Iran no longer uses the US dollar in foreign trade transactions, replacing it with other currencies, the deputy governor at Iranian Central Bank told the Tasnim News Agency Saturday. “In trade exchanges with the foreign countries, Iran uses other currencies, including Chinese yuan, euro, Turkish lira, Russian ruble and South Korean won,” Gholamali Kamyab …

From Filip Karinja As the US dollar’s reign as global reserve currency appears to be ending, are we seeing the beginning of a new dawn in the east? Throughout history, global reserve currencies have proven to last for only so long. Before the United States’ currency reigned supreme, the currencies of …

From Filip Karinja, for Birch Gold Group The rise of China on the global economic stage got another boost this week. While discussing the potential that the Chinese renminbi (also known as the yuan) will be added to the IMF’s Special Drawing Right (SDR) basket of currencies, Christine Lagarde, the chief of the …

The price of bitcoin plunged on Thursday after Chinese authorities crack down on cryptocurrencies, with the country’s biggest exchange announcing the suspension of operations. The virtual currency fell more than 11 percent, trading at $3,544.14 as of 14:00pm GMT. This is far below the all-time high of $5,013.91 set earlier …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has drafted a bill that aims to eliminate the US dollar and the euro from trade between CIS countries. This means the creation of a single financial market between Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and other countries of the former Soviet Union. “This would help …

From Filip Karinja, for Birch Gold Group With the recent launch of its yuan gold fix, China is making waves in precious metals markets. Traditionally, gold fixing was done at the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). But finding themselves on the outside looking in, with gold prices dictated solely by the west, China …

Iran moved a step closer to a plan to ditch the dollar in its trade activities by announcing that purchase orders by merchants that are based on the greenback would no longer be allowed to go through import proceedings. Iran’s domestic media reported that the policy was in line with …

From Filip Karinja, for Birch Gold Group Conventional wisdom suggests a strong dollar is bad for the price of gold. So given the dollar’s current relative strength against other currencies, we should expect the price of gold to fall, right? Not so fast, says a new report from the World Gold Council (WGC). …

China took another step to boost the yuan’s global usage, saying it will start direct trading with the Swiss franc, as the nation pushes its case for reserve-currency status at the International Monetary Fund. The link will start on Tuesday, the China Foreign Exchange Trade System said in a statement, making …

From Filip Karinja, for Birch Gold Group As we predicted it would happen, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made a historic decision this week in international finance by adding the Chinese yuan into its basket of currencies that make up the global exchange unit known as the SDR. Created back in 1969, the SDR (Special …

New legislation authorizing digital currency as a legal payment method has come into force in Japan. The text of the law was released by Japan’s Financial Services Agency on March, 24. Earlier this week, the Accounting Standards Board of Japan said that it would begin work on the creation of a …

The world’s first dedicated bitcoin bank has opened in the center of the Austrian capital Vienna. It is designed to make buying and selling bitcoin easier and safer than other in-person options. The digital currency outlet is owned and managed by a local Blockchain startup Bit Trust and is named …

From Filip Karinja, for Birch Gold Group Today the financial heavyweights in the world of finance met behind closed doors to discuss the future of the global economic system. Held in Washington, the meeting was titled, ‘Gold, renminbi and the multicurrency reserve system’. Co-hosted by the World Gold Council, the purpose of the …

Sweden has cut interest rates below zero and launched quantitative easing to fight deflation, becoming the latest Scandinavian state to join Europe’s escalating currency wars. The Riksbank caught markets by surprise, reducing the benchmark lending rate to minus 0.10pc and unveiled its first asset purchases, vowing to take further action …

From Filip Karinja, for Birch Gold Group This week the petrodollar was struck with a mighty blow. Russia’s third largest oil producer, Gazprom, announced that it will settle all crude sales to China in yuan, and thus officially ditch the dollar. With relations between China and Russia growing stronger by the day, …

Investors frequently include foreign or international bonds in their portfolios for two important reasons; to benefit from the higher interest rates and to diversify their assets. Bond index finds present the simplest and most efficient way to invest in foreign bonds. Also known as bond indexing, the technique is cost-effective …

From Filip Karinja, for Birch Gold Group The price of gold took a hit this past week. It started in the quiet hours of Sunday night, when a mysterious $2.7 billion of paper gold was dumped on the open market. Ultimately, the price of gold sunk under $1,100. Most of the media has …

Iran wants post-sanctions’ oil contracts denominated in dollars and have buyers pay in euros, Reuters reported. Tehran is also keen to receive money owed to it since the pre-sanctions days in the European currency. The country’s crude deliveries are to be restored soon, with companies such as the French giant …

The biggest emerging markets are uniting to tackle under-development and currency volatility with plans to set up institutions that encroach on the roles of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The leaders of the so-called BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — are set to approve the establishment of a new …

Using cryptocurrencies at online gaming is something that a lot of people want. There seems to be a strong overlap between the people who like to use cryptocurrencies and the people who enjoy gaming of all kinds. It makes sense that this would be the case, even though people are …