Crypto/Digital payments update:
❗️The White House 🇺🇸 is drafting policy to address bitcoin mining as it seeks to lessen energy consumption and emissions.

❗️Crypto investors 💰hope that the interest from Rockefellers, Rothschilds & Soros will help to take the heat off the market from global financial watchdogs. Up until now, financial regulators across the world have taken a tough stance toward cryptocurrencies.

❗️Major crypto firms 📉 reportedly cut up to 10% of staff amid bear market.

❗️New York Fed president 🇺🇸 urges colleagues to prepare for coming digital payment transformation, pushing CBDC's & stablecoins. Meanwhile, NY pursues efforts to ban proof-of-work (PoW) crypto mining, the attorney general reminded investors of the risks associated with investing in crypto.

❗️A top Russian central bank 🇷🇺 official said that the monetary authority will re-think previous ban so as to permit foreign trade with crypto.

❗️Bermuda's regulators 🇧🇲 aim to combine their international business expertise and a trained local workforce to become a digital-assets hub. Hopes to attract more cryptocurrency projects and firms.

👉 Iran 🇮🇷 proposed a new currency for trade with China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO- Picture shows participating states). This could help circumvent illegal Western sanctions and weaken US dollar hegemony.

👉 Russia 🇷🇺 says it will use an arrangement similar to that used for payments for its gas supplies to pay its dollar-denominated foreign bonds after being cut off from paying through SWIFT/American Banks.

👉 Yuan-ruble 🇨🇳 🇷🇺 trading up by 1,067% in past 3 months. Volumes between Russian, Chinese currencies near $4 billion.

👉 Last available report- A total of 20 European 🇪🇺 companies have opened ruble accounts, with another 14 clients asking for the paperwork needed to set them up.

CBDC update:
📌 The United States Federal Reserve 🇺🇸 released a study on the possible effects of a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) on U.S. monetary policy implementation. The paper considered four scenarios that illustrate the potential effects of a retail CBDC from the perspective of the Fed, commercial banks and U.S. households.

📌 Thai 🇹🇭 Central Bank Governor @WEF in Davos - A retail CBDC will probably replace cash but not other means of payment out there. Thai CBDC pilot delayed to Q4 2022.

📌 Mastercard CEO & PayPal VP 💳 @ WEF in Davos in support of future with CBDC's and possibility of integrating crypto/private digital currencies.

📌 The central bank of India, 🇮🇳 (RBI), reveals report on a plan to launch a CBDC due to disruption of technology with the advent of Fintech.

Slovnaft, a Slovak oil refinery built in Bratislava, said a new package of sanctions against Russia would jeopardize the plant's supplies to the Central European market. The plant mainly refines Russian oil and exports most of its products. the plant mainly refines Russian oil and exports most of its products. The temporary exemption championed by Hungary's PM Victor Orban, allows for imports delivered by the Russian Druzhba pipeline to certain landlocked countries like Hungary and Slovakia.

A ban on oil imports from Russia by sea, will be supplemented "in the near future" by a ban on oil imports from Russia via pipeline. Exemption to Slovnaft would create rift between Slovakia and other European competitors because cheap Russian oil would allow Slovnaft to have higher profit margins and large amounts of diesel production.

❗️This post is not intended as fear-porn but people need to wake up to consequences of a power grid failure. 💡Electricity blackouts are becoming a real possibility in the near future and not only from a cyberattack. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) warned that two-thirds of the U.S. 🇺🇸 could experience blackouts this summer as stated in their report. There are also concerns in Europe 🇪🇺 too, since last year.

❌ Midcontinent ISO 🇺🇸 (MISO) faces a capacity shortfall in its North and Central areas, resulting in high risk of energy emergencies during peak 🌞 summer conditions.
❌ At the start of the summer, a key transmission line connecting MISO’s northern and southern areas will be out of service.

❌ Anticipated resource capacity in Saskatchewan 🇨🇦 will be strained to meet peak demand projections, which have risen by over 7.5% since 2021.
❌ Energy output from hydro generators ⚡️ throughout most of the Western United States is being affected by widespread drought and below-normal snowpack⛄️.

❌ Extreme drought ☀️ across much of Texas can produce weather conditions that are favorable to prolonged, wide-area heat events and extreme peak electricity demand.
❌ As drought conditions continue over the Missouri River Basin, output from thermal generators that use the Missouri River 💦 for cooling in Southwest Power Pool (SPP) may be affected in summer months.

❌ Supply chain 🚛 issues and commissioning challenges on new resource and transmission projects are a concern in areas where completion is needed for reliability during summer peak periods.
❌ Coal-fired 🏭 GOs are having difficulty obtaining fuel and non-fuel consumables as supply chains are stressed.

👉 Climate change policies are making the grid more vulnerable to vacillations in supply and demand. The forced transition to green energy is distorting energy markets and destabilizing the grid. Solar and wind are rapidly increasing, but they’re as erratic as the weather and can’t be commanded to ramp up when electricity 🔋demand surges.

👉 Subsidies enable wind and solar generators 🔌 to turn a profit even when the supply of electricity exceeds demand. Coal and nuclear plants, on the other hand, can’t make money running only some of the time, so many have shut down. Natural-gas-fired plants can help pick up the slack, but there aren’t enough of them to back up all of the renewables coming onto the grid.

🤔 What no one is talking about also, in the nuclear power generation arena is sanctions against Russia. 🇷🇺 Russian uranium exports and nuclear technology are used all over the world for power generation.

Please share this post to get more people thinking and preparing for such a situation.👍

💢 Credit union and banking trade groups have released a joint letter to the chair and ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, warning of “devastating consequences” if the 🇺🇸 Federal Reserve moves forward with a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

❗️“In effect, a CBDC will serve as an advantaged competitor to retail bank deposits that will move money away from banks and into accounts at the Federal Reserve where the funds cannot be lent back into the economy.
❗️“Contrary to the assertions of some CBDC proponents, a U.S. CBDC is not necessary to ‘digitize the dollar,’ as the dollar functions primarily in digital form today.
❗️“…a CBDC does not appear to be necessary to support the role of the U.S. dollar internationally. While many countries have experimented with a CBDC, many have focused on a wholesale model..."

📌 India's 🇮🇳 RBI deputy governor stated that banks will remain crucial for providing liquidity services to the general public in India, warning that technology is merely a tool and cannot be used to create currencies: “A currency needs an issuer or it needs intrinsic value. Many cryptocurrencies which are neither are still being accepted at face value. “We believe that CBDCs could actually be able to kill whatever little case that could be for private cryptocurrencies.”

❌ BIS paper written by Fabio Araujo, an economist at the Central Bank of Brazil 🇧🇷, revealed that the monetary authority will have greater control over the population’s money once its CBDC is rolled out. Through the so-called Real Digital, the central bank will be able to halt bank runs and impose other restrictions on citizens’ access to money.

❗️President Putin – about the accusations that 🇷🇺 Russia "does not allow the export of Ukrainian 🇺🇦 grain": This is a bluff! We do not prevent the export of Ukrainian grain. It can be exported through ports that are under the control of Ukraine. But we didn't mine the approaches to the ⚓️ ports! Ukraine mined them. I have already said many times: let them clear mines and let the grain ships go out. We guarantee their passage without any problems.

📌 He mentioned that, Ukrainian grain can be safely🚢 exported through Belarus 🇧🇾 if the EU/US sanctions against Belarus are lifted. Belarus and Ukraine share the same rail size and there is an existing better trade route to Europe 🇪🇺 via the Baltic sea than the Black sea.

⛽️ Diesel prices on international markets are moving faster than crude oil. The issue in the market is not just the loss of Russian 🇷🇺 crude supplies but a loss of refining capacity worldwide. This is aggravated by the effective loss of some Russian refining capacity and its output as a result of sanctions.

The US 🇺🇸 administration still doesn’t really have “tools” that would cut gasoline prices substantially. Global supply is constrained because Europe is now sourcing growing volumes of seaborne non-Russian crude, global refinery capacity has shrunk by a few million bpd since COVID, and fuel inventories in the U.S. are at multi-year lows.

UK 🇬🇧 fuel prices hit record.

Russian diesel exports to 🇪🇺 Europe declined by 8% in May to lowest since October 2020.

Natural gas🔥up almost 10% today!
LNG production in Qatar 🇶🇦 has fallen this year. Qatar exported less than 35 million tons of LNG from January to May—a loss of 1 million tons from the same period in 2021.

U.S. exports 🇺🇸 of liquefied natural gas remained close to record levels last month, at 7.29 million tons, or the second-highest since records of such exports began.

Switzerland’s 🇨🇭power supply remains uncertain for next winter. The higher power prices have been driven by the surge in natural gas, coal, and carbon prices.

The sanctions imposed by Russia against Gazprom 🇩🇪 Germania, could cost German gas customers and taxpayers an additional 5 billion euro ($5.4 billion) each year to purchase replacement gas.

Chairman of the African Union and Senegal's President Macky Sall has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that African countries are suffering from surging food prices.
The talks between Putin and Sall in Sochi, Russia, last Friday was focused on how to get stuck grain supplies moving again.

Today- Russian government plans to allow ships carrying grain supplies to leave the port of Odessa in Ukraine. The Russian leadership has agreed with Kyiv and Ankara on a scheme to release grain shipments from Odessa. "In the territorial waters of the neighboring country, Turkish military forces will take over the demining (mines placed by Ukrainian forces) and they will also escort the ships as far as neutral waters,". Russian warships would then escort the vessels carrying grain to the Bosporus.

Update to previous post:
Ukraine 🇺🇦 hasn’t participated 'directly' in the talks, according to an official there.
Ukrainian diplomat claims Putin cannot be trusted.
“By commenting in advance on reaching the deal, Russia 🇷🇺 is seeking to shift responsibility to Ukraine” for disrupting supplies, Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister, said in a text message. “But the fact remains that the food 🌾 crisis has been artificially created by Russia and Russia alone.”
Russia is also demanding the ability to inspect ships 🚢 going to Ukraine for weapons, a condition Kyiv has resisted.

Part II to Europe's rising social credit system.

The Dutch 🇳🇱 government intends to ban new fossil fuel boilers as of 2026, while introducing the mandatory use of heat pumps or connections to heat networks.

Created by a Polish startup 🇵🇱 called Walletmor. Walletmor’s implant allows a user to pay at any terminal that accepts wireless payments by placing her hand on device.

A major new survey by Thales shows that two out of three 🇪🇺 Europeans citizens are looking forward to the arrival of an EU-backed Digital ID Wallet for storing their ID card, driving licence and other official documents and signed attestations on a smartphone. By 2023, every EU member state must make a Digital Identity Wallet (EDIW) available to citizens and businesses.

Statistics Norway (SSB) 🇳🇴 a state-owned entity, has ordered Norway's major supermarket chains to share all their receipt data with the agency. Payment processor Nets said they share concern “about the collection and compilation of data that may be problematic and intrusive for the individual citizen.”

MasterCard 💳 is currently testing a technology that will only require you to just show your face at checkout. This new Biometric Checkout Program will allow any shopper to scan their face at checkout.

Italy 🇮🇹 is all set to become the first European country to implement a rewards-based program for citizens. It is meant to have an impact on people’s reactions to climate change. The residents will be assessed based on their level of compliance. The city administration of Bologna, Italy, is piloting the program in autumn of 2022.

Oil prices 🛢 steady for WTI @ $121 & Brent @ $123.
UAE 🇦🇪 Energy Minister warns of oil prices at unseen levels if Russian oil is taken off the market. Oil prices are far from the peak as China 🇨🇳 is now resuming normal operations.

Rising costs and sanctions on Russia 🇷🇺 have lowered the profitability of oil exports for Kazakhstan’s 🇰🇿 state oil and gas firm KazMunayGas, which has been forced to accept discounts on its crude being carried via the Russian pipeline network.

Ukraine 🇺🇦 is strategizing on how to increase the country’s electricity 💡exports from nuclear energy to boost foreign exchange earnings and make up for halting coal, natural gas and oil exports. Ukraine produces natural gas, crude oil and coal but domestic demand exceeds supply by approximately 35%.

Record UK 🇬🇧 gasoline prices see biggest daily surge in 17 years.

US 🇺🇸 gasoline prices have broken record after record despite crude prices not reaching all-time highs. The disconnect has been fueled by ultra-tight refining capacity. An increase in demand from China 🇨🇳 and the imminent start of the US driving season is only being countered by the gradual return of additional refining capacity. The four-week average for gasoline demand rose to 9 million barrels a day for the first time this year

EU Parliament 🇪🇺 voted to ban the sale of new combustion engine cars by 2035, 🚗 to be approved by the European Council.

Brazil - 🇧🇷 The glut of fertilizers piling up at the biggest Brazilian ports signals that the price of the nutrients has to drop further before farmers start buying. Fertilizer prices have eased modestly from all time highs. In Paranagua, private warehouses reached their maximum storage capacity of 3.5 million tons. the agriculture-heavy country and food-source for half the globe, imports nearly 85% of its fertilizer and Russia 🇷🇺 is the main origin.

During the first five months of 2022, Brazil has imported 16.5% more fertilizers compared to the same period in 2021. Importers front-loaded their fertilizer purchases earlier this year when it became apparent that Russia might invade Ukraine.

The U.S. military 🇺🇸 depends almost completely on China 🇨🇳 for the hard to mine 'metalloid element' antimony. Yesterday, the US House Armed Services Committee released draft legislation which would require a briefing on the antimony supply & a five-year outlook. The U.S. has no domestic mine ⛏. Antimony is used to produce night vision goggles, armor-piercing 🔫 bullets, explosives🧨 and nuclear weapons💣.

🇨🇳 China sits on reserves of over 145,000 tonnes. In 2nd is Canada 🇨🇦 with a mere 7,000 metric tonnes. Russia 🇷🇺 sits in 3rd with 6,500 metric tonnes.

Research continue into antimony's potential use in next-gen semiconductor processors. Antimony ingots (min. 99.65%) fob China presently trades at $13,000 USD/mt.

Antimony compounds are also used in the production of lead-acid battery 🔋plates, cable sheathing, solder, flame 🔥retardants, infrared detectors, computer 💻 and television 🖥 screen, semiconductors and microelectronics.

Climate change carbon credit shenanigans continue on hyperdrive. More taxation incoming in the midst of inflation. CBDC's will be the tool to enforce this.

❌ Australia's 🇦🇺NSW government will enter the booming carbon offset market with an ambitious new scheme inviting corporations to invest in the state’s conservation initiatives as a means to offset carbon emissions.

❌ Canada🇨🇦 launched a credit system for greenhouse gas offsets, with a set of rules stipulating how projects can generate tradeable credits by capturing gas from landfills.

❌ New Zealand 🇳🇿 released a draft plan to put a price on agricultural emissions in a bid to tackle greenhouse gases from belching sheep and cattle.

❌ UK - 🇬🇧 A consultation for a global standard to assess companies' claims about progress towards internal climate targets and their use of carbon offset credits is launched.
A mask that fits around the face of cattle and cuts methane emissions from their burps has won a £50,000 (€59,502) award backed by the British royal, Prince Charles.

❌USA, Los Angeles 🇺🇸 - 2019's ordinance for an all-out ban on gas stoves in new construction of buildings (both residential and commercial) continues through 2023.

Food Security update:
Drought in California, USA- Farmers face water restrictions, as 75% of water from Lake Mead goes to agriculture. Over a 1/3 of America's vegetables & 2/3 of its fruits and nuts are grown in California. 🇺🇸 Farmers land lie idle because they can't get enough water.

German 🇩🇪 Farmers’ Association warns of further food price hikes, citing energy costs as a major factor. Australia 🇦🇺 - Food processors warn high natural gas prices may shut them down & see food prices rise further.

The EU 🇪🇺 is expected to produce almost 5% less wheat this year compared with 2021 due to dry weather. France's 🇫🇷 (4th biggest wheat exporter) agricultural lands, had suffered severe storms, that damaged wheat fields earlier in the year.

UN blames Russia 🇷🇺 for future food catastrophe. (No mention of Central Banks QE/debt & low interest rates that caused inflation, covid lockdown policies that destroyed the supply chain, sanctions on Russia and Belarus that cut-off grains, energy & fertilizers to the world.)

Talks between Türkiye 🇹🇷 and Russia 🇷🇺 aimed at providing safe passage for Ukraine's 🇺🇦 harvest ended in failure. Ukraine's officials cite 'security' issues as reason for not agreeing to any conditions. No details was given on what is specifically meant by 'security'.
Russia's FM stressed that if Kiev is now ready to clear the shoreline of 💣 mines, Russia would be happy to cooperate and is even ready to provide written guarantees.

The Russian government planned to allow ships carrying grain 🌾 supplies to leave the port ⚓️ of Odessa in Ukraine. Turkish military forces would have taken over the demining (mines placed by Ukrainian forces) and they will also escort the ships 🚢 as far as neutral waters,". Russian warships would then escort the vessels carrying grain to the Bosporus. Ukraine accuses Russia of placing the mines. Turkey had issued warnings to ships over the mines.

Avian influenza (bird flu), or H5N1, is the suspected as cause of death for hundreds of northern gannet 🌊 seabirds in New Brunswick, 🇨🇦 Canada. Same reports of seabirds found dead coming from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.

Polk County, Oregon, USA 🇺🇸- Reports of bird flu in backyard flock of 🦆 duck and geese. USDA advises to keep domesticated backyard birds separated from wild birds. 🤔 Nearly 40 million birds have been culled/died in 36 states. Iowa hasn’t seen a new avian flu case 🐓 in more than a month. Cases in US winding down, similar to 2015 outbreak (Photo) Recovery will take some time as producers get the go-ahead to replenish their flocks.

Top US 🇺🇸 food processor Hormel, CEO warns "large supply gaps" for Jennie-O turkey 🦃 brand products due to bird-flu.

📌 Freeport LNG, operator of one of the largest US 🇺🇸 export plants producing liquefied natural gas (LNG), will shut for at least three weeks after Wednesday's explosion 🔥 at its Texas Gulf coast facility, raising the risk of gas shortages in Europe. The plant, which provides about 20% of US LNG processing, announced the shutdown after appraising damage to the massive facility.

📌 U.S. natural gas futures slid about 1% yesterday (@ $8.85/mmBTU level) on forecasts for less demand this week due in part to the shutdown at Freeport LNG, which freed up more fuel for utilities to inject into storage. Cooler weather from thunderstorms ⛈ also helped prevent peak power 🔋 demand from natural gas generators in Texas.