supporter as he looks to court the industry’s generous political donations and continued favor entering his second stint in the White House.

Years after decrying crypto as a “scam,” Trump has tried to fashion himself as the first crypto president, and he has turned to aides who boast deep ties to the highly volatile industry.

Those advisers include David Sacks, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist set to guide Trump on crypto policy in the White House, and Paul Atkins, a former consultant to crypto companies whom the president has nominated to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, a powerful financial watchdog. Some of Trump’s advisers during the transition process, meanwhile, are closely tied to Marc Andreessen and his venture firm, which has extensive investments in crypto.

Andreessen and other crypto magnates — including Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the founders of the trading platform Gemini — donated generously to Trump and affiliated groups during the 2024 campaign as they looked to arrest years of withering scrutiny under outgoing President Joe Biden.

But the fruits of their labor could become apparent soon after Trump enters office: He is expected to create a new council — consisting in part of crypto executives — to guide his administration, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe his plans.

Trump has also explored executive orders that would streamline federal crypto regulation, such as by tasking agencies to study and remove legal barriers to the industry or clarifying the exact oversight roles of two federal financial regulators, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the people said. And the president’s team has spoken with lawmakers and experts about his controversial idea to maintain a federal stockpile of bitcoin, The Washington Post previously reported.

Trump and his family have lent their names and support to World Liberty Financial, which aims to offer crypto lending, though they do not appear to be officers at the company.

But the projects have only resurfaced familiar questions about Trump’s commingling of government and business, and the extent to which political actors might seek to curry favor by investing in his growing real estate and tech enterprises. The stakes became apparent only weeks after the election, when Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun purchased $30 million in tokens from World Liberty Financial. Sun is under investigation by the SEC.

The president-elect has also sold NFTs — non-fungible tokens — featuring amateurish images of him playing golf, posing as an astronaut or surrounded by bars of gold.

<<<



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[gfp927z]

Bigworld, With Trump's big push for Bitcoin and crypto, the logical move for us investors might be to pile into the Bitcoin ETFs. As much as I dislike Bitcoin, it does have some undeniable tailwinds. Having all the new Bitcoin ETFs available suddenly made it easy for investors to pile in, and the price zoomed, and this happened even before Trump's big 'conversion' to Bitcoin.

I remember when the gold ETFs were introduced (2004-05), and the gold price immediately skyrocketed as the public piled in. Gold quadrupled over the next several years, and the availability of the ETF (GLD) was largely responsible. A similar pattern occurred with Bitcoin after the ETFs came out. IBIT started trading early last year, and after an initial slump it proceeded to almost double. It then consolidated sideways until Trump became pro-crypto last summer, and then it nearly doubled again. The current chart looks poised to go higher, so this might be a logical place for a speculative position.

The bigger aspect with Bitcoin / crypto is that after anti-CBDC opposition appeared in Congress, the Fedsters backed off on their CBDC push. Rickards said the eventual idea is to re-brand CBDC as a Stablecoin, ie a crypto that doesn't swing wildly in value from day to day. First though would be to get the crypto 'plumbing' in place, and increase public acceptance of crypto, etc, to grease the wheels for the eventually transition to Stablecoin (CBDC). Whether Trump is aware that he's being used by the Fedsters, who knows, but he is the perfect vehicle to get crypto fully entrenched into US financial transactions.

Trump was anti-crypto for years, but apparently had a 'Damascus Road conversion' last summer, probably from listening to Musk and other pro crypto advisors, and next came his 'Bitcoin Strategic Reserve' idea, etc. Anyway, Bitcoin --> crypto --> Stablecoin ---> CBDC looks like the plan to get CBDC adopted on the sly, they just won't call it CBDC. So even if Bitcoin appears to be a worthless POS, the smart move for investors might be to own some of the ETF, at least in the near / mid term.

Fwiw, I bought a little IBIT when it first came came out, but it looked weak so I quickly bailed out, but then it began it's big run-up. I figure that initial drop was from long time Bitcoin owners finally having a liquid way to cash out or hedge, but the selloff was brief, and then the Bitcoin price took off as newbies piled in using the new ETF. Personally I really dislike Bitcoin / cryptos since they are purely speculative vehicles, have no underlying value, and are way too volatile to be used as 'money'. But there's a lot more to the picture if they are to be the Trojan horse that gets the Fed's CBDC adopted.




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