7/21/17 ANDY HOFFMAN: BITCOIN SEGWIT ACTIVATION - THE GOLD CARTEL'S BIGGEST NIGHTMARE

Not that its experience is any different from the countless “empires” that destroyed themselves from within; but let’s face it, America is rapidly morphing into a Banana Republic.
And not just in terms of its monetary policy – as the leader, in the “race to the bottom,” of the terminal phase of history’s largest; most destructive; and for the first time, global; fiat Ponzi scheme. Unfortunately, the symptoms of the disease are widespread, affecting the political, economic, and social landscape – all by-products of the complacency, self-indulgence, and arrogance created by the false sense of superiority the “reserve currency” issuer temporarily enjoys, in ephemerally living far above its means. Unfortunately, aside from the inexorable secular headwinds pounding against America’s rapidly waning dominance – like the global population explosion, unfavorable demographic trends, and synchronous worldwide information dissemination – America’s exposure to the gargantuan, historic cyclical downturn its own policies caused, is as broad, and systematically dangerous, as any nation’s. And not just absolutely; but more importantly, relative to the sky-high, “sixth sigma” standard of living its fleeting stint as reserve currency issuer has enabled.
I’m not going to turn this into a social commentary – of the bread-and-circuses nature of modern entertainment whilst Washington burns; nor the welfare state the inevitable shift toward socialism has engendered; or even the monetary destruction wrought by what was once the all-powerful, gold-backed dollar; in lieu of a brief comment on the political chaos caused by the coalescing of these hideous; destructive; and unquestionably, integrally linked trends. Not with a partisan bias, mind you – as, like Gerald Celente, I’m a “political atheist.” But instead, to simply observe how dumbed-down; compromised; out of touch; and frankly, infantile; the once great, once Constitutionally-guided institution of Congress has become.
Watching America’s “leadership” destroy itself; aided and abetted by a vicious, yet self-immolating mainstream media that has, for all intents and purposes, been re-branded the “fake news,” it’s difficult to have hope for the future. Not that the Miles Franklin Blog is here to commentate on such trends, of course. However, when my job – as well as my “life’s work” – is to protect people’s money from the ramifications, it’s unquestionably relevant. And sadly, what I see today, from the “Russia-Gate” lies; the “Election-rigging” fraud (except from the Clinton camp, where it isn’t just alleged, but proven); the hopeless attempts to pass any legislation – let alone, the meaningful type; the unfathomable conflicts of interest, nepotism, and self-dealing; and the patently obvious attempts to destroy the Trump presidency, I see a nation whose ability to remain a global leader – of any type – in grave danger. Let alone, to continue issuing the most widely used fiat toilet paper, now that America has become the world’s largest debtor; permanently lost its once dominant manufacturing base; and with each passing day, acts more and more like a geopolitical bully and economic isolationist. Which, when considered cumulatively, is the reason I recently “coined” the equation, “reserve currency issuer plus global pariah equals historic monetary reset.”
Today, I’m going to largely ignore the “PiMBEEB” headlines – other than to note the dollar’s accelerating plunge, despite yesterday’s historically; and in both cases, unexpectedly; dovish ECB and BOJ policy statements. Not to mention, the equally dramatic collapse in interest rates, just one week after Janet Yellen’s equally unexpected “ding dong, the Fed – and with it, the Precious Metal ‘bear market’ – is dead” speech, that just happened to coincide with the COMEX “commercials” reducing their (naked) short positions to their lowest level since Precious Metals’ ultimate bottom in December 2015, at $1,070/oz gold and $13.75/oz silver. To that end, does anyone dare challenge my early January prediction that the 10-year Treasury yield would NEVER rise above 2.5% (until the bond vigilantes inevitably arrive, that is)? As, per today’s title, I believe something very significant occurred in the war against “fake money” – and the gold Cartel – yesterday; to the point that I could very easily have called this “the most important day in monetary history.”
Which I don’t say with hyperbole; as – per what I wrote in December’s MUST READ “why Bitcoin will make gold and silver go up” – I believe that yesterday’s “lock in” of Bitcoin’s SegWit, or Segregated Witness, protocol upgrade; which mere weeks ago, appeared extremely unlikely; struck not only a major blow to Bitcoin detractors, but an historically vulnerable monetary status quo. As now that the Bitcoin “civil war” appears on the cusp of being decidedly won by the “monetary majority,” against the vehement wishes; and deep-pocketed artifices; of centralized authorities attempting to commandeer it; I believe its adoption – and by proxy, interest in crypto-currency in general – may well explode. Which in turn, will not only draw countless billions of savings out of fiat toilet paper, but yield heightened global awareness of the potential of non-centralized, non-Central bank issued “money” to succeed. Which in turn, will not only paralyze governments with fear, but catalyze an immediate prioritization to fight Bitcoin with all their cumulative might. Which, given the aforementioned idiocy today’s governments cumulatively demonstrate; atop the equally daunting task of trying to attack an “entity” without visible attack vectors; let alone, the most technologically advanced open-source network on the planet; will ultimately be as effective as Don Quixote flailing at windmills.
As for Precious Metals, they will unquestionably be de-prioritized as a “national security threat” – particularly if the crypto-currency market moves substantially higher, generating surging media coverage. Throw in the fact that the (U.S. government led) Cartel that suppresses them is already running on fumes – given inexorably rising physical demand; plunging production – of gold, silver, and platinum; and the historically low above-ground, available-for-sale inventories their epically stupid, covert dishoarding scheme has yielded – and the odds of the historic price reset that must inevitably arrive will dramatically rise. Think about it – how great will it be to see Precious Metals rise in the unfettered manner of non-manipulated market like Bitcoin; where price appreciation is proportional to fundamentals – and algorithms like the “Cartel Herald” and “12:00 PM cap of last resort” no longer exist? To that end, for people like Ronan Manly that still ask “is the COMEX rigged?,” how much more proof does one require than the past six days’ of blatant, nearly identical silver capping?

As for SegWit, now that Bitcoin Internet Protocol 91, or “BIP 91,” has been “locked in,” it will be officially uploaded to the Bitcoin network around August 23rd. After which, average transaction processing speeds will dramatically increase; particularly when “second layer” scaling solutions like the Lightning Network – which is already operating successfully on Litecoin; are – likely, expediently – implemented. Assuming this schedule is met; and the results as expected; Bitcoin’s “adoption radius” will exponentially increase. Not to mention, its investment attractiveness, now that the traumatic “scaling debate” is in the rear-view mirror. Which, I might add, may take a few months more to fully abate, given the last remaining hurdle of the SegWit 2x “hard fork” threat – that just a week ago, seemed real, but with each passing day, appears less and less likely – still exists. In my view, this will all be behind us by year-end – paving the way for the aforementioned chain of events to play out in real-time; including, in my very strong view, the inevitable – perhaps, imminent – end of the gold Cartel.
Not only that, but if Precious Metals’ inevitable surge is caused NOT by a catastrophic monetary event; but simply, a diversion of the powers that be’s’ attention by Bitcoin, gold and silver holders may well get to enjoy the financial windfall we’ve been waiting years – for some, decades – to occur; but it may well occur in an environment NOT characterized by economic and/or monetary disaster. That’s coming down the road, of course – like a runaway locomotive on an icy downslope. However, as the world is about to realize that Precious Metals are not “currencies”; but instead, the best wealth storage asset the world has ever known; they could easily rise five, ten, or even 20x in the “modern monetary world” without catalyzing the draconian government responses that have always loomed over the sector like a sword of Damocles. In other words, for the first time in generations, it’s OK to start thinking of Precious Metals as “investment opportunities” – as opposed to the propaganda that they are only to be considered “insurance” against cataclysm; which, of course they will continue to be, irrespective.
On that note, particularly given the historic undervaluation the post-Election Cartel raids have caused; not to mention, “historic “valuation anomalies”; in an environment where even the COMEX “commercials” – i.e., the gold Cartel – are openly running for cover; what better time to invest in gold, silver, and platinum – from Miles Franklin, which has been selling them for 28 years, without a single registered complaint?