E34: Season of Chaos

Trending Topics Price rollercoaster, segwit on Litecoin, COIN ETF 11 Mar

SWIFT Cyberattacks Continue

The SWIFT system continues to suffer from cyberattacks. They have entered red alert status. They can’t stop these attacks because they are somewhat decentralized, because they were founded before the internet, and their clients won’t upgrade. Great write up here.

Some quotes from the article: SWIFT has “a good number of these attacks have been ultimately thwarted.” My emphasis. This means that some of the attacks are still successful. The SWIFT system’s credibility has been fatally affected by these hacks.

Japanese Banks to Work With Chinese Alternative to SWIFT

In a related story, main Japanese banks are integrating with the Chinese led alternative to SWIFT called China Interbank Payment System (CIPS).

Currently, CIPS is focused on capital movement into and out of China, however as its network grows it will rival the aging SWIFT very quickly. Previously, payments to mainland China had to be processed by clearing banks such as those in Hong Kong. CIPS can cut costs by several dollars per tx. CIPS is planning to extend their business hours because they are encompassing more members in different time zones

Italian Elections Could Be Moved to June, Populist Anit-Euro Grillo Likely Elected

The 5 Star Movement in Italy, an anti-Euro party is gaining a ton of support from the people and other minority parties. It’s leader, Beppe Grillo and former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi are calling for a new election in June. Grillo thinks he can win and wants to keep the heat on the establishment. Renzi recently fulfilled his promise to resign if he lost his effort to get the recent referendum approved, but now he is running for the same office again. He wants elections moved up to June,too, because he feels his lead wavering quickly. Renzi’s party is also splintering with infighting. This election could lead to Grillo taking office and almost immediately having a referendum to leave the Euro and maybe Europe.

Marine Le Pen, A “Far-Right Wing” Candidate, Getting Massive Support in France

The left-right paradigm is broken. We now have the Globalists and Anti-Globalists. These populist leaders winning elections throughout the world are on the Anti-Globalist side, and it doesn’t make sense when viewed through the 20th Century left-right paradigm.

Marine Le Pen’s campaign launch speech was interrupted with chants “France! France!”. I outline her platform which is very anti-globalist. TL:DR anti-immigration, anti-Euro, anti-EU.

Where Does Bitcoin Get Its Value

Rant about bitcoin’s value coming from holding it. Bitcoin isn’t ready for mainstream consumer adoption, but it is ready for mainstream consumer savings. As the Season of Chaos heats up, more and more people with save in bitcoin including governments.