Category: Digital Disruption

The Fight For Cash Just Got Terminally Serious!

Despite cash being legal tender in Australia, surprisingly it is legal for businesses to refuse to accept it provided that they inform consumers of their stance before any “contract” for the supply of goods or services is entered into.

The war on cash has taken an interesting turn, with the RBA being questioned by the Senate Inquiry into Regional Bank Branch closures, and claiming the use of cash had fallen, but frankly on thin and filtered evidence; while Armaguard, Australia’s only cash-in-transit business is facing the prospect of collapsing due to the claimed declining use of cash. The RBA, which regulates the payments industry and is responsible for printing money is also involved in the crisis talks.

And a social media campaign, led by the Cash is King Facebook group is calling on Aussies to withdraw and use cash next Tuesday, April 2, in protest against the shift to digital payments. The protest is aimed at showing Australia’s banks and retailers that there is still a demand for the use of cash in society. That is, if you can still find an ATM.

So, action on Tuesday to grab some cash could be an important step on the road to saving cash for All Australians who want to use it, despite pressure from the Government who is responding to huge pressure from the commercial banks. This in turn puts massive pressure on the current Senate review, who is scheduled to hold one more community hearing on Bribie Island on the 16th April. Will the committee who has laid bare the issues of branch closures and removal of cash come good or hook their final report like the earlier Royal Commission Inquiry into Financial Services, which exposed major issues through their hearings, only to turn to water in their final report and recommendations, which allowed the banks to behave business as usual. This time all eyes will be on the Senate.

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Digital Tyranny Is One Step Closer!

Remember the parable of the frog, who slowly gets cooked to death, in a pot as the temperature rises – well, the same in true for Australians, as civil liberties such as the use of cash, are removed, even as the digital architecture for future control gets put in place. You can see parallels elsewhere round the world, and aligned with the agenda of several high profile non-elected bodies like the World Economic Forum – of “you will own nothing and be happy” fame.

Australia’s Digital ID Bill 2023 was initially introduced to the Senate on November 30, 2023, and has since undergone a Senate inquiry and brief consultation period before this week being pushed through the Senate without debate. Despite assurances of voluntariness and promises to simplify citizens’ lives, the Labor government has faced backlash for the lack of scrutiny given to the bill.

And there is of course the wider, story here potentially linking digital ID with Central Bank Digital Currency and Social Scores, perhaps enabling the idea peddled by the World Economic Forum and other non-elected global entities, that we the people can be better controlled in terms of what we can, say, or even purchase. So you value your privacy, liberty and the rule of law, the Digital ID Bill must be defeated, time to put pressure back on the house of representatives when the amended bill comes back.

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“Deaf” Bankers Called To Account!

The Commonwealth Bank subsidiary Bankwest, the 130-year-old former Bank of Western Australia bank announced last Wednesday that it was moving to become a digital-only bank and would close 45 locations in the state. The 45 Bankwest branches that have been earmarked for closure will close their doors by October this year. There are 28 locations in Perth and 17 in regional WA. A further 15 branches will be rebranded under the Commonwealth Bank banner and are expected to finish their transformation by the end of the year.

Yes, this is the same CBA whose CEO Mat Comyn on 20th September 2023 in a statement to the Senate Inquiry into regional branch closures promised not to close more branches until at least 2026, even though they specifically excluded Bankwest from their statement, while saying “we recognise the unique and important contribution that regional Australia makes to our country”. “Our decision to pause regional branch closures is also predicated on customers and communities valuing our decision to stay”.

Committee member Senator Richard Colbeck said the Senate committee has been hearing plenty of people raising concerns about the vital banking services being lost.

“Every week in our hearings we hear from local communities how important these essential services are and how their communities are affected, yet those who are given a license to provide those services, the so-called service sector, continuously ignore those pleas and withdraw services – it is as though their ears were painted on,” he said.

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Bitcoin Gets The SEC’s Spot Tick – But Caveat Emptor!

The Securities and Exchange Commission has for the first time approved exchange-traded funds that invest directly in Bitcoin, a move heralded as a landmark event for the roughly $1.7 trillion digital-asset sector that will broaden access to the largest cryptocurrency on Wall Street and beyond.

Now much is resting on the concept that the futures market has already brought crypto assets sufficiently into the financial mainstream.

The SEC was frankly bounced into this decision in response to the loss of some critical legal cases, and puts Bitcoin ever closer to existing financial services players. This does not necessarily mitigate risk.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler said “While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot Bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse Bitcoin,”. “Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with Bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.”

Crypto zealots have for years argued that a so-called spot fund that invests directly in Bitcoin would be beneficial to investors and would help bring the industry closer to the more highly regulated world of traditional finance. It also suggests a sort of milestone of maturity for the relatively nascent industry, where skirmishes with regulators came to a climax after the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX empire highlighted risks lurking in the industry.

But of course, by definition, the mainstream approval this represents cuts right across the original ideology of Bitcoin already compromised by the significant use of derivatives, and becoming ever more controlled by large financial institutions and regulators.

Even after Gensler went to such lengths to say that the SEC wasn’t giving any seal of approval to Bitcoin, the odds remain that this will expose many more people to crypto’s risks and opportunities. So Caveat Emptor! Let The Buyer Beware!

DFA Live: Update From Crypto Land With Adam Stokes 8pm Tuesday

Join me for a live Q&A on the state of the crypto markets, with Adam Stokes https://www.youtube.com/@UC_LynnVoF0RJV6BjNJW26Ig

The global cryptocurrency market cap today is $1.22 Trillion, a -0.15% change in the last 24 hours and 25.83% change one year ago.

We look at the latest trends and fads, and set this in a broader discussion about the nature of money.

You can ask a question live via the YT chat.

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DFA Live Q&A Replay: AI Value Chains, Rates, And Productivity – With Damien Klassen

This is an edited version of our latest live show, with Damien Klassen, Head of Investments At Nucleus Wealth and Walk The World Funds.

In the show we did a deep dive on AI, discussed the RBA decision and its consequences and the broader investment environment.

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Crypto: Into 2023 With Adam Stokes…

I caught up with Adam Stokes, for a review of 2022 and into 2023. The Crypto community took a number of body blows in the year, most notably the failure of FTX, against the backcloth of Central Bank Digital Currency pilots and calls for increased regulation.

And how does all this play into the need to control inflation, and for sound money? Where might 2023 take us?

https://www.youtube.com/@UC_LynnVoF0RJV6BjNJW26Ig

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A Real Deep Perspective On Crypto…

I caught up with the CEO of BTC Markets to discuss the broader perspectives on Crypto in the light of FTX.

https://www.btcmarkets.net/about-us

Perhaps we should be careful not to put the baby out with the bathwater!

“Our vision is to build the digital financial infrastructure for the future. We are moving forward with that overarching and audacious strategy and can clearly see how this will roll out.” Caroline Bowler CEO, BTC Markets

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Resist The Creeping Madness Of Central Bank Digital Currencies Now!

Have your say on the imposition of Central Bank Digital Currencies, via a petition, open to the 21st December 2022 on the Government Website. More than 7,666 have already signed.

https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN4638

As Australian citizens we should be concerned about the disadvantages of a Central Bank Digital Currency. Traceability: In the case where physical cash is eliminated entirely this eliminates our ability to transact in a fully anonymous manner. Negative Rates: With CBDCs, you cannot withdraw your digital tokens and hold them under the mattress. If there is no option for physical cash this gives central banks ability to implement negative interest rates. Programmability: CBDCs give central banks a unique opportunity to make money “programmable”. For example: Expiration, with a direct relationship with your central bank, CBDCs could permit a currency expiration policy. Your money could be programmed so that if you don’t spend the $5000 in your account by next Saturday, it will expire. Personalised monetary policy: With a bank of Big Data on individual spending habits, coupled with digital identification infrastructure, the central bank will have enough information to tailor its monetary policy personally. For example if it is known that lower earners have a higher propensity to consume, stimulus can be directly delivered to those people. Personalised monetary policy could even become politicised. A government could segment its voters, identify communities where it is behind in polls, and deliver stimulus to these groups.
Petition Request

We therefore ask the House to enshrine the use of cash in law.

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