Brazil started a framework to legalize cryptocurrencies in the local market on February 22, 2022. The effort could be a watershed moment in Brazil’s digital currency growth and development. If it becomes law, Brazil will be the first government in Latin America to establish explicit norms and regulations for digital cryptocurrency investments. Brazil, like many other countries, aims to establish its own local central bank digital currency (CBDC) in addition to legalizing the cryptocurrency market. https://tinyurl.com/2p8nhs9x

Belarus- The Cyber Partisans said they hacked Belarusian Railway's data-processing network. Purpose of attack - to disrupt the deployment of the occupation forces and to give to Ukrainians more time to repel the attack. Now the Belarusian Railway's data-processing network is in a state of collapse. https://tinyurl.com/5n6f4tkn

Gold Reserves in Russia increased to 2298.53 Tonnes in the third quarter of 2021 from 2292.31 Tonnes in the second quarter of 2021. Russia’s National Wealth Fund reserves, the fourth-largest in the world, are calculated to include all highly liquid assets at the disposal of the Central Bank and the Russian government. These include monetary gold, SDR assistance, and foreign currency. Russian reserves are in China - J. Borrell, EU Foreign Affairs Policy. https://theparadigmshifts.substack.com/p/will-the-russian-federation-economically?utm_source=url

Chicago wheat jumped almost 9% on Monday, the market's biggest single-day rally in 10 years. Corn gained more than 3% while soybeans rose 2.4%. Russia and Ukraine account for around 29% of global wheat exports, 19% of world corn supplies, and 80% of world sunflower oil exports. Wheat trading at 10 year high range. US/EU sanctions reduce Russia's ability to export wheat to the world, driving fears of wheat supply chain shocks. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-28/wheat-surges-9-as-russian-sanctions-upend-commodities-markets

Potash fertilizer prices jump on Russian sanctions. Presently trading at $590 per metric ton. Russia is world's #2 potash producer & accounts for 21% world's exported potash. China has stopped all exports of potash till June 2022. Farmers in India are already affected by high potash fertilizer prices warning of potential food shortages. https://tinyurl.com/35amst94

Ammonia fertilizer prices trading higher due to sanctions on Russia. European natural gas futures jumped as much as 36% today. Russia is a major global supplier of farm fertilizers and is the source of about a third of Europe’s natural gas. Europe now faces ammonia production decreases (natural gas is feedstock for ammonia production) and their ammonia producers are unable to compete with countries that are ammonia exporters. Russia in late 2021 imposed a 2-month export moratorium on ammonium nitrate resulting in constraints felt now. In the US, farmers are facing fertilizer price quotes 3x-6x higher than 2020.

Chicago wheat futures see 13 1/2-year highs in trading due to western sanctions on Russia and disruption of grain exports out of the Black Sea region. Every wheat contract sold in different regions of the world are up. Russia and Ukraine account for 30 per cent of the global wheat trade (207 million tonnes). CBOT's most-active wheat contract (W_1:COM) +5.3% to $9.05 per bushel after surging as much as 8% to $9.34. Corn gained more than 3%, while soybeans rose 2.5%. In Europe, EuroNext Milling wheat is now at 316.50 euros per ton up 26.5% today.

Over 6 years ago. The policy advisor everyone ignored. Professor John J. Mearsheimer

"The West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path & the end result is Ukraine is going to get wrecked.”

Full Lecture -https://youtu.be/JrMiSQAGOS4?t=121

Russia/Ukraine Intelligence Analysis Day 5.

Credit to: SouthFront- crowdfunded independent intelligence analysis . Support via BTC, BCH or XMR. https://southfront.org/donate/

CRYPTO NEWS - The Treasury Department guidelines equated crypto transactions to “deceptive or structured transactions or dealings” in attempting to evade U.S. sanctions. The White House is warning U.S.-based companies and individuals not to facilitate crypto transactions sent to certain Russian nationals and banks. Effective on March 1, U.S. residents may not use digital currencies to benefit Russia’s government — including the country’s central bank https://tinyurl.com/msacrek3

CRYPTO NEWS - Ukraine's deputy PM & Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, has called on crypto exchanges to freeze the accounts of both Russian and Belarusian users. Fedorov praised a move by NFT platform DMarket to freeze accounts belonging to customers in Russia and Belarus. Meanwhile, the amount of tracked crypto donations sent to the Ukrainian government, military and charities has surpassed $37 million. https://tinyurl.com/5n83dy3j

Spain- February inflation (CPI) soars to 7.4% and 3% core CPI, highest in 3 decades and fastest since 1989. Government refuses to adjust taxes to CPI. The price increase is mainly due to energy prices exacerbated by volatile energy markets in Europe due to sanctions on Russia. The separate EU-harmonised consumer price index for Spain rose 7.5% in the 12 months to February. Economy Minister Nadia Calvino warned the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last Thursday may keep inflation high in the region in the future as it triggered oil and gas price hikes. https://tinyurl.com/y7kj2nch

EU about to dictate rules over cryptocurrency use in Europe. ECB President Christine Lagarde, has called on lawmakers in the EU to speed up efforts to pass MiCA crypto regulation. MiCA regulations include the unknown status of a draft provision that sought to ban the use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether in the EU over energy concerns. Also, no stablecoins can be offered to the public or admitted to trading on a trading platform for crypto-assets, unless the issuer is authorized in the EU. https://tinyurl.com/yz5wzav2

Soybean futures contract prices rising. A backlog of vessels waiting to load soybeans from some Brazilian ports is stretching to near-record lengths as the world’s biggest bean exporter struggles to harvest and ship this season’s crop due to extreme weather. Following harvest woes and heavy rains that have made it challenging to dry and transport the beans, some boats have now been waiting for more than 40 days for their cargoes. https://tinyurl.com/25c27rm4

World's biggest shipping company suspends container shipments to and from Russia. The suspension will apply to all goods except food, medical supplies and humanitarian equipment. The shipping giant said it was already starting to see operational delays in the global supply chain. https://tinyurl.com/sfsw5v4d

BREAKING - Wheat traded “limit up,” which refers to the highest amount the price of a commodity is allowed to increase in a single day. Wheat futures trading on the Chicago Board of Trade are at their highest levels since the 2008 global financial crisis. Wheat futures rose 5.35% to 984 cents per bushel as of 11:30 a.m. ET. Sanctions against Russia is having blowback on western economies and global markets. Russia is the largest exporter of wheat and Ukraine is among the four biggest exporters of the commodity. Corn futures on also last traded up 5.07% at 725.75 cents per bushel, their highest level since May.

Chart from the Chicago Board Of Trade to correspond with the wheat price per bushel. Didn't get it in time for the post. Apologies.

Toyota Motor on Tuesday halted operations at all of its plants in Japan after a major supplier was hit by a cyberattack. The company is suspending 28 lines at 14 plants. Subsidiaries Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor will also halt operations at some plants in Japan. https://tinyurl.com/mr2ns8s7

Bridgestone-Firestone tire factories across North America and Latin America are still struggling to recover from a cyberattack after sending workers home for multiple days. "Until we learn more from this investigation, we cannot determine with certainty the scope or nature of any potential incident. https://tinyurl.com/4jav9u8p

The website for the Moscow Stock Exchange went down after a cyberattack. (Unverified claim) The Ukraine IT Army, a crowdsourced community of hackers endorsed by Kyiv officials, called on members to launch attacks on the website, Moex[.]com, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister who announced the formation of the Army, celebrated on Facebook. The Moscow Exchange remains closed for the second day. https://tinyurl.com/2p8yrxax