Government-issued digital currencies are sold on their promise of convenience and security. But there is a darker side – the promise of control. But at the root of the move toward government digital currency is “the war on cash.” Fundamentally, it’s about control. The elimination of cash creates the potential for the government to track and even control consumer spending. https://schiffgold.com/key-gold-news/war-on-cash-the-digital-dollar/

Thousands of QNAP users have been infected by a new ransomware variant flagged by the network-attached storage (NAS) vendor. Taiwan-headquartered QNAP said that customers should urgently upgrade their systems to the latest version of its QTS operating systems and take steps to disconnect devices from the internet to mitigate the campaign. https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/qnap-ransomware-thousands-infected/

Chicago most-active soybean and corn futures both stretched to fresh seven-month highs, as traders fixated on how a possible downturn in crop supplies from South America could underpin demand for U.S. crops. Concerns about dry conditions hurting crops in South America have underpinned global grain and oilseed market sentiment so far in 2022. https://www.reuters.com/article/global-grains/grains-march-soybeans-hit-new-contract-highs-on-dry-s-american-crop-woes-idUSL1N2UB04S

Cotton futures touched a fresh decade high, with a global deficit of the fiber squeezing mills holding huge short positions. The March contract climbed as much as 3.2% to $1.2771 a pound in New York, the highest for a most-active contract since June 2011. Its rare premium over May futures has risen 58% this year and is 275 times more than a year ago, showing buyers’ urgency to buy for nearby delivery. https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/cotton-hits-fresh-decade-high-as-shortages-fuel-bulls

Two companies involved in storing and supplying oil and other materials said they have been hit by a cyberattack that has impacted operations in Germany. Oiltanking GmbH Group and Mabanaft Group discovered what they called a “cyber incident affecting our IT systems”. Mabanaft's German branch “has also declared force majeure for the majority of its inland supply activities in Germany,”. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/germany-oil-storage-supply-firms-hit-cyberattack-82595783

Food inflation in crisis-hit Sri Lanka hit a record 25 percent in January. Crop failures and difficulties in financing imports leading to widespread shortages. Supermarkets have rationed rice, lentils and other essentials, while power companies unable to pay for imported fuel have been forced to impose rolling blackouts. Overall inflation measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) was also a record 14.2 percent in January. https://dailytimes.com.pk/878540/sri-lanka-food-inflation-hits-record-25-as-shortages-bite/

The Indian finance ministry announced that the government will soon launch a digital rupee using blockchain technology with the country’s central bank. "Any income from transfer of any virtual digital asset shall be taxed at the rate of 30 percent. No deduction in respect of any expenditure or allowance shall be allowed while computing such income, except the cost of acquisition,”. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/indian-government-announces-plans-for-digital-rupee-30-25-tax-on-virtual-assets/ar-AATlZeY

Every truck taken out of the supply chain is one less truck that can haul goods. This comes as virus-related worker absenteeism and labor shortages have prolonged supply chain woes. Snarling chains, even more, has been an answer by the people to band together against medical tyranny by the government. There's just one problem, blocking cross-border trade or at least slowing it down will further supply chain issues and could spark meat shortages in the US. https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/150-meat-trucks-stranded-us-canada-border-protests-continue

The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has revealed that it is researching the issuance of a digital currency. The central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be linked to the Jordanian dinar and have legal standing. They also talked about launching a licensed cryptocurrency trading platform. The CBJ governor reportedly argued that Jordan banned cryptocurrency trading to protect investors from fraudulent crypto investment schemes. https://cointelegraph.com/news/central-bank-of-jordan-reveals-cbdc-plans?utm_source=Telegram&utm_medium=social

Europe- A decade later, the continent’s biggest economy has shut down almost all its capacity already. The rest will be switched off at the end of 2022 — at the worst possible time. Wholesale power prices are more than four times what they were at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Belgium and Spain, meanwhile, are following Germany’s lead in abandoning nuclear. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-01-31/europe-s-nuclear-power-plants-are-disappearing-just-as-energy-crisis-hits-hard

Russia is warming up prices by introducing quotas for grain exports and reducing gas supplies to Europe, and now it has decided to limit the export of ammonium nitrate. Prices for ammonium nitrate increased 2.5-3 times compared to last year amid a rise in gas prices and a decrease in supply. The Russian government introduces a two-month ban on the export of ammonium nitrate. https://graintrade.com.ua/en/novosti/rosiya-na-2-misyatci-zaboronila-eksport-amiachnoi-selitri.html

Meanwhile in the US - A fire at a North Carolina fertilizer plant packed with 600 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate continued to burn out of control on Tuesday, forcing firefighters to abandon the scene and prompting the evacuation of roughly 6,500 residents in a mile radius of the facility. https://abcnews.go.com/US/north-carolina-firefighters-pull-back-blaze-fertilizer-plant/story?id=82599355

One of the biggest bridges between Solana and other blockchains, Wormhole, has been hacked to the tune of around $320 milion - or 120,000 ETH potentially stolen, which would make it the second largest DeFi hack to date. Wormhole is a protocol that allows users to bridge assets across blockchains. It has over $1 billion in total value locked and supports six blockchains: Terra, Solana, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche and Polygon. https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/320-million-limbo-after-second-largest-defi-hack-ever

A government plan for tackling Lebanon's financial crisis projects a 93% devaluation of the Lebanese pound and converts the bulk of hard currency deposits in the banking system to local currency. Lebanon's crisis may be one of the worst depressions in world history. https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/lebanon-plan-sees-93-currency-slide-turns-bulk-fx-deposits-pounds-2022-01-31/

Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co.’s plans on issuing a gold pegged cryptocurrency in the country. The coin known as ZipangCoin (ZPG) will be available for trading as soon as this month. he value of ZipangCoin is set to similar to the value of one gram of gold. https://www.fxempire.com/news/article/japan-gold-pegged-cryptocurrency-to-be-issued-this-month-888328

News Corp was the target of a hack that accessed emails and documents of some employees, including journalists. The attack, discovered on Jan. 20, affected a number of publications and business units. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/news-corp-journalists-targeted-by-suspected-cyberattack-11643981021?mod=home-page

Russia and China are increasingly contemplating using their own currencies in mutual settlements and finding ways to work together to counter sanctions. If penalties are imposed on one of our banks, it is quite difficult for Chinese recipients of our products to pay us, although they have the money and the desire to do so.”. https://www.rt.com/russia/548070-china-moscow-plan-currency/

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston released research in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on the technological viability of a Fed-backed digital dollar, also known as a central bank digital currency. The results are promising for the viability of a digital dollar, as the research produced two separate architectures for a potential U.S. CBDC. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/move-toward-digital-dollar-gains-steam-as-boston-fed-says-its-prototype-can-handle-17-million-transactions-per-second/ar-AATrz1D

Turkey’s annual inflation came in at nearly 49% on Thursday, hitting a nearly 20-year high and further eroding people’s ability to buy even basic things like food.
The Turkish Statistical Institute said the consumer price index increased by just over 11% in January from the previous month. The yearly increase in food prices was more than 55%. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/turkey-inflation-recep-tayyip-erdogan-ankara-b2006739.html

Following news of major cyberattacks on German-based oil storage companies, there are now reports of similar attacks in the Netherlands and Belgium. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Who-Is-Responsible-For-Cyberattacks-On-Europes-Oil-Industry.html