Free Republic

Foreign Exchange: Thailand's ham-fisted capital controls, announced Tuesday, sought to halt the baht's rise. But all that did was knock $23 billion in value from Thai stocks and rattle world markets. It's not the answer. What it actually shows is that the caretaker military regime, in power since its September coup, isn't quite up to the task of running Thailand's economic powerhouse. Thailand's markets, which have done well this year, don't need new controls. What they really need are the same thing Thailand's people need — more freedom, economic and political. Thailand's government Tuesday told foreign investors they would no...

BANGKOK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Tuesday said part of the government's vaunted 450 billion baht ($13.1 billion) "digital wallet" handout will be distributed in cash, in another change to its flagship populist policy. Details are still being finalised and will be announced in a policy statement to parliament, she added. The digital wallet handout had previously entailed transferring 10,000 baht ($292) in credit to 50 million Thais via a smartphone application to spend in their localities within six months.

@saylor We now have a bill to establish the United States Bitcoin Reserve, stored in a Digital Fort Knox.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Saturday laid out his plans to wholeheartedly embrace cryptocurrency if elected for a second term, telling hundreds of cheering supporters of the digital tokens that he wants the U.S. to be a “bitcoin superpower” under his leadership. In his keynote address at a bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, the Republican presidential nominee promised to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and create a bitcoin “strategic reserve” using the currency that the government currently holds. He also promised to remove Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler if...

Trump was clearly taken aback at the crowd's reaction when he made the announcement. "On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler and appoint a new SEC chairman," Trump said as the crowd went nuts. "I didn't know he was that unpopular."

As I write this, Bitcoin is trading at $69,140. Today's high - $69,400. All time closing high is around $73,000. All time intraday high is around $74,000. Bitcoin trades on many different exchanges. CNBC quotes the Coin Metrics price, which reports the trading at many of those exchanges.

The former National Security Agency contractor did not name any particular US or international lawmakers but warned many didn’t belong to the “tribe” of Bitcoiners. Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has been in exile in Russia since 2013, warned attendees at the Bitcoin 2024 conference about politicians trying to woo them over crypto. In a July 26 speech held virtually at the crypto conference, Snowden said many lawmakers were trying to earn the “love” of Bitcoiners, hinting at those attending the Nashville event. He did not explicitly refer to United States or international politicians, though US...

As former President Donald Trump prepares to speak this week at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, the big event is creating the most excitement in the crypto community. Bitcoin USD (BTC) has surged more than 9% over the past month and nearly 58% year-to-date, crossing the $66,500 mark and nearing its all-time high set earlier this year.Moreover, this week, crypto investors are gearing up for several exciting developments, including the anticipated approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for eight exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that hold Ethereum (ETH), the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.These ETFs can become staples in 401(k)s, IRAs,...

As Americans head to the polls this fall, their decision regarding who will lead our country will also determine the fate of crypto here in the United States, and our security, prosperity, and freedom are at stake.This week, I will join President Trump and thousands of crypto market participants in Nashville for Bitcoin 2024, the world's largest Bitcoin conference. This year, the conference is held in my home state at a time that is clearly the tipping point for the future of crypto technology in the U.S. This fall, the future of crypto in America is on the ballot as...

undreds of flights were cancelled at British airports yesterday due to the fault ... Travel disruption is continuing today as trains are hit in Crowdstrike outage with ticket machines and scanners going down at London stations. The meltdown chaos comes after the world's biggest IT disaster struck, with thousands of Brits stranded abroad. It happened on one of year's busiest travel days, with families now desperately queuing at Dover Port in an attempt to get home. After another 45 flights were cancelled today, 28,000 Brits are fighting to get a seat on a plane. Some passengers stuck overseas have been...

Crypto currencies plunged on Friday as investors focused on the payout of nearly $9 billion to users of collapsed bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox...[Mt. Gox was hacked ten years ago and lost almost 1 million Bitcoins - at that time, one Bitcoin was worth just $600 - Traders expect former Gox customers to cash out many of their remaining Coins, which are now worth close to 100X times their 2014 value - huge selling pressure is expected to tank the crypto market]

People who own cryptocurrency are more likely to be narcissistic, psychopathic sadists, according to a study. Cryptocurrency, which has exploded in popularity in recent years, is digital 'money' which lies beyond the control of central banks and governments. The global market is worth about £1.3 trillion and around five million adults in the UK have invested. But now a study suggests that those who own online currency - such as Bitcoin - are more likely to have 'dark tetrad' personality traits. Investors are also more likely to be men, rely on fringe social media sources, believe in conspiracy theories and...

"Bitcoin is illegal" is all I've heard over countless years. But that is now officially a statement of the past. The approval of bitcoin has sealed it's future as tender that can no longer be looked at as 'dodgy'.The USG is now moving to legalize Bitcoin. Trump came all out for BTC last week. Many political analysis are saying that the election may hinge on which candidate supports Bitcoin. In the US there are over 50m people who own or have invested in the ETFs (BTC) or own other crypto currencies. Last week Elizabeth Warren and her crew were out...

The first close associate of Sam Bankman-Fried to plead guilty in the aftermath of FTX‘s downfall will be sentenced on Tuesday. What Happened: Ryan Salame, former CEO of FTX's Bahamas subsidiary, struck a plea deal with federal prosecutors in September. This occurred just weeks before Bankman-Fried was set to go on trial for allegedly stealing about $10 billion from customers, investors, and lenders. Salame pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws and operating an unlicensed money transmitter. Bloomberg reported that prosecutors are seeking a sentence of five to seven years, while the defense argues for 18 months or less. Judge...

Bitcoin was the star of the white-knuckle ride that cryptocurrencies offered in 2017 but lesser-known names, such as Ripple and Ethereum, are seen gaining prominence in 2018. While bitcoin jumped more than 1,200 percent last year, Ripple, created by the founder of bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, surged 35,000 percent in the same period. That means $100 invested in Ripple in January 2017 would have grown to about $35,000 at the start of this year. To be sure, bitcoin is still the biggest cryptocurrency by far - with market value exceeding $250 billion - and is expected to keep that mantle...

Banking heir and cryptocurrency bigwig Matthew Mellon has died, a representative for his family said in a statement. Mellon, an early backer of global settlement network Ripple, was the ex-husband of Jimmy Choo guru Tamara Mellon and of designer Nicole Hanley, his second wife. A rep said in a statement: “Billionaire Matthew Mellon, 53, died suddenly in Cancun, Mexico, where he was attending a drug rehabilitation facility. Mellon made his fortune in cryptocurrency, turning a $2 million investment into $1 billion. He is survived by his three children, Force, Olympia and Minty. The family asks that their privacy be respected...

The man who set himself on fire outside Trump's hush money trial in New York has reportedly died from his injuries. Max Azzarello, a 37-year-old from St. Augustine, Florida, reportedly died Friday night hours after the display, said to be 'an 'extreme act of protest...[against] a totalitarian con, and our own government' on the conspiracy theorist's own Substack. The reported revelation was offered to The New York Post late Monday, hours after he doused himself in accelerant outside the courthouse before going up in flames. Left in critical condition, Azzarello has since succumbed to those wounds, sources told the paper,...

Max Azzarello is the name given by the man who set himself on fire outside the Trump trial in New York after leaving behind a “rambling” manifesto and social media accounts in which he sang about starting a “revolution.” “Start a “f****** revolution,” he sang over and over again on Instagram in January. “You’ve got nothing to lose.” Another Instagram post showed him posing as an Uncle Sam-like figure, pointing at the camera. It read, “I want you to tear down a haunted carnival.” Heavy has located the manifesto, on which he writes, “My name is Max Azzarello, and I...

Across my career at the intersection of national security and our economy, I have witnessed firsthand several game-changing technological revolutions. From GPS to the internet and from smartphones to artificial intelligence, our nation’s unmatched capacity to innovate has created unprecedented benefits for the economy and security. Another wave is upon us: Blockchain and crypto offer America the chance to lead another generation of critical innovation, but policymakers must do their part, or this opportunity will slip away. If the Biden White House and Congress don’t provide the support and regulatory certainty this burgeoning industry requires, there is little doubt it...

Moscow has been on a drive to replace the use of the US dollar in international trade, but there are barrels of Russian oil stuck at sea due to issues with paying in alternative currencies. Shipments of Russian Sokol grade crude oil to state-owned Indian Oil Corp, or IOC, have been delayed by payment issues, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with the matter. The seller is the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft. The problem arose because Rosneft unit selling the oil hasn't been able to open a bank account in the United Arab Emirates to receive payments...