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Maybe the above post is wrong. My bad for posting it.

 

British banks plan network to rival Visa and Mastercard amid fears Trump could switch off payments​

British bank bosses will meet this week to discuss establishing an alternative national payments network to Visa and Mastercard.

The idea has gained traction as fears mount that Donald Trump could at some point turn off international payment systems for political reasons.

The meeting, chaired by Barclays UK boss Vim Maru, will bring together City figures who will fund a national payments company.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/news...s-trump-could-switch-off-payments/ar-AA1WvGFv
 
this right here is the reason China stays quiet on Iran

everyone losing their mind asking where is Beijing while the US & Israel are bombing a major chinese energy partner and the answer is so brutal in its simplicity that most analysts miss it completely, the empire is eating itself alive and China is already building the replacementt

America just dragged the entire Middle East into a war for Israel & now Saudi arabia, UAE, kuwait & qatar are sitting in a room discussing pulling out of US contracts & canceling investment commitments

the Gulf states, the literal foundation of the petrodollar, the system that has kept the US dollar as world reserve currency since 1974 actively discussing the exit and Beijing did absolutely nothing to make that happen…Washington did it to itself

but here's what people miss: china saw this coming years ago and already laid the tracks, literally the belt & road Initiative has quietly wired 150 countries into c’hinese infrastructure, ports, railways, highways, fiber optic cables, power grids…while the western media barely covered it

Saudi Arabia started selling oil to China in yuan in 2023, that alone should have been front page news for a month, the BRICS just expanded to include Saudi arabia UAE and Iran in the samea bloc, China built CIPS as a direct alternative to SWIFT so the entire non western world can settle trade without ever touching the dollar, every single one of these moves was made before a single bomb fell on Iran

and then there's Africa…the youngest continent on earth, median age 19, projected to reach 2.5 billion people by 2050, the largest workforce the planet has ever seen & China understood 20y ago that whoever builds Africa's infrastructure owns the 21st century, while the US was spending 4 trillion dollars destroying Iraq & Afghanistan China was building railways in Kenya, dams in Ethiopia, ports in Djibouti, highways in Nigeria, tech hubs in Rwanda, stadiums, hospitals, government buildings, telecom networks powered by Huawei across the entire continent.. & they did it without firing a single bullet, no regime change, no sanctions, no lectures on democracy, just concrete steel, fiber optic and longterm contracts

so when people ask why China stays silent on Iran the answer is that silence is the strategy, every war America fights for Israel costs trillions, destabilizes energy markets, alienates Gulf partners and pushes the entire Global South closer to a system Beijing spent two decades building

the gulf states pivoting right now has zero to do with ideology, Washington turned their entire neighborhood into a warzone to serve Tel Aviv's regional strategy & then asked them to keep buying treasury bonds with a straight face….the math just stopped working and when the math stops working loyalty stops too

beijing's silencee on Iran is the most patient & most devastating move on the board, China is watching america dismantle its own hegemony in real time while quietly inheriting every alliance washington burns, it just has to keep building & keep quiet

Napoleon said nver interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake, Xi turned that into a 50y doctrine & right now it's paying off faster than even beijing expected

 
If you want proven and reliable defensive weapon systems, Russia would be the better source but China has teams in Iran who are there to try out some of their new systems.
Both Russia and China are supplying Iran with satellite information regarding where adversaries assets are located.
They are keeping a low profile on their assistance.
Iran has many underground cities , created over the last 50 odd years, for this moment and more missiles than we can know.
They are using up the older stuff to draw as much response as they can, to deplete western resources.
It’s only day six ……..
 
Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East—including the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict and threats around the Strait of Hormuz—China’s quiet financial infrastructure for Iranian oil imports has come under renewed scrutiny. At the center is a sophisticated, dollar-free payment and asset-recycling system that has sustained Iran’s oil exports (primarily to China, which absorbs over 80% of Iran’s seaborne crude) while advancing Beijing’s de-dollarization agenda.

This newsletter breaks down the mechanics, from settlement to gold conversion, based on established channels and recent geopolitical developments.

1. The Core Settlement Channel: Bank of Kunlun

Bank of Kunlun, a relatively small commercial bank controlled by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC/PetroChina), serves as the primary conduit for China-Iran oil trade settlements.
...

More:
 
Is this the right place to ask dumb questions regarding the bigger picture?

I was brought up to believe that gold was the place of safety when the drums of war were beating loudly.

I’ve seen a few thoughts on why we’ve seen another huge downdraught but they don’t really add up for me.
One possibility that makes sense is that those Middle East countries getting hammered by Iran, need dollars quickly in order to pacify an unhappy population and to pay the bills that petro dollars would normally cover . So who is buying ?

Or are we seeing maximum smack down cos we need to know ‘all is well’

As for silver, it feels like a repeat of my experience of buying in 2011 and watching the price drop 50%
Have I got to wait another 14 years to see a decent gain ?
Don’t they use a shit ton of the stuff in those mighty missiles ?

Any rational thoughts on wtf is going on ?
 
Is this the right place to ask dumb questions regarding the bigger picture?

Yes

... I’ve seen a few thoughts on why we’ve seen another huge downdraught but they don’t really add up for me.

I have not paid close attention to the gold market, but I imagine the Fed and proxies are sensitive to the plight of the fiat dollar and are looking to defend it. There are also potential liquidity issues brewing in the banking system with private credit imploding. Banks might be selling gold positions to raise liquidity (rather than selling treasuries). I don't have a strong intuition about the root cause(s) at the moment.

... As for silver, ... Have I got to wait another 14 years to see a decent gain ? ...

I don't think so. Physical vault stock flows are signalling a squeeze coming this year IMO.
 
So China is selling its T-bills, who's buying them?

If there are no bidders the Fed has to " Print Money & Buy them " as the last resort 👀 :lmao:

This is a good question. An institutional (or state) holder of Treasuries, wants to sell them.

Does the Fed buy T-bills from holders?

No, the Treasury does.

The Treasury does buy backs when necessary for liquidity support.

It helps maintain the market for all the new debt they have to constantly sell.
....and to help keep interest rates from rising as much as they otherwise would if there were a glut of Treasury's on the market.

A good explanation in this vid.








As for silver, it feels like a repeat of my experience of buying in 2011 and watching the price drop 50
If anything, you should have Ben selling in '11 (and '10) to all the FOMO people.
 
Is this the right place to ask dumb questions regarding the bigger picture?

I was brought up to believe that gold was the place of safety when the drums of war were beating loudly.

I’ve seen a few thoughts on why we’ve seen another huge downdraught but they don’t really add up for me.
One possibility that makes sense is that those Middle East countries getting hammered by Iran, need dollars quickly in order to pacify an unhappy population and to pay the bills that petro dollars would normally cover . So who is buying ?

Or are we seeing maximum smack down cos we need to know ‘all is well’

As for silver, it feels like a repeat of my experience of buying in 2011 and watching the price drop 50%
Have I got to wait another 14 years to see a decent gain ?
Don’t they use a shit ton of the stuff in those mighty missiles ?

Any rational thoughts on wtf is going on ?
These are good questions. I don't have all the answers; just that I've been trying to square what's happening with my own understanding of the world.

NOTHING is a Safe Haven in chaos. If your city or region (or nation-state) is one giant brawl...civil war, or the object of some Americian-military love...nothing is going to stop groups with more arms, or more thugs, or more numbers, from just looting you.

Even if you're left alone, relatively...if everything collapses, PMs are useless. Your needs will be shelter and food. Your trade goods will be other essential needs, immediate-gratification luxuries (candy, booze and cigarettes) and of course, sex.

No one will want gold coins in that chaos. They have weight and no immediate utility.

My point is, PMs will not have unmitigated value. In any kind of organized structure, with people looking ahead...looking to trade...needing money of some sort, for trade...gold has value when paper notes, when mutual-fund statements, do not.

But not in the chaos of destruction. And not in a totalitarian situation where the non-Elites are FORBIDDEN to have wealth - something we may have to face in the future.

Bottom line is, gold's value depends on survival of individual autonomy and on the presence of some sort of organized human activity.

So, why is its market-value collapsing now? Malicious manipulation with paper contracts, to drive the herds into government and financiers' debt instruments. With all the destruction, the cost of expended munitions, which will have to be replenished with printed fiat...the crazed Elites NEED their Ponzi to hold up moar. That means moar acceptance of government debt, and less money going off grid, into stores of gold.

So, manipulation.

Don't look at the $/oz exchange. The dollar is a construct, and now controlled by people who are not acting with society's best interest at heart. The way to judge gold's value is what it will buy, using the exchange tools available; and if that has fallen, ask why. The sudden cutoff of energy? The fog of war? Revolution? Famine? Those drop the exchange value of any money or tool of trade.
 
On December 31, 2025, the price of gold closed at approximately $4,339.65
On December 31, 2025, the silver price closed around $70 to $75 per ounce

This AM;
Gold $4,401.00
Silber $69.53

OH THE PAIN!!!

\snark
 
On December 31, 2025, the price of gold closed at approximately $4,339.65
On December 31, 2025, the silver price closed around $70 to $75 per ounce

This AM;
Gold $4,401.00
Silber $69.53

OH THE PAIN!!!

\snark
So good news then and a relief to realise that the tax man will get a whole lot less, should I decide to sell and go back into real estate 🤡
 
These are good questions. I don't have all the answers; just that I've been trying to square what's happening with my own understanding of the world.

NOTHING is a Safe Haven in chaos. If your city or region (or nation-state) is one giant brawl...civil war, or the object of some Americian-military love...nothing is going to stop groups with more arms, or more thugs, or more numbers, from just looting you.

Even if you're left alone, relatively...if everything collapses, PMs are useless. Your needs will be shelter and food. Your trade goods will be other essential needs, immediate-gratification luxuries (candy, booze and cigarettes) and of course, sex.

No one will want gold coins in that chaos. They have weight and no immediate utility.

My point is, PMs will not have unmitigated value. In any kind of organized structure, with people looking ahead...looking to trade...needing money of some sort, for trade...gold has value when paper notes, when mutual-fund statements, do not.

But not in the chaos of destruction. And not in a totalitarian situation where the non-Elites are FORBIDDEN to have wealth - something we may have to face in the future.

Bottom line is, gold's value depends on survival of individual autonomy and on the presence of some sort of organized human activity.

So, why is its market-value collapsing now? Malicious manipulation with paper contracts, to drive the herds into government and financiers' debt instruments. With all the destruction, the cost of expended munitions, which will have to be replenished with printed fiat...the crazed Elites NEED their Ponzi to hold up moar. That means moar acceptance of government debt, and less money going off grid, into stores of gold.

So, manipulation.

Don't look at the $/oz exchange. The dollar is a construct, and now controlled by people who are not acting with society's best interest at heart. The way to judge gold's value is what it will buy, using the exchange tools available; and if that has fallen, ask why. The sudden cutoff of energy? The fog of war? Revolution? Famine? Those drop the exchange value of any money or tool of trade.
Some wise thoughts there locoman. As you say, certain components of civilisation have to remain valid for stored wealth to work even at barter level . The last 15 years of holding metals has taught me detachment and to realise what is important.
 
If anything, you should have Ben selling in '11 (and '10) to all the FOMO people.
Hah, I was that fomo buyer

Bix Wier told us we would break ‘the Morgue’ who had a huge silver short position, if we all piled in and would have a moonshot in no time .
And he’s still out there talking up silver 💣
 
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