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All About the Big El Salvador Crypto Announcement

The El Salvador crypto adoption could shake up the markets. It’s also likely to result in increased adoption and big advantages for Salvadorans.
The post All About the Big El Salvador Crypto Announcement appeared first on Investment U.

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The El Salvador crypto announcement was certainly one of the bigger news items to come out of the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami. The statement came directly from the mouth of the Central American country’s leader, President Nayib Bukele via a recorded message. The announcement – the first of its kind – could result in a major shakeup in the global financial system.

In short, President Bukele announced that his country was in the process of accepting Bitcoin as legal tender. The move will be made in an effort to “design a country for the future,” the president stated. The message was a bit of a shocker… even coming from a young president known to buck the status quo.

However, this decision wasn’t borne simply from a passion for futurism. The El Salvador crypto announcement was delivered alongside some interesting plans as well as a promise to offer immediate permanent residence to crypto entrepreneurs…

In the short term this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy and in the medium and long term we hope that this small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny bit into the right direction.

And for many of his countrymen, the president’s decision could result in a massive groundswell of Bitcoin adoption as well as a substantial increase in spending power. Here’s how this could shake out…

How the El Salvador Crypto Adoption Will Shake Things Up

First off, President Bukele has a healthy 90% approval rating. This matters because it suggests his people trust and believe in him. So, when the bill is pushed through Congress, it could lead to a massive surge in awareness of Bitcoin in El Salvador… If not outright adoption. Because as it stands, El Salvador’s economy isn’t exactly going gangbusters.

El Salvador replaced the colón with the U.S. dollar back in 2001. It was a decision that proved worthwhile for the better part of two decades. But as the Federal Reserve has considerably increased the supply of U.S. dollars in circulation to quell the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been negative consequences for other countries… including El Salvador.

From February 2020 to May 2021, the amount of U.S. dollars in circulation has gone up a massive 32%. The money has done well to bolster up domestic financial institutions. However, El Salvadoran banks didn’t receive the same injections of cash. This has led to a decrease in purchasing power for those relying on dollars abroad. And that’s what led to President Bukele’s statement that the actions of central banks are harming economic stability in El Salvador. He’s not wrong. Even if that’s not an intended impact of the central banks’ efforts to infuse cash into the economy.

And that’s why the El Salvador crypto announcement makes so much sense. But not just as a safeguard against a deflating U.S. dollar. It can also have a tremendous impact on the remittance industry. Here’s why…

Bitcoin Bucks Against the Big Banks

To understand what kind of implications a move towards Bitcoin could have for El Salvador, we asked crypto expert Andy Snyder about his take on the news. Not only does he think this is a big deal for the crypto community. He also thinks it’s a big deal for the people of El Salvador.

It’s a huge first step, especially because nearly 20% of the country’s GDP is derived from money earned outside of its borders – largely in the U.S.
These remittances spell big money for big banks that charge 10% or more to transfer the money internationally. What’s worse is 70% of folks in El Salvador do not have bank accounts. Bitcoin is the solution they need.

It’s true. Roughly $6 billion are transferred via remittances to people in El Salvador. Countrywide adoption of Bitcoin could result in as many as 10 million new users (from both in El Salvador and out). And all of the sudden, as much as $600 million could be saved in fees and put directly into the El Salvadoran economy.

This is the kind of competition that greenback backers feared most from crypto. But the El Salvador crypto push looks to make a lot of sense for the people of El Salvador. As a case study, it will be interesting to see how this works out for the country… And also what kind of impact it will have on the crypto markets as a whole when it goes into effect. Bitcoin and its brethren have been on a bearish run for a bit now. But 10 million new users could result in a massive infusion of cash that will push up the value of Bitcoin. And quite possibly the crypto market as a whole.

The Bottom Line on the El Salvador Crypto Announcement

This is big news for several reasons. Not the least of which is how an El Salvador crypto adoption could shake up the remittance industry. And how that could lead to an additional $600 million in spending power.

This is also intriguing because it’s the exact opposite tract some countries like India and China are taking. Instead of banning Bitcoin and developing a digital currency of its own, El Salvador has taken the path of least resistance. And it’s proof that the U.S. dollar has competition on its hands in the form of Bitcoin.

If you’d like to stay on top of the latest crypto news, we suggest signing up for Andy Snyder’s free e-letter, Manward Financial Digest. In it, Andy uncovers the latest disruptive trends in cryptocurrencies as well as sharing all of the latest investment opportunities he’s uncovered. All you have to do is enter your email address in the box below.

The post All About the Big El Salvador Crypto Announcement appeared first on Investment U.

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Moderna turns the spotlight on long Covid with new initiatives

Moderna’s latest Covid effort addresses the often-overlooked chronic condition of long Covid — and encourages vaccination to reduce risks. A digital…

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March 15, 2024

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Moderna’s latest Covid effort addresses the often-overlooked chronic condition of long Covid — and encourages vaccination to reduce risks. A digital campaign debuted Friday along with a co-sponsored event in Detroit offering free CT scans, which will also be used in ongoing long Covid research.

In a new video, a young woman describes her three-year battle with long Covid, which includes losing her job, coping with multiple debilitating symptoms and dealing with the negative effects on her family. She ends by saying, “The only way to prevent long Covid is to not get Covid” along with an on-screen message about where to find Covid-19 vaccines through the vaccines.gov website.

Kate Cronin

“Last season we saw people would get a flu shot, but they didn’t always get a Covid shot,” said Moderna’s Chief Brand Officer Kate Cronin. “People should get their flu shot, but they should also get their Covid shot. There’s no risk of long flu, but there is the risk of long-term effects of Covid.”

It’s Moderna’s “first effort to really sound the alarm,” she said, and the debut coincides with the second annual Long Covid Awareness Day.

An estimated 17.6 million Americans are living with long Covid, according to the latest CDC data. About four million of them are out of work because of the condition, resulting in an estimated $170 billion in lost wages.

While HHS anted up $45 million in grants last year to expand long Covid support initiatives along with public health campaigns, the condition is still often ignored and underfunded.

“It’s not just about the initial infection of Covid, but also if you get it multiple times, your risks goes up significantly,” Cronin said. “It’s important that people understand that.”

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Consequences Minus Truth

Consequences Minus Truth

Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

“People crave trust in others, because God is found there.”

-…

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March 15, 2024

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Consequences Minus Truth

Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

“People crave trust in others, because God is found there.”

- Dom de Bailleul

The rewards of civilization have come to seem rather trashy in these bleak days of late empire; so, why even bother pretending to be civilized? This appears to be the ethos driving our politics and culture now. But driving us where? Why, to a spectacular sort of crack-up, and at warp speed, compared to the more leisurely breakdown of past societies that arrived at a similar inflection point where Murphy’s Law replaced the rule of law.

The US Military Academy at West point decided to “upgrade” its mission statement this week by deleting the phrase Duty, Honor, Country that summarized its essential moral orientation. They replaced it with an oblique reference to “Army Values,” without spelling out what these values are, exactly, which could range from “embrace the suck” to “charlie foxtrot” to “FUBAR” — all neatly applicable to our country’s current state of perplexity and dread.

Are you feeling more confident that the US military can competently defend our country? Probably more like the opposite, because the manipulation of language is being used deliberately to turn our country inside-out and upside-down. At this point we probably could not successfully pacify a Caribbean island if we had to, and you’ve got to wonder what might happen if we have to contend with countless hostile subversive cadres who have slipped across the border with the estimated nine-million others ushered in by the government’s welcome wagon.

Momentous events await. This Monday, the Supreme Court will entertain oral arguments on the case Missouri, et al. v. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., et al. The integrity of the First Amendment hinges on the decision. Do we have freedom of speech as set forth in the Constitution? Or is it conditional on how government officials feel about some set of circumstances? At issue specifically is the government’s conduct in coercing social media companies to censor opinion in order to suppress so-called “vaccine hesitancy” and to manipulate public debate in the 2020 election. Government lawyers have argued that they were merely “communicating” with Twitter, Facebook, Google, and others about “public health disinformation and election conspiracies.”

You can reasonably suppose that this was our government’s effort to disable the truth, especially as it conflicted with its own policy and activities — from supporting BLM riots to enabling election fraud to mandating dubious vaccines. Former employees of the FBI and the CIA were directly implanted in social media companies to oversee the carrying-out of censorship orders from their old headquarters. The former general counsel (top lawyer) for the FBI, James Baker, slid unnoticed into the general counsel seat at Twitter until Elon Musk bought the company late in 2022 and flushed him out. The so-called Twitter Files uncovered by indy reporters Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, and others, produced reams of emails from FBI officials nagging Twitter execs to de-platform people and bury their dissent. You can be sure these were threats, not mere suggestions.

One of the plaintiffs joined to Missouri v. Biden is Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and professor at the Harvard Medical School, who opposed Covid-19 lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He was one of the authors of the open letter called The Great Barrington Declaration (October, 2020) that articulated informed medical dissent for a bamboozled public. He was fired from his job at Harvard just this past week for continuing his refusal to take the vaccine. Harvard remains among a handful of institutions that still require it, despite massive evidence that it is ineffective and hazardous. Like West Point, maybe Harvard should ditch its motto, Veritas, Latin for “truth.”

A society hostile to truth can’t possibly remain civilized, because it will also be hostile to reality. That appears to be the disposition of the people running things in the USA these days. The problem, of course, is that this is not a reality-optional world, despite the wishes of many Americans (and other peoples of Western Civ) who wish it would be.

Next up for us will be “Joe Biden’s” attempt to complete the bankruptcy of our country with $7.3-trillion proposed budget, 20 percent over the previous years spending, based on a $5-billion tax increase. Good luck making that work. New York City alone is faced with paying $387 a day for food and shelter for each of an estimated 64,800 illegal immigrants, which amounts to $9.15-billion a year. The money doesn’t exist, of course. New York can thank “Joe Biden’s” executive agencies for sticking them with this unbearable burden. It will be the end of New York City. There will be no money left for public services or cultural institutions. That’s the reality and that’s the truth.

A financial crack-up is probably the only thing short of all-out war that will get the public’s attention at this point. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it happened next week. Historians of the future, stir-frying crickets and fiddleheads over their campfires will marvel at America’s terminal act of gluttony: managing to eat itself alive.

*  *  *

Support his blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page or Substack

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/15/2024 - 14:05

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One city held a mass passport-getting event

A New Orleans congressman organized a way for people to apply for their passports en masse.

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March 15, 2024

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While the number of Americans who do not have a passport has dropped steadily from more than 80% in 1990 to just over 50% now, a lack of knowledge around passport requirements still keeps a significant portion of the population away from international travel.

Over the four years that passed since the start of covid-19, passport offices have also been dealing with significant backlog due to the high numbers of people who were looking to get a passport post-pandemic. 

Related: Here is why it is (still) taking forever to get a passport

To deal with these concurrent issues, the U.S. State Department recently held a mass passport-getting event in the city of New Orleans. Called the "Passport Acceptance Event," the gathering was held at a local auditorium and invited residents of Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District to complete a passport application on-site with the help of staff and government workers.

A passport case shows the seal featured on American passports.

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'Come apply for your passport, no appointment is required'

"Hey #LA02," Rep. Troy A. Carter Sr. (D-LA), whose office co-hosted the event alongside the city of New Orleans, wrote to his followers on Instagram  (META) . "My office is providing passport services at our #PassportAcceptance event. Come apply for your passport, no appointment is required."

More Travel:

The event was held on March 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. While it was designed for those who are already eligible for U.S. citizenship rather than as a way to help non-citizens with immigration questions, it helped those completing the application for the first time fill out forms and make sure they have the photographs and identity documents they need. The passport offices in New Orleans where one would normally have to bring already-completed forms have also been dealing with lines and would require one to book spots weeks in advance.

These are the countries with the highest-ranking passports in 2024

According to Carter Sr.'s communications team, those who submitted their passport application at the event also received expedited processing of two to three weeks (according to the State Department's website, times for regular processing are currently six to eight weeks).

While Carter Sr.'s office has not released the numbers of people who applied for a passport on March 14, photos from the event show that many took advantage of the opportunity to apply for a passport in a group setting and get expedited processing.

Every couple of months, a new ranking agency puts together a list of the most and least powerful passports in the world based on factors such as visa-free travel and opportunities for cross-border business.

In January, global citizenship and financial advisory firm Arton Capital identified United Arab Emirates as having the most powerful passport in 2024. While the United States topped the list of one such ranking in 2014, worsening relations with a number of countries as well as stricter immigration rules even as other countries have taken strides to create opportunities for investors and digital nomads caused the American passport to slip in recent years.

A UAE passport grants holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 180 of the world’s 198 countries (this calculation includes disputed territories such as Kosovo and Western Sahara) while Americans currently have the same access to 151 countries.

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