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Preparing for the Impending CBDC Crisis

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Throughout the pandemic, the federal government’s ongoing dictation of seemingly bad policies was an intentional effort to upend the normal everyday lives of millions of people.

As has been pointed out, it is not a conspiracy theory to believe that the central bank intends to control the spending behavior of people using central bank programmable software tokens instead of currency.

The general manager of the banking cartel explicitly announced it to an audience of other central bank leaders during their annual meeting in 2020.

The Bank of International Settlements is an organization owned by its members, the Central Banks of 63 member countries, and acts as a self regulator.

The BIS is creator and establisher of the rules for banks to operate in the global ecosystem of international trade. They also have control over the SWIFT banking network, foreign currency exchange and other major parts of the global economy.

During the group’s annual meeting in 2020, the General Manager of the organization explained to the audience how CBDC will give the central bank absolute control over the rules, regulations and policies that will dictate how money is used down to the transaction level.

During the recorded videoconference he discusses how CDBC technology will be used to force changes in spending behavior amongst consumers and enforce consumer spending policies on behalf of the government.

Last year, Biden signed Executive Order 14067 in order to advance development of CBDCs to skirt push forward without Congressional approval. As usually, there has been a total lack of accountability or transparency.

So far, Federal Reserve and US Treasury have been working in relative secrecy, publishing only a small amount of vague and high-level papers and studies with several quietly announced project trials in conjunction with notable large global banks. Most of the press releases have come during times when other stories were the major focus of the mainstream media, such as the collapse of FTX.

At least one bill has been drafted by Congress in an attempt to prevent the Federal Reserve from weaponizing CBDC against US citizens. However, the rollout of central bank digital currencies is likely to happen soon if and when the Biden administration can attach it to a banking crisis like the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

More recent announcements show that the Fed and Biden Admin intend to roll out a CBDC even without the authority of Congress.

In a speech to the Atlantic Council, Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance told the attendees that a CBDC Working Group consisting of policy makers from a variety of agencies is developing an initial set of findings and recommendations to support the Biden administrations agenda.

Make no mistake, the central banks have made it crystal clear that they are coming for your money and will tell you how you can spend it. The move into CBDC in lieu of traditional currency is a political power grab with the goal of having further control of your life.

Nigeria’s Failed Experiment

Initially, the Nigerian government tried several soft approaches to encourage the adoption of CBDC. These included financial incentives such as offering discounts to taxi drivers and passengers to encourage use and adoption. All of which failed.

The government quickly turned to coercive measures once it became clear that the people weren’t interested.

The largest measures include the introduction of a new currency and devaluing the old currency along with adding restriction on cash withdrawals throughout the country. The plan included the issuance of new currency notes, but only enough to cover 85% of the current naira while promoting cashless transactions by limiting the use of cash for businesses.

Beyond banknote swap, the banking regulators placed policy restrictions limiting cash withdrawals from banks and ATMs to reduce the amount of cash in circulation. With limits of $225 on individuals and $1,110 on businesses to force CBDC adoption.

Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele said, “The destination, as far as I am concerned, is to achieve a 100% cashless economy in Nigeria.”

The central bank began devaluing in the months before the switch while removing old notes from circulation leaving millions of Nigerians with no money or food.

Nigerians have violently rejected the new digital currency and cash restrictions as protests and riots have broken out outside of banks and spread throughout the country.

The war on cash and some form of crisis will bring on the introduction of CBDCs.

Precious Metals Stacking for CBDC Insurance

Gold and silver are the oldest and most trusted form of money. With all of the uncertainty in the economy, gold is safe haven from fiat and digital currency tokens.

Investing some of your cash in buying physical gold and silver bullion can help keep you in control of your financial future.

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Transitioning to Gold Backed Digital Currencies for Trade Settlements

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The push toward dedollarization that began after the 2008 financial crisis has taken hold in recent years.

Many central bank are preparing for the elimination of the dollar from international trade settlements in favor of local currencies and are preparing by stocking up on gold and other commodities.

Development of the BRICS+ basket currency began more than ten years, with reforming the global finance system at the top of the plan.

The EuroAsia alliance and the push for the Moscow World Standard, a gold market that is outside of the manipulation from the corrupt Western banking elite is seen as a key driver for adoption of a basket currency.

This week, the Iraqi central bank announced they are dropping the dollar and switching to the Yuan for their trade with China after the US Treasury forced stricter SWIFT transfer rules last year.

While the intent of the tighter rules was to curtail money laundering and to prevent the siphoning of dollars to heavily sanctioned countries. It is yet another political move that appears to have backfired.

Jamie Dimon seems to have lost faith in the Federal Reserve. During a recent interview with CNBC, the JP Morgan Chase CEO said that he believes the Fed has lost control of inflation, while suggesting that it is still possible to have a “soft landing” of the economy.

While the stock market appears to be having a fragile recovery since the market bottom at the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns, the housing market has completely collapsed in record time.

As the rest of the world begins to transition to a gold-backed CBDC for international trade, the risk of out of control inflation to continue remains high and the chances of a soft landing for the economy is increasingly low.

The Federal Reserve has been piloting a number of different CBDC projects in recent months while recent legislation in Congress has been introduced to restrict the central bank from issuing any digital currencies to individuals.

In the long term, gold and silver preserve wealth and spending power while central bankers devalue fiat currency.

Even if the Fed is able to reduce inflation without destroying other sectors of the economy, the long term goal is to devalue the dollar by 2% annually with the inflation targets.

The global economy is shifting back towards some form of a gold standard. Everyone should be buying some physical gold and silver to have at home or in a secure location to be prepared for whatever happens this year.

The US Treasury continues to hold the largest gold bullion reserves. The January 31 report from shows 258,641,878.085 troy ounces, or roughly 8082.56 tons. According to some reports, 2,665 tons seized from citizens by FDR during the depression.

Storing physical gold and silver at home alongside firearms and other valuables is more common than you might think. If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it. Physical metals avoids counter-party risk.

Last year, the US Mint sold 980,000 troy ounces of gold eagle coins, a substantial drop from the 1,252,500 ounces that were sold in 2021.

Though 2022 saw an increase in sales of US Mint Gold Buffalo coins by nearly 60,000 troy ounces which shows that some gold bugs have been turning to .9999 fine gold.

Premiums on current year 1 oz Gold Eagle coins have fallen with online dealer premiums as low as 4.6% of gold spot price, and premiums on random year 1 oz Gold Buffalos are slightly higher from 5.14%.

Gold Eagles are minted from a 90% pure gold that is alloyed with small amounts of copper and silver. The addition of silver helps to gives these coins their unique color and luster.

Gold Buffalos are minted from .9999 pure 24k gold. The coins are beautifully sculpted and minted from gold that is refined from US mines.

Both coins each contain one troy ounce of pure gold.

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Gold Price Spikes to 6 Month High at Start of Year

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The spot gold price futures hit a six month high at the start of the year.

Rising expectations of a recession and a general decline in stocks and crypto have led to growing demand from central banks and investors.

Analysts from CNBC are anticipating precious metals price will rise, calling this year the “new secular bull market.”

Central banks bought record numbers of gold in the final quarter of 2022. Led by China reporting purchases of more than 300 tons of gold bars.

CNBC analyst Juerg Kiener, managing director and chief investment officer at Swiss Asia Capital, said last month that the current market conditions mirror those of 2001 and 2008.

“It is not going to be just 10 or 20%, I think I’m looking at a move which will really make new highs”.

Using data available from CME Group, analysts from FX Street see rising interest in the futures markets. The number of open interests in gold futures rose by more than 8k contracts for the third day in a row.

Miners are expecting bullish returns in 2023 as they expect the gold prices to catch up with inflation.

The Fed’s decision to hike interest rates higher and more frequently and in such reactionary manner despite experts predicting dire consequences.

Long time gold bug, Robert Kiyosaki is predicting that gold prices can reach $3,800 an ounce this year.

He’s also bullish on other metals, predicting that we will see silver prices will rise to $75 per ounce this year in a recent Tweet.

Dealer premiums on 1 oz gold bars have drop to as low as 2% in recent weeks.

Now is a great time for retail precious metals investors. Premiums on 100 oz silver bars have recently dropped as low as $1.49 per ounce over spot. This is similar to the premiums when shopping from online bullion dealers prior to the pandemic.

The FOMC committee is meeting. Powell’s remarks following the meeting in December indicate that the Fed is going to continue rate hikes this year, albeit at a slower pace. Today’s announcement is expected after 2:00.

Update:

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) is responsible for managing the key interest rates that drive the economy.

In December the Fed announced their decision to continue the aggressive rate hikes.

The meeting minutes that were released today provide some guidance on the Fed’s plans for 2023.

The Fed is expected to continue to raise interest rates this year as it attempt to reduce the rate of inflation towards a target of 2%. Albeit with smaller incremental increases.

Recent CPI data shows that prices suggests that inflation has slows to around 7.1%, down slightly from 7.7%.

Yet, egg prices have climbed more than 49% in recent months. Some videos circulating on social media show egg prices in some NYC stores approaching $10 per dozen.

It’s expected that prices of basic essentials are expected to continue to rise as the impact of the rate hikes start to ripple across the economy.

Spot gold price held onto some earlier gains, silver prices are down slightly on the news.

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New Global Gold Standard Emerging from Recession

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The dollar emerged as a reserve currency following World War II as part of the Bretton Woods Accord. This was due to the United States having the largest gold reserves at the time. Bretton Woods provided fixed gold prices that was pegged to the USD making it the central spoke for trade.

NPR did a report in 2019 that gives some history on the Bretton Woods agreement, the development of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund or other organizations involved in evangelizing the use of the dollar in international trade.

More About Bretton Woods

In 1971, economic conditions were not entirely different than they are today. At the time, the economy was suffering from a relatively high rate of inflation, the ongoing war in Vietnam led to significant budget deficit and mounting debt, and there had been a longstanding decline in the U.S. monetary gold stock, and a recent, sharp rise in external dollar liabilities held by central banks.

Corruption in government had also reached a tipping point which later led to Watergate, the Church Committee and other investigations.

In August of 1971, Nixon held a top-secret meeting at Camp David with his top financial and economic advisors that included the likes of Arthur Burns, John Connally, Paul Volker and others.

Together they created a strategy for a controversial policy that removed the dollar from the gold standard which disrupted the global economy.

Long term, the decision to remove the dollar from the gold standard led to a decline in central bank holdings that reached the lowest point around 2010.

Since the financial crisis in 2008, Central Banks have been following the lead of BRICS nations and continued their gold buying streak in 2022. Globally, central bank holdings have now reached their highest point since 1974.

The Biden Administration faces additional problems today that didn’t exist in 2008.

Russia began exchanging rubles for gold and requiring foreign nations to pay for gas and oil in rubles to flout US sanctions. Some of this has been factored into gold prices this year.

Recent news of Qatargate involving the arrests of several prominent members of the European Parliament is more evidence of the corruption ingrained in the dollarized financial system.

Although the origins of Bitcoin remain up for debate, the original cryptocurrency also developed in response to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis that resulted from the US recession.

Cryptocurrency ledgers provide a shared and public transaction record that could provide central banks with more transparency.

However, the adoption of CBDC as proposed by the G7 as a programmable currency is fraught with controversy. Much of this causes confusion with consumers who are already struggling with mass adoption of crypto.

The recent crash of the FTX crypto exchange highlights significant issues of corruption within the current system that continues to spread to other sectors of the economy. plus the evidence of the emergence of a global BRICS currency backed by the combined gold reserves of member nations are just two of the additional challenges.

Discussions of a BRICS mixed basket currency began to emerge following the global financial crisis in 2008. Which was triggered by lax lending standards, record amounts of consumer debt and other factors that fueled the first housing bubble.

BRICS countries have been in discussion to establishment of a new digital reserve currency that is a mix of member countries.

The BRICS reserve basket currency allows member nations to engage in trade bypassing the USD. The strength of their local currency will help to strengthen their influence in the basket.

Some economist see this as a real threat to the dollar as a global reserve currency, thus reducing the demand for dollars worldwide.

On a macro level many of these things are seen as good indicators of strong demand and long term upward movement in gold prices.



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NY Federal reserve launches CBDC “trial” on the heels of FTX collapse

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central bank digital currency

Several weeks ago, the New York Federal Reserve quietly launched a 12 week long trial of a CBDC “digital dollar” pilot program in partnership with global banking giants like Citigroup Inc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Mastercard Inc and Wells Fargo & Co.

The NYFR describes the project as an attempt to test the feasibility of using blockchain tokens and distributed ledger technology as a mechanism for settlement of liabilities.

This is one of many software and technology projects that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been developing through their New York Innovation Center.

The Biden administration has been attempting to take control over the digital assets markets through a combination of Executive Orders and enforcement with the hiring of 70,000 new IRS agents.

On March 9, 2022, Biden signed Executive Order 14143, titled “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets”.

Government agencies have been funding research projects at private institutions aimed at implementing a fully programmable digital currency such as those endorsed by the G7 and World Economic Forum (WEF).

What is the Federal Reserve New York Innovation Center?
The Federal Reserve Innovation Center is a group within the bank who’s mission is to collaborate on technology research, experimentation and prototyping with banking regulators, the banking industry, academia and international central banks, the Federal Reserve System, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub, academia, and the private sector through technical research, experimentation, and prototyping.

The team is chartered to generated insights into high-value central bank-related opportunities, enabling stakeholders and the central bank community to enhance the functioning of the global financial system.

Much of the G7 are following recommendations for CBDC systems endorsed by the WEF that are designed to be centrally controllable and programmable which is the opposite of having a decentralized blockchain.

Back in 2019, the General Manager of the International Bank of Settlements openly spoke about their intent to use CBDC to control which products citizens will be allowed to spend their digital dollars.

The Federal Reserve New York Innovation Center is likely following suggestions endorsed and suggested by the WEF, IBS, G7 and other organizations that have no absolutely no legal authority over the US economy or any other economy.

According to data provided by CBDCTracker.org, more than 60 countries are currently researching or launching pilot programs using CDBC blockchain ledger technology.

Many of the political rank and file in Congress reportedly received donations from FTX and affiliated crypto organizations in the run up to the mid-term elections.


Republicans in Congress have already announced their intent to hold hearings on the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange and into influence peddling by the White House.

In the current bankruptcy petition, the company discloses that it owes its top 50 creditors a total of $3.1 billion dollars but has yet to publicly disclose the list of names.

Shortly after signing EO 14143, former US President Bill Clinton and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair were both guest speakers at the Crypto Bahamas Conference.


Private Gold Ownership in the United States

During the pandemic the US Mint sold more ounces of gold, silver and platinum coins than ever before.

As a result of the pandemic, private ownership of gold and silver is now the highest it has been since Roosevelt confiscated gold in 1933.

Looking at only cumulative bullion sales of the American Gold Eagle coin series, the US Mint has sold roughly 45.5 million troy ounces of gold eagles from 1986 until 2021.

So far in 2022, it’s reported that the US Mint has sold roughly 976,000 ounces of gold coins as of November.

There have been a variety of problems reported by the US Mint in recent years related to supply chain and planchets that have effected the production of both Gold and Silver bullion coins.

Many investors have been fleeing from the stock and crypto markets due to ongoing inflation, mass layoffs, rising interest rates and fears of a recession or worse. Millions of Americans continue to lose faith in the US economy as millions face layoffs the war in Ukraine drags on without any end in sight.

Buyers demand low premiums on gold and silver. Investors, preppers and many every day Americans continue to search for a safe haven investment as some lobby for a return to a gold-standard economy.

As of March 5 2021, the US Mint stores 147.3 million troy ounces of gold at Fort Knox, down from the highest highest historic gold holdings of 649.6 million ounces in December 31, 1941.

According to the US Mint more than 512.3 million troy ounces of gold has been removed from the Fort Knox Gold Repository since 1941.

According to weekly published reports by the Federal Reserve, roughly 20 million troy ounces is stored in the New York Federal Reserve system.

Monthly Gold Report data provided by the Department of Treasury shows 261,498,926.2 million troy ounces in their inventory, with roughly 147.6 million ounces being held in Fort Knox, 43.8 million in Denver, CO and 54.0 million in West Point, NY. The DoT reports gold holdings at the Federal Reserve to be around 13.5 million ounces.

Between 1941 and 2022, the Department of Treasury seems to have a discrepancy of roughly 388 million troy ounces of gold.

Maybe someone should be asking where did all the gold that was removed from Fort Knox go?

Blockchain Backed Gold Ownership

Many central banks that increased their gold holdings during the pandemic, including Russia, China and other BRICS nations are experimenting with blockchain technology and how it may be able to help their economy.

Bitcoin and other decentralized blockchain technologies are a perfect use case to establish trust amongst sovereign central banks and in developing and emerging nations to validate their gold, other precious metals and minerals holdings to allow for fair participation in world trade and wealth building.

The first mined Bitcoin’s Genesis block contains an encrypted message attached to the blockchain that reads, “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” 

Cryptocurrency technology was created in response to the crash of the financial markets in 2008.

The purpose behind the bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain movements have evolved over the last decade.

Most importantly, these technologies can enable trust for the banking and financial system that has been plagued by corruption and mistrust since Roosevelt helped the bankers at the Federal Reserve steal the gold from the American public in 1933.

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Weekly Precious Metals News and Gold Prices

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Gold, Silver and Platinum began trading higher in the lead up to the midterm elections.

There continues to be controversy surrounding the counting of votes in some states and precincts. Most mainstream media outlets have confirmed that the balance of power in the House of Representatives will shift across the aisle to the Republican party.

Gold prices surged leading into the midterm elections resulting from the state of the economy and the Biden administrations ongoing support for the war in the Ukraine.

Millions of Americans were already facing difficult economic times resulting from the lasting effects of problems caused by forced shutdowns and additional failed government policies during the pandemic.

The Biden Administration’s handling of the pandemic response is one of the leading factors that the mainstream media has blamed for the shift in control of congress to the Republican party following tabulation of election results.

The Federal Reserve and the Treasury continue their strategy of increasing interest rates in an attempt to bring down the rate of inflation.

Global commodities markets, particularly those involved in the trading of precious metals such as gold and silver, and those involved in petroleum, oil and natural gas, have been a lot of unexpected price swings and short selling as traders look for opportunities among the market chaos.

The latest CPI from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that inflation and stagnant wage growth are two of the biggest ongoing problem for most working Americans.

October 2022 data released last week shows that all items index prices increased more than 7.7%, with the sharpest increases in food, housing, gasoline and fuel oil.

The price of fuel oil has surged to the highest peak since the 2008 Housing Crisis, leaving millions of underpaid Americans with concerns about how to pay for heat this winter.

The problems for the US economy continue to get worse as major companies announce mass layoffs to reduce their employee headcounts now that the midterm elections have been completed.

Crime continues to surge in major cities, particularly in States that are heavily controlled and governed by Democrats with growing homeless encampments and criminal gangs looking to exploit opportunities.

Bitcoin and crypto investors are beginning to realize that the current fiat based system that has been led by the Federal Reserve is not likely to provide the stimulus needed to bring about a full economic recovery in the short-term.
Many leading industry experts and executives have suggested that Blockchain technology can be implemented to assist central bankers with international trade and other economic growth with the support and agreement of foreign trade organizations that are backed by precious metals, particularly gold.

Representatives from countries that belong to the G20 are meeting this week in Indonesia to layout a strategy for global economic recovery.

Industry observers expect that many of the G7 countries will promote the use of CBDC as a mechanism to control the flow of digital and crypto currency between nations as a leading solution to the problems with the fiat and global credit system. https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-11-08/Gold-price-soars-on-short-covering-bargain-hunting-crypto-rumors.html

Financial experts continue to warn that the fallout from the FTX fiasco is likely to be bigger than the housing bubble and collapse that proceeded the recession and financial crisis that began in 2008

The collapse of FTX and the founder being investigated for related financial and election related crimes is beginning to shed some light on further corruption by government officials in the United States and Ukraine, with millions of dollars of military aid suspected of being laundered through various crypto exchanges being donated to hundreds of Democrat candidates and Soros funded lobbying organizations throughout the country.

Over the last few years central government banks have been adding tons of gold bars to their vaults while attempting to repatriate additional gold stored in foreign vaults. https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-11-08/Silver-holdings-in-London-vaults-drop-to-record-lows.html

Venezuela, which has had much of their gold reserves stored in vaults in the UK, United States and Canada, has been attempting to repatriate their gold bars since the Presidency of Hugo Chavez.

In 2012, Venezuela was able to repatriate some gold reserves, valued at roughly $9 billion at the time. Attempts to move an additional 14 tons of gold reserves in 2018 were refused by government officials in the United States due to economic sanctions against the Maduro presidency which continues to cause economic harm to millions of Venezuelans seeking asylum.

Global demand for gold and silver is stronger than ever, especially in Asia where gold is viewed as a store of family wealth.

The Perth Mint of Australia continues a record breaking year, with exports and sales of gold coins reportedly shipping more than 183,000 troy ounces of gold in October.

Random Year Canadian Maple Leaf 1 oz Silver Coins – available from Silver Gold Bull and other dealers from $30.29 per troy ounce.

The best price for Random Year Silver Eagle coins this week can be found on eBay.

Fractional gold bars maintain their popularity and intrinsic value with investors and stackers searching for some economic security. The most savvy investors use the Closest to Spot tools to find the best prices on fractional gold bars in sizes that range from 1 gram to 20 grams.

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Federal Reserve Votes to Raise Key Interest Rate .75%

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As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee hiked the benchmark interest rate by 3/4 of a percentage point at the end of their two day meeting.

Ongoing failed attempts by the Biden administration and Congress to get worries about the economy and a recession out of the minds of voters leading into the mid-term elections are failing miserably as prices of everyday basics continue to soar for many already living paycheck to paycheck. 

Industry leaders, including JP Morgan Chase CEO are predicting the economy may take a turn worse than a recession. Mass layoffs have already been announced at many large companies across a variety of industries.

Despite economic sanctions against Russia by the LBMA, world leaders from Brazil, India and other mineral rich developing nations are looking towards the Moscow World Standard as an alternative precious metals exchange. 

In response the economic sanctions, Russia took steps to back the ruble with gold earlier this year. Leaders of developing nations are seeing how returning to a gold-standard economy may help deflect repercussions of the recession and other issues facing the US and Europe.

Key Points

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Top CEOs Issue Warning to Prepare to a Recession

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Top CEO’s of major global companies including JP Morgan, FedEx and others are sounding alarm bells as a warning to investors and shareholders of the tsunami of financial woes ahead.

Shares of FedEx sunk more than 20% following an announcement to expect lower earnings combined with a bleak forecast of a softening of global shipping volume.

During a recent CNBC appearance, FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam warned that the global economy may be entering into a worldwide recession.

A similar message came this week from the World Bank discussing some of the risks of a global recession occurring in 2023 with suggestions for policy changes to assist Central Banks.

CEOs, economists and bankers continue focusing on infinitesimal changes to key interest rates and macro-level KPIs to determine the direction of the economy while many have already been facing economic hardship brought on by the pandemic lockdowns, job losses and the failed economic policies of the myriad of career politicians in Washington, D.C.

Many hardworking Americans already live paycheck to paycheck. And many are already struggling with with inflation and huge increases in the price of groceries and gas.

With more than 42% of Americans having less than $1,000 in savings and another 10% with no savings at all, more than half of all households are at serious risk of facing significant financial hardship in the event of a job loss.

Across many metropolitan areas have risen drastically in recent years and recent reports from the Fed show the level of total household debt has reached more than $16 trillion, with sharp increases in mortgage, auto loans, and credit card balances.

Prepare For Financial Hardship with Silver Bars

In 1929, the key interest rate from the Federal Reserve was lowered to 6% in a failed attempt to boost the economy.

While the recent decade is in some ways reflective of what occurred leading up to the Great Depression, today’s circumstances have even the illustrious leader of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, making starker suggestions that there’s potential for something worse than a recession coming, leading some media to suggest consumers prepare for very difficult economic times ahead.

Growing up during the Great Depression ingrained a generation with being frugal, the value of hard work, advancing through determination, and putting away savings in the form of hard money like gold and silver coins.
Roosevelts Executive Order 6102 that seized the gold from the economy was one of the efforts that helped recoup some of the debt brought on by the rampant spending and consumer debt that led to the Wall Street crash that began in September of 1929.

The themes of money, capitalism and corporate greed that caused the Joad’s tragedy and hardship in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, have analogous comparisons for many families that are already struggling in the aftermath of pandemic.

The rampant spending from long-term career politicians in Washington has been another contributing factors leading to more than 1 million people exiting the Democratic Party and registering to vote Republican this year as voters have lost faith in the long-term bureaucratic swamp in Washington.

Lessons taught by the generations that lived through the great depression are valuable today. Using precious metals as a alternative to a savings account at a bank has become a popular way for many people to have some extra financial security.

Having even a small stack of silver or gold stored at home can provide a financial cushion to soften the blow when unexpected expenses pop up.

Prior to the pandemic there were a variety of low premium and offers from various online bullion dealers to buy silver and spot price.

With supply chain issues continuing to keep premiums higher than they had been in the past, it is still possible to find deals to buy both gold and silver at low premiums.

Some of the best values are typically found in larger sized generic silver bars such as 100 oz silver bars, 10 oz silver bars and silver kilos for those looking to maximize lower premiums.

Other sizes of silver bars, such as those weighing 1 troy ounce or 5 ounce silver bars will have higher per ounce premiums because the cost to manufacturer bars is similar regardless of the size of the bar.

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Numerous Criminal Convictions Proves Precious Metals Price Manipulation

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As controversy and scandal continues to plague the LBMA and banks affiliated with the bullion trading cartel, the Eurasian Alliance is pushing for the creation of a new bullion trading system that offers a new pricing infrastructure to help facilitate emerging markets.

The most recent scandal at the LBMA includes the criminal conviction of former Board Member and JP Morgan Chase Managing Director Michael Nowak.

JP Morgan Chase is one of the largest private custodians of gold and other precious metals in the world for both private investors and many governments.

In managed vaults located in London, New York and Singapore, the bank reportedly holds gold valued in the tens of billions of dollars. (Bloomberg)

In 2020, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, JP Morgan Chase entered into an agreement with the government that they operated two distinct schemes of fraud.

The first fraud scheme that JP Morgan Chase admitted to operating involved tens of thousands of documented futures trades for silver and gold contracts across the various markets that JP Morgan Chase participated in.

The second fraud scheme involved thousands of instances of unlawful trading in the markets for U.S. Treasury futures contracts and in the secondary (cash) market for U.S. Treasury notes and bonds.

JP Morgan Chase paid a record fine of close to one billion dollars to the SEC to settle the case. Criminal charges were brought separately against numerous executives and directors, including Nowak, which led to his resignation as an LBMA Board Member.

During the criminal trial, prosecutors proved that Nowak, along with a group of other senior executive within the precious metals trading desk routinely spoofed orders and manipulated the prices of commodities across global trading markets. (BullionStar)

Nowak helped to provide the bank with significant profits by spoofing precious metals trades along with a handful of other senior executives who have also been convicted, pled guilty or are still awaiting trial.

Several investigations into the Precious Metals Trading Desk that began during the previous decade failed to find any wrongdoing at the time leading to some speculation about corruption within the ranks of the SEC and other regulatory agencies responsible for oversight of trading practices.

Since the year 2000, JP Morgan Chase has paid more than $36 billion in fines for violating banking laws in the United States. (GoodJobsFirst)

In recent years, JP Morgan Chase has admitted to being a criminal enterprise which has bilked millions from investors and governments by manipulating the prices of both commodities and US Treasury Bonds.

A similar spoofing ring was also operating at Deutsche Bank from at least 2007 until 2015 which resulted in criminal convictions and prison sentences for several. (Justice.gov)

Executives from Bank of America / Merrill Lynch were recently convicted in a separate spoofing scheme that operated from at least 2008 until 2014.

Numerous other traders and executives from various investment banks have pled guilty to similar charges related to manipulating the prices of gold, silver and platinum since 2015.

While numerous key individuals have been brought to justice, the leaders of these organizations continue to be rewarded with gigantic bonuses for operating criminal enterprises that helped to manipulate the world economy into a recession.

These are just a few examples of how widespread the corruption that has become integrated into the corporate bureaucracy that helps to justify the creation of an alternative market for precious metals.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Finance from Russia forwarded a proposed new international standard for the precious metals market that would normalize the functioning of the industry.

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Beginning the Dollar Debasement in the mid-20th century

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Bag full of Junk Silver Quarters

After the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, the US economy continued a slow debasement that coincided with the introduction of fiat paper currency. After the gold confiscation in 1933 by Roosevelt, the amount of currency in circulation began to increase exponentially.

According to data from the St Louis Fed, the amount of USD circulating during the 1920s remained steady at around $4.5 billion. During the 1930s, the number of dollars in circulation began to steadily increase, before skyrocketing during World War II to over $27 billion.

Prior to 1965, most of the coins that circulated throughout the United States were minted from an alloy of .900 pure fine silver. Historically, this alloy is known as “coin silver” and it was regularly found in colonial America for use in utensils, serving ware and other household items. In 1837, the US Mint began to issue various denominations in a 90% silver alloy.

Today, it’s difficult to believe and even harder to quantify that billions of silver coins were minted on behalf of the Treasury and circulating throughout the economy prior to the debasement of the dollar during the 20th century.

Junk silver is the simple term given to circulated silver coins from this era that have little to no numismatic value to collectors. These coins maintain their intrinsic value due to their silver content.

Circulated 90% silver coins can be purchased at most local coin shops, pawn brokers and some antique stores. Investors looking for the lowest premiums on junk silver are stacking large quantities of circulated coins. It’s not junk at all and is very easy to identify and authenticate with some basic information.

Despite these coins being readily available from local suppliers, still the most popular option is to make regular purchases from the lowest priced online bullion dealers and having bags of coins shipped directly to your door or stash location.

Coinage Act of 1965

Debasement continued on June 3, 1965, when Lyndon Johnson sent a special message to Congress requesting immediate legislation to remove silver from dime, quarter coins and to reduce the silver content in half-dollar coins.

The Coinage Act of 1965 was introduced by Senator Absalom Robertson, a Democrat from Virginia who staunchly opposed Civil Rights. He was also the father of televangelist Pat Robertson.

The composition of the half-dollar coin was reduced to 40% and a new coin was designed around a structure core, encapsulated by a silver alloy cladding.

The core alloy at the center of the coin would be minted of an alloy containing 21% silver mixed with base metal. The surrounding face cladding of the coin would be minted with an alloy containing 80% silver for a smooth and durable finish that could better withstand wear and tear that occurs with circulation.

This legislation helped to keep the silver prices artificially low by eliminating the use of silver in circulating coinage and dumping additional silver onto the market. The era of this price manipulation continued until silver hit a low of $12.08 in May 1967. Within one year, the price of silver has rise to $21.67 an ounce.

The Coinage Act of 1965 transferred millions of tons of silver from the US economy into industry.

At the time, silver was being consumed in mass amount by technological advances in photographic film on both the consumer level and in medical and industrial imaging. As the industrial consumption of silver continued to grow, so did silver prices.

During this period, Kodak had become an important innovator of photographic films and other imaging technologies. These advancements led to the mass consumer adoption of cameras and photography, in addition to be used by the military and intelligence agencies.

Photographic and X-Ray films included silver halide grains and crystals sandwiched in an acetate film. The more time that silver halide crystals are exposed to light, a chemical reaction occurs that creates the dark shades and contrasting shadows that are made from the familiar black and white film.

Under the leadership of William Vaughn, Kodak invented and manufactured high-resolution, grain-dense photographic films for CIA that were used in imaging systems like those in the SR-71 Blackbird, U2 spy planes, and other aerial intelligence aircraft that were used during the Cold War. The use of film in reconnaissance activity until the advancement of digital satellite imaging.

Silver is also consumed by medical devices and button-sized and smaller batteries were invented for use in things like hearing aids and other common assistive medical devices.