55% of Bitcoin “investors” started in the last year.

https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/cryptocurrency/things-to-know-for-new-crypto-investors/
 

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin
 

4 minutes ago, happydreamer said:

I always thought it was because we had the gold reserves.  Someone more intelligent on the subject may be able to speak more about this.

Yeah….I thought the same and looking around the internet I see that the original Bretton Woods agreement put the USD as the global reserve currency because the dollar was linked to gold at that time.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex-currencies/092316/how-us-dollar-became-worlds-reserve-currency.asp
 

It seems that it is also argued that the size of the economy, financial markets etc. are also contributing factors.  Military strength?

I think it’s hard to find someone with more knowledge on the subject.  At least definitive knowledge.  I have always considered it a very interesting topic albeit a very murky one.

If you really want to stretch your brain to the limit on the subject, read some of FOFOAs blog.

http://fofoa.blogspot.com

59 minutes ago, happydreamer said:

Tell me a stronger global currency or better yet one the rest of the world holds as a standard.  

 

Ya...that's what I thought.  

Not disagreeing with you, but as the old joke goes (paraphrased of course)….

”Put 9 economists in a room and you’ll get 10 different opinions”

So….that being said…

Gold?

Being that the US holds the most gold maybe that would keep the USD on top?

I was also surprised to read that the US also holds quite a substantial amount of Bitcoin (with the Ukrainian government coming in second place)

https://marketrealist.com/p/how-much-bitcoin-does-the-government-own/
 

Not arguing for nor against anything you have said.  Just kinda thinking out loud.

On 4/3/2022 at 10:04 PM, Bkk Brian said:

I'll leave you with your famous last words and check back in 6 weeks time when the effects of the sanctions kick in and the economy is crippled. In the meantime feel free to buy the top...????

 

Russia’s Central Bank has just jacked up interest rates to 20%

It’s been almost 6 weeks now.  Just “checking back” as requested.  
 

How is your currency doing against the dollar and baht?

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

That said: IF you are referring to unvaccinated travel (arrival) - Proof of the the pre-paid 5 Day Quarantine (which includes day 4/5 PCR test and Airport transfer)  is required for Thailand Pass applications. 

From the article that the OP linked, it appears that the quarantine is only required if one doesn’t get a pre-travel PCR test.

“International travellers who are unvaccinated or are not fully vaccinated will also no longer be required to show proof of a pre-arrival negative RT-PCR test nor undergo an arrival test.

Once arriving in Thailand, they must proceed to undergo the quarantine for 5 days and undergo an RT-PCR test on Day 5.

Exception is made for unvaccinated travellers who are able to upload proof of a negative RT-PCR test within 72 hours of travel via the Thailand Pass system, they – like those fully vaccinated – will be allowed entry and are free to go anywhere in the kingdom.”

2 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

What was twitter 10 years ago?

Not publicly traded.

22 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

No. 

 

I bought BTC at $2000 in 2017, sold at $15k in 2018, bought again at $3k and sold most at $45k. I am DCA in now. 

Sure you did.

Everybody profits when anonymous on the internet.  

On 5/9/2022 at 5:25 PM, spidermike007 said:

There are trillions of dollars in deposits in the US, at rates as low as 0.1%. The banks refuse to raise rates, as the fools just keep on depositing more. Why pay a fair rate, when you don't have to, in these days of contemporary corporate ethical bankruptcy. 

US Bank is paying 0.01%.  BoA not much better.

6 hours ago, KanchanaburiGuy said:

Funny, I can think of about a dozen ways a newer vaccine could be beneficial and worth pursuing:

 

* Improved efficacy, overall. 

* Improved efficacy for troublesome segments. 

* Faster adoption to full potency (currently 2-3 weeks?) 

* Fewer side-effects. 

* Reduced or no need for boosters. 

* Shorter delay for boosting, if necessary (Pfizer/Moderna recommend 6-months!)

* More economical to produce. 

* Easier to handle and involving fewer logistics challenges. 

 

* "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera," to quote Yul Brenner in "The King and I." 

 

We'll just have to wait and see how the new Thai vaccine stacks up against the others.

 

But it is entirely reasonable to anticipate that version 2.0 or 3.0 or 4.0 or 5.0 will have some characteristics that improve on what's come before.

 

After all, there's nothing quite like having an opportunity to see and assess the shortcomings of older designs............. to help you figure out ways you might do it better! If we didn't, we'd still be using quills and inkwells, and not ball point pens! 

 

(And for the snarkers commenting about being "2 and 3 years too late" .......... ("3 years?").......... none of the other vaccines were available 2 years ago, either!)

 

. 

 

One of the most basic principles of Capitalism is: Capitalism pushes people to find ways to do things SmarterFasterCheaperBetter. And if someone can find a way to do at least ONE of those things, they might find themselves being richly rewarded for it. 

 

But they don't have to succeed at all four......... just ONE!....... to make the effort worthwhile!

 

So, when there are easily a dozen or more ways a later generation vaccine can be beneficial to large groups of people......... (or EVERYONE!).......... it's not hard to believe they've found SOME WAY to make their vaccine.............. 

 

SmarterFasterCheaperBetter! 

 

Does it have to be all four? Nope! Just ONE! 

 

Me? I'm gonna wait and see! 

 

Cheers! 

 

Ooooooh….such wonderful syntax.  The one sentence paragraphs, peppered with ALL CAPS, bolding, and just the right number of exclamation points!!!!!!!!  The gravitas cannot be underestimated.

I’M SOLD!!!!!

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Have you had or considered the shingles vaccine.....?

 

A vaccine to protect oneself against the negative side effects from another vaccine? 
 

Sounds awesome!  Sign me up!

4 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

Was just reading that there's a revolt in some African country now that mobile banking has basically completely replaced cash, and government introduced a tax on all mobile transactions. I guess that's coming, once enough people use it.

Bang Sue, where I’m 100% sure I can still spend cash and not “feel broke if my cellphone battery dies” and “some African country” where a quick google search shows that none have “basically replaced cash” are hardly representative of the global payment system.

Somalia (with a gdp per capita of $300) does seem to have the highest percentage of people (amongst African nations) going “cashless”, but I’m not sure that really backs your overly dramatic statements.  Did you know that Mogadishu installed it’s first ATM in 2014?

https://african.business/2021/09/trade-investment/somalia-points-the-way-to-first-cashless-society/

The USA printed well over 300 Billion in currency last year and will do the same this year.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/04/14/fact-check-federal-reserve-has-balance-sheet-9-trillion/7198368001/

Sure, there will be be debit cards and credit cards (banks need to make money too!) and other cashless services that will come and go, but I highly doubt that cash will ever disappear.

Maybe cashless would be good being that people can’t seem to control their alcohol intake and certainly don’t eat healthy. Perhaps the government can control us all better dictating how often we can eat fast food and maybe limit us to 1 alcoholic beverage per week.
 

High Five!

It’s really odd to hear from people who claim that all these cashless places exist.
 

Other than in MSM stories that seem to promote cashless societies and then trot out the obligatory vegan/gluten-free restaurant as the example, I have only encountered one…just one place in my life that doesn’t accept cash.  The food court at the True Digital Center Mall.  The funny thing though is that they have an employee who accepts your cash and then goes to your selected vendor and scans her phone to pay for your meal….so…in essence, even they take cash.

If there was ever a place that declined taking cash…no problem.  I’ll just go to one of the 99.9999999% of other places that do still accept cash.

5 hours ago, Henryford said:

Like 50% (using mean) maybe more (using average).

50% is based on the median.  
 

“Mean” is synonymous with “average”.

https://www.dictionary.com/e/average-vs-mean-vs-median-vs-mode/

On 4/3/2022 at 10:04 PM, Bkk Brian said:

I'll leave you with your famous last words and check back in 6 weeks time when the effects of the sanctions kick in and the economy is crippled. In the meantime feel free to buy the top...????

 

Russia’s Central Bank has just jacked up interest rates to 20%

February 23.  The day before the war started.  78.65 rubles to the dollar.

April 3.            The date of your proclamation of doom for the ruble.  85.74 rubles to the dollar

Today.             Whoops!  74.44 rubles to the dollar.

LOL!

I can imagine what CPS would say if you went to them.

”OMG…there is this horrible couple who buy this poor kid clothes, gifts, take him golfing and then at the end of the day, send him back to his poor parents whom they also buy gifts for and give money to”

What would be really horrible would be if someday in the future, this disgusting couple took it upon themselves to pay for a university education for him.

Disgusting and dangerous people for sure.

6 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Thais love a new "fad" and there are enough gullible to buy products.

Lisa eats pork balls.. sales go up

Lisa wears a certain outfit, thousands go out to buy copies

A rapper eats mango and sticky rice, sales boom...

enterprises will open up sales in many ways to make a fast buck [baht] and cash-in on novelty products.

90% will close after 6 months and investment down the drain.

10% will work-out a niche market and continue.

Anutins promise of salvation for the nation.... personal hype and certainly fake news.

True…Thai people certainly do like their fads.  But from what I’ve seen, the cannabis infused/garnished food and drink has already come and gone.

If the rapper in Coachella (don’t know her name, sorry) had hit up one of the hundreds of dispensaries in the Palm Springs and surrounding areas, gurgled down a few bong rips of kind bud, and then told her fans “WOW! This stuff is great!” It would start a fad that would have far more repeat customers.  
 

Of course, the alcoholic beverage industry wouldn’t like that very much.

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Regarding the UK, and their lifting of COVID restrictions, it's actually more of a "dying of COVID" approach right now... as they currently have one of the highest reported per capita COVID death rates in the world -- and almost three times the current per capita rate in Thailand.

 

 

https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&minPopulationFilter=1000000&time=2022-01-01..latest&facet=none&pickerSort=asc&pickerMetric=location&hideControls=true&Metric=Confirmed+deaths&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Color+by+test+positivity=false&country=GBR~THA

 

 

COVID cases increase across the U.K.

"Throughout the pandemic, the U.K. has consistently been a sign of what is to come in the United States. When Britain dropped its COVID restrictions in late-February, COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths soared and may have only recently peaked."

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/covid-cases-increase-across-the-uk/

 

Thailand and the UK have similar size populations... Thailand's daily COVID deaths have been running in the 120s. The UK recorded 451 on Tuesday.

 

UK records 16,579 more Covid-19 cases as infections plunge - but daily deaths rise to 451

 

"The UK announced a further 16,579 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday as confirmed infections continue to plunge.

 

However another 451 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test result were announced - 110 more than Monday’s figure."

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/covid-cases-daily-latest-deaths-uk-omicron-tests-b996413.html

 

4.8 deaths per million people in the UK?  
 

Daily?
 

That’s terrible.  

At that rate, in 570 years everybody will be dead.