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China Angry With Turkey Over Refusal To Extradite Uyghur National

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This January 2021, I noted a piece from Business Insider that claimed Erdogan was trading fellow Turkic Uyghurs back to China- most likely to be tortured and murdered -in exchange for COVID vaccines. These claims are still debated, in that they have yet to be more completely proven or disproven. However ,they highlight the interesting relationship between the third and eighth most powerful militaries in the world, and in the case of the latter, a historical world imperial power that amid the current and rising situation of pan-Turkism, might prove to be an even more formidable force than ever before in her history.
According to a recent story from the SCMP, in something that can be proven, China is having a spat with Turkey over Turkey’s refusal to extradite a Uyghur who has refugee status in Turkey back to China.
<blockquote readability="59.857876036321">
China has expressed its strong objection to Turkey’s refusal to extradite Abudukadir Yapuquan, a prominent Uygur activist who Beijing says is suspected of terrorism in Xinjiang. 
At a press briefing on Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China called on Turkey to face Abudukadir’s “essence as a terrorist” and reverse its “erroneous decision” to avoid having a serious negative influence on China-Turkey relations.
“ETIM [East Turkestan Islamic Movement] is a terrorist organisation listed by the UN Security Council and is recognised as such by Turkey,” said Zhao, adding that Abudukadir was one of the initiators of ETIM and was accused of plotting terrorist activities on Chinese territory many times. Zhao said the evidence was conclusive.
China was strongly dissatisfied with, and firmly opposed, a Turkish court decision not to extradite Abudukadir, Zhao said.
According to Radio Free Asia, a court in Turkey rejected a request by Beijing to extradite Abudukadir to China to face “terrorism” charges, citing a lack of credible evidence, his lawyer said, adding that Abudukadir had been banned from travelling abroad in a previous trial, and that he was free now the decision had been reversed.
Abudukadir was accused by Chinese authorities of helping establish ETIM and being engaged in planning and carrying out terrorist acts.
He has been imprisoned in China twice. He escaped from China in 1998 and ended up in Turkey, home to an estimated 50,000 Uygurs. He was arrested by Turkish police in 2016 on charges of being a “terrorist” and had since been under detention or house arrest, according to media reports.
Cheng Yijun, a researcher with the Institute of Russia at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Turkey’s decision to not only turn down the extradition request but to set Abudukadir free would have a negative effect at the diplomatic level.
Cheng said Turkey had remained “flexible” on the Xinjiang issue, and tried to maintain consistency with the United States and other Western countries.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he had conveyed Ankara’s “sensitivity and thoughts on Uygur Turks” to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi when he visited Turkey in late March, amid protests organised by Uygur activists outside China’s embassy. 
This month, Turkey summoned China’s ambassador after his office took to social media to denounce two top Turkish politicians over their criticism of Beijing’s crackdown on Uygurs in Xinjiang. (<a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3129501/risk-china-turkey-tension-beijing-protests-against-refusal">source</a>)
</blockquote>
How Turkey handles this situations will be an interesting political test for Erdogan, as well as the Turkish image and its relationship with China.
Now with all respect to the man, no matter who he is, I don’t want him being sent back to China, because that would most likely mean his death, and in a horrible way, and one should not desire such things for people in general. His fate truly lay in the hands of Erdogan. Will he submit to China, or not?
The answer is unclear right now. If he does, politically it could be disastrous not just for him, but for the image of Turkey as a leader and unifying force of both the Islamic world as well as the pan-Turkic world. If he does not, then it only bolsters his position in both.
Turkey is looking to revive herself on a global stage. There is nothing she can practically do right now in Xinjiang, except telling China to get lost, which is what supporting this man would be doing. It is not much in the way of real help, but image and long-term power sustainability it works out well, and considering how the US supports the Uyghurs and Turkey, it would reinforce the ‘NATO circle’ that has existed since the Cold War, and it also puts Russia in the interesting position of possibly asking where her own ‘human rights’ condemnation of China’s actions are, which she will remain silent on because of her desire to maintain a good relationship with China, not because she likes China, but she needs what ‘allies’- even in name -that she can get, as well as keeping China out of Siberia more than what she has already penetrated, albeit illegally, into.
In other words, the more that China complains, the more it becomes a ‘win’ for Turkey, and really to the isolation of China, whose outright abuse of the Uyghurs and poor attempts to hide it feed the world anger at her that in time will be used as justification for military actions against her.
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armageddon China Angry With Turkey Over Refusal To Extradite Uyghur National

This January 2021, I noted a piece from Business Insider that claimed Erdogan was trading fellow Turkic Uyghurs back to China- most likely...

Nike Begins Selling ‘Refurbished’ Sneakers

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With a trend of rising prices, increasing poverty, and yet the same human desires (to be able to eat good food, to look fashionable, and so on) remaining consistent, in the future, people are going to want to look good on the cheap or as cheap as possible. Brand names will not disappear, but people will want the same things for cheaper.
The US may have the image of wealth, but as evidenced by the COVID pandemic, the fact is that the people are getting poorer as jobs have decreased, wages stagnated or decreased and and the value of the money itself declined. Most of this emphasis has been, as I have noted, in the foods industry, because people need to eat and while costs can be hidden, it becomes difficult to do this.
However, it can’t stay hidden forever. According to a recent change from the Nike Corporation, the sneaker giant is now selling ‘refurbished sneakers’.
<blockquote readability="79.828080229226">
Nike has launched a program that will give a “second life” to returned shoes, an effort to address the consumer concern over climate change and environmental degradation.
Nike Refurbished will use tools to make shoes that are “like new,” those that have only had a couple of wears, ” or “gently worn” merchandise as close to new condition as possible,” the company says.
Shoes should be returned within the 60-day window. Once they’re placed back on store shelves, items will be marked with information about the renewed shoes, and they will be priced based on style and condition.
See: ThredUp CEO on IPO day: Don’t tax resale and Amazon’s speed is a fading trend for young shoppers
These items can also be returned within 60 days.
Returned items that don’t make it back on the shelf will become part of the Nike Grind program, which destroys merchandise so it can be used to make things like rubber flooring, outdoor courts and other shoes.
Nike Refurbished is launching in 15 stores across the U.S., but will expand to others.
Nike is launching this latest “circular consumer offering” at a time when resale and secondhand items are finding renewed life with consumers eager to do their part to save the environment.
According to the ThredUp 2020 Resale Report TDUP, -8.17%, the secondhand market will reach $64 billion by 2024, and is expected to overtake fast fashion, which has a reputation for packing landfills, by 2029. Forty percent of Gen Z shoppers bought secondhand clothes, shoes or accessories in 2019, and 30% of millennials did that year.
“Companies face increased public scrutiny about the industry’s environmental impact,” wrote Moody’s in a fashion and retail apparel report published this month.
“Responsible production is the biggest social risk, forcing companies to embrace 
sustainable supply chain practices and transparency. Companies which want to 
avoid reputational risk will prioritise embracing responsible sourcing strategies.”
“More environmentally and socially aware customers are driving the emergence of new business models such as renting or buying secondhand apparel,” the Moody’s report said, highlighting interest from younger consumers.
“Apparel companies will need to increase investment in product quality and sustainable materials. Fast fashion, mid-priced and small discount companies with limited resources or weak capital structures are the most at risk from these changing customer habits.”
BMO Capital Markets sees opportunity for Nike, and possibly others, as the retail landscape grows to include consignment, marketplaces, direct-to-consumer channels and more.
“We continue to expect resale remains in its relative infancy and believe this is only the beginning,” analysts said. (<a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nike-launches-refurbished-sneaker-program-11618327663">source</a>)
</blockquote>
This isn’t about ‘recycling’, unless one means ‘recycling profits’.
Sneakers- as with any part of brand-name fashion -is high dollar business. However, people can’t afford the high prices. This can be mitigated, however, by “reselling” the same product, a trend that has been going on since 2008 following the economic crash with the emergence of ‘upscale’ thrift shops and the like.
People want to look good. They always will no matter what the culture is. NIKE is just riding that trend and growing it, which while not exactly ‘new’, marks the continued transition of the US from the image of wealth to the reality of mass poverty for the masses, and trying to stay profitable and relevant amid the changes, for considering how the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is already increasing and will increase for the future, money will become harder to come by, and people will have to be very discerning about what dollars they have and what they choose to spend them on.
<h3><a>Donate now to help support the work of this site. When you donate, you are not donating to just any commentary group, but one that is endlessly observing the news, reading between the lines and separating hysteria and perception from reality. In shoebat.com, we are working every day, tirelessly investigating global trends and providing data and analysis to tell you what lies for the future.</a></h3>
 
 
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armageddon Nike Begins Selling ‘Refurbished’ Sneakers

With a trend of rising prices, increasing poverty, and yet the same human desires (to be able to eat good food, to look fashionable, and s...

Prices Skyrocket, Plan Continual Ascent For The Rest Of The Year

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One of the most destructive aspects of modern monetary policy is that, as it has been said and known for all of history, printing money does not lead to wealth ‘creation’, but only to the loss of value in the means of value through a loss of faith in the efficacity of the object to service debts. Unless the item in question is able to be directly exchange for a sum of a real, fixed value whose existence can be tangibly shown to exist in quantities to service said printing, it is but a mere social contract, and if said social contract is continually violated by ‘making money from nothing’ without an ability to show something of value in exchange, the currency system will eventually collapse until a new one is put in its place.
The federal reserve bank’s money printing project with “COVID checks” is having just this effect. It is causing rapidly rising prices- and prices which will continue to rise -for the foreseeable future because the value of the dollar itself is depreciating to the point of becoming worthless. It will not happen immediately, and most likely there will be a historical ‘buy back’ at a discounted rate into the system, but it will hurt people in the interim period, mostly by making the cost of goods and services rise so much that people’s wallets become seriously strained to the point of insecurity about being able to feed themselves.
Now thankfully, it is extremely unlikely for the US to endure a serious starvation, simply because she is the world’s breadbasket. Many nations like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, many parts of Africa, and parts of Asia could see real starvation while the US sees an- albeit painful -increase in the price of food. Yet this is what CNBC reports is starting to happen, for new data show that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is increasing rapidly.
<blockquote readability="73.842217484009">
Consumer prices shot higher in March, given a boost by a strong economic recovery and year-over-year comparisons to a time when the Covid-19 pandemic was about to throttle the U.S. economy, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
The consumer price index rose 0.6% from the previous month but 2.6% from the same period a year ago. The year-over-year gain is the highest since August 2018 and was well above the 1.7% recorded in February.
The index was projected to rise 0.5% on a monthly basis and 2.5% from March 2020, according to Dow Jones estimates.
The report “is the clearest indication so far that the signs of mounting inflation evident in business surveys and producer prices are feeding through to stronger consumer prices,” wrote Michael Pearce, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. “For all the focus on supply disruptions pushing goods prices higher, the strongest upward pressure on prices is coming from the services sector.”
Gasoline prices were the biggest contributor to the monthly gain, surging 9.1% in March and responsible for about half the overall CPI increase. Gasoline is up 22.5% from a year ago, part of a 13.2% increase in energy prices.
Food nudged higher as well, up 0.1% for the month and 3.5% for the year. The food-at-home category increased 3.3%. All six of the government’s measures of grocery store indexes rose, with the biggest gain of 5.4% in the category of meats, poultry, fish and eggs.
Food away from home increased 3.7%, while “limited services meals,” which include pickup, take out and delivery restaurants, jumped 6.5% for the year, the largest annual increase in the survey’s history dating to 1997.
Markets showed a modest reaction to the news, with stock futures off their lows for the morning but still indicating a negative open. Government bond yields held mostly flat.
That big surge on a year-over-year basis resulted from what economists call the “base effect,” or the lower level used for comparison. In March 2020, the government had just begun a massive shutdown of U.S. businesses that ultimately would see more than 22 million Americans on the unemployment line.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, increased 0.3% monthly and 1.6% year over year.
While the inflation numbers look high, many economists as well as policymakers at the Federal Reserve expect the increase to be temporary. April likely also will show a sharp rise, but then the numbers are supposed to decrease as the worst months of the shutdown fall out of the data comparisons.
Fed officials have said they won’t adjust policy based on short-term jumps in inflation readings. Chairman Jerome Powell told CBS’ “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired Sunday evening that he does not expect any interest rate hikes this year. (<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/13/us-consumer-price-index-march-2021.html">source</a>)
</blockquote>
The trend of rising prices for goods and services is going to continue, and as long as there are checks coming from the Federal Reserve, it will only speed the process, because the issue is not one of an actual rise in the objective value of the services in question, but because the means of exchange is progressively worth less than what it was before.
Eventually, the US dollar is going to be in for a severe day of reckoning, and it will affect the global financial system in ways that will cause a political upheaval. But until that time comes, things will get more expensive, the people poorer, and angrier, and likely lead to social instability and violence.
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armageddon Prices Skyrocket, Plan Continual Ascent For The Rest Of The Year

One of the most destructive aspects of modern monetary policy is that, as it has been said and known for all of history, printing money do...

A bill on studying reparations is getting a House vote 30 years in the making

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The House Judiciary Committee is preparing for a vote on reparations that has been 32 years in the making.
Wednesday, the committee will mark up and vote on <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/40/text">HR 40</a> — a bill sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) that would create a 13-person federal commission to study American slavery, its effects, and what the government might do to mitigate those effects. After completing its study, the commission would be required to issue recommendations on possible “forms of rehabilitation or restitution” — essentially, reparations — to Congress.
Reparations, generally interpreted as financial compensation to descendants of enslaved people, have historically received little support. According to a July 2020 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/americans-support-black-lives-matter-but-resist-shifts-of-police-funds-or-removal-of-statues-of-confederate-generals-or-presidents-who-were-enslavers/2020/07/21/02d22468-cab0-11ea-91f1-28aca4d833a0_story.html">Washington Post/ABC News</a> poll, reparations aren’t overwhelmingly supported by Democrats: 53 percent of Democrats approve of them. And there’s almost no support for reparations — just 6 percent — in the GOP.
Generally, critics (including many GOP lawmakers) have argued reparations are prohibitively expensive, with <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/06/15/black-reparations-and-the-racial-wealth-gap/">Duke University economist William Darity Jr. and Artefactual founder Kirsten Mullen</a> estimating they would cost the federal government between $10 trillion and $12 trillion. Other opponents claim they would force Americans with no history of benefiting from enslavement to pay for the moral crimes of others.
Supporters argue the federal government would be capable of making such a large payment, and say this latter view ignores the benefits created by generational wealth and the negative effects of present-day systemic racism that has its roots in slavery. Specifically, advocates for HR 40 are promoting the idea of reparations as an important tool, not only to finally atone for the moral ills of slavery, but also to close current gaps between white and Black Americans <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/17/21284527/systemic-racism-black-americans-9-charts-explained">in things like wealth and homeownership</a>.
For instance, the average white family is more than 10 times wealthier than an average Black family, and white non-college graduates have more wealth than Black college graduates, according an April 2020 report from the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/bigideas/why-we-need-reparations-for-black-americans/">Brookings Institution</a> on the need for reparations. As the <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/black-white-wage-gaps-are-worse-today-than-in-2000/">Economic Policy Institute</a> has explained, there is a similar gap between the wages of Black and white workers — making it extremely difficult for labor alone to close that wealth gap.
Some policy experts and lawmakers see reparations as an effective way around this problem — and have for some time. The earliest version of HR 40 was first introduced in the House by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) in 1989, before the youngest current member of the House was even born. The Korean War veteran and civil rights icon brought his proposal back up for consideration every year until he retired in 2017.
Now, Lee is leading the charge to push it through Congress. It is expected to face Republican opposition in committee, and — given that not all members of the slim Democratic House majority support the idea of reparations — it’s uncertain whether the bill will make it to a vote. Should a successful floor vote happen, Senate Democrats seem unlikely to find the 10 Republican votes they would need to pass it in the Senate, given the fact that GOP leaders like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have been open about their opposition to reparations in the past.
Still, that HR 40 will receive a committee vote for the first time in its history is a reflection of how attitudes toward reparations, and racial justice more broadly, are changing.
In 1999, just 19 percent of Americans in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/americans-support-black-lives-matter-but-resist-shifts-of-police-funds-or-removal-of-statues-of-confederate-generals-or-presidents-who-were-enslavers/2020/07/21/02d22468-cab0-11ea-91f1-28aca4d833a0_story.html">an ABC News poll</a> approved of compensation for Black Americans. The July 2020 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/americans-support-black-lives-matter-but-resist-shifts-of-police-funds-or-removal-of-statues-of-confederate-generals-or-presidents-who-were-enslavers/2020/07/21/02d22468-cab0-11ea-91f1-28aca4d833a0_story.html">Washington Post/ABC News poll</a> showed that 31 percent of respondents now support reparations. As worldwide civil rights protests erupted following the killing of George Floyd, <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/6/20/18692949/congress-reparations-slavery-discrimination-hr-40-coates-glover">renewed interest was paid to the issue</a> — and it became a topic of debate during the 2020 presidential race, with President Joe Biden’s campaign platform including the creation of a commission to study reparations.
That interest has been sustained. And now, after more than three decades spent languishing in the House, HR 40 will get a committee vote.
If passed, HR 40 would establish a “<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/40/text">Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans</a>,” composed of 13 members, with three to be chosen by the president, three by the speaker of the House, one by the president pro tempore of the Senate, and another six by “major” civil rights groups “that have historically championed the cause of reparatory justice.”
The commission would be charged with determining institutional culpability against former enslaved Africans and their American descendants across the public and private sector. It would also be required to interrogate how practices such as redlining, educational funding discrepancies, and predatory financial practices — alongside enslavement — have exacerbated racial opportunity and wealth gaps.
At the conclusion of their work, the commission would then report “appropriate remedies” to Congress, based on its findings on institutional enslavement and racism.
Lee, the bill’s sponsor, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/us/house-reparations-bill.html">told the New York Times</a> she sees it as a step forward in addressing America’s problematic and racist past.
“We think it will be cleansing for this nation, and we think that it will be a step moving America forward to see us debate this question on the floor of the House,” Lee said.
Ideological notions against reparations are still the norm. As HR 40 came up for a committee hearing in 2019, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he opposed reparations because “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/18/politics/mitch-mcconnell-opposes-reparations-slavery">none of us currently living are responsible</a>” for slavery. He further said landmark civil rights legislation in the 1960s and the election of President Barack Obama were examples of the US dealing with its “original sin of slavery.”
That’s where most Americans seem to be on the issue. Sixty-three percent of Americans oppose reparations, including a whopping 93 percent of Republicans, <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v1clZFRQX3VBvmMLwv26Pzgv7wb19phCHTABTQ-HRtU/edit#gid=0">the Post/ABC poll</a> found. It’s not popular.
But <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/6/20/18692949/congress-reparations-slavery-discrimination-hr-40-coates-glover">many supporters of reparations, and lawmakers like Lee</a>, have argued that reparations are less about correcting a past wrong, and more about negating the past’s effect on the present. They tie the exclusion of Black people from the GI Bill, and the racist ways the construction of the highway system broke up Black communities, with present-day issues, including the use of cash bail and policing being overwhelmingly concentrated in majority-minority areas. The argument is that by compensating the Black population for a long history of exclusionary government policy, they can gain better housing, educational, and financial footholds to have full access to opportunity.
It’s important to note that HR 40 would not institute reparations — and that even if a commission were to recommend them, the federal government might not act on that recommendation. But its backers see it as a first step in the right direction.
“The centuries-long injustices of slavery and its legacy, fueling the persistence of racial inequality today, remain largely unaccounted for,” said Human Rights Watch advocate Dreisen Heath <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/09/us-congress-advances-slavery-reparations-bill#">in a press release</a>. “As states, cities, and other institutions pursue reckonings, Congress should step up to lead the nation in accounting and atoning for the ongoing impact of slavery. The committee vote on H.R. 40 is a crucial step in that direction.”
Some reparations advocates — including Duke University’s William Darity Jr. — have called for HR 40 to be further refined so that it might constitute a larger step toward reparations. Darity told the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/reparations-commission-biden-jackson-lee/2021/04/13/f146e92c-9bec-11eb-8a83-3bc1fa69c2e8_story.html">Washington Post</a> the bill should specify exactly who would be eligible for any possible reparations, and should include the creation of a plan to narrow the racial wealth gap.
“Unless the markup process results in major revision of the bill, it will not propel our nation toward true reparations,” Darity told the Post.
At the moment, Biden has not outlined any further vision for reparations beyond what was in his platform; however, Lee said HR 40 has an ally in the president. After leaders from the Congressional Black Caucus met with Biden Tuesday, Lee told reporters that Biden indicated support for HR 40 and its study on reparations.
“We have heard from not only the president but the White House, and his team, that he is committed to this concept,” Lee said. “We are grateful for that because we are now doing something historically tomorrow that’s never been done.”
Overall, it’s clear that there remains — and will remain — a lot of debate as to whether reparations are a good idea, both in regard to their moral virtue and implementation. HR 40 aims to change that, by arming lawmakers with actionable data and research on the direct causes of historical racial opportunity gaps and the impacts they have on society today.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/14/22384080/hr-40-black-reparations-vote-house-judiciary-committee">https://www.vox.com/2021/4/14/22384080/hr-40-black-reparations-vote-house-judiciary-committee</a>

vox A bill on studying reparations is getting a House vote 30 years in the making

The House Judiciary Committee is preparing for a vote on reparations that has been 32 years in the making. Wednesday, the committee will m...

Like it or not, you should probably start paying attention to bitcoin

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Coinbase, a platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, became the first major cryptocurrency company to go public in the United States on Wednesday. It’s a clear sign that crypto is firmly in the mainstream of the finance industry — and it’s not going away anytime soon.
Coinbase stock — which is trading under the ticker COIN — ended its first day at $328 per share, putting the newly public company at a more than $85 billion valuation on Wednesday evening. Throughout the day, Coinbase’s price stayed far above the <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coinbase-reference-price-set-at-250-as-it-prepares-to-go-public-wednesday-11618353455">$250 reference price</a> that the Nasdaq set before trading began, and at one point swung <a href="https://apnews.com/article/coinbase-stock-ipo-price-c3b802074ce4349b5bccf9ba43022800">as high as</a> $429. Ahead of the listing, the value of several cryptocurrencies <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/14/tech/dogecoin-crypocurrency-intl-hnk/index.html">also surged</a>, with bitcoin hitting <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/14/bitcoin-btc-and-ether-eth-prices-rally-ahead-of-coinbase-listing.html">an all-time high</a>.
In other words, if you’ve been pressing snooze on the bitcoin and blockchain conversation for the past decade, now’s probably a good time to wake up. The company’s direct listing on the Nasdaq is a “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/business/coinbase-ipo-stock.html">coming-out party”</a> for cryptocurrencies, according to Erin Griffith of the New York Times. The tech policy site Protocol similarly <a href="https://www.protocol.com/newsletters/sourcecode/coinbase-direct-listing?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1">declared</a> Wednesday as the “biggest day yet for the crypto world.” As Paul Vigna, a Wall Street Journal cryptocurrency reporter, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/video/what-coinbases-public-debut-means-for-bitcoin-and-crypto/0AB5F94E-DBBD-49D4-B666-CFB193030584.html">recently said</a>, “Not only does it make crypto and bitcoin a little more acceptable, it now gives investors another way to invest in bitcoin.”
Even if the average investor doesn’t want to buy or sell cryptocurrencies on their own, Coinbase’s direct listing means average investors can invest in the cryptocurrency economy by investing in one of its biggest players.
If you’re still catching up on the trend, cryptocurrencies are <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/virtual-currencies">virtual currencies</a> built using blockchain technology, a type of decentralized database that can record interactions, like purchases, across a network of devices. Instead of trusting one system to record all these interactions, a record is kept on every single node of the network.
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, created in 2009 by an anonymous developer under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, and is still the most prominent example of a payment method that’s facilitated along the blockchain. Here’s how Vox’s Timothy Lee <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/11/3/18053490/what-is-bitcoin">explained</a> bitcoin back in 2015:
<blockquote>
Like MasterCard or PayPal, it allows money to be transmitted electronically. But Bitcoin is different from these conventional payment networks in two important ways. First, the Bitcoin network is <a href="http://www.vox.com/cards/bitcoin/who-is-in-charge-of-bitcoin">fully decentralized.</a> The MasterCard network is owned and operated by MasterCard Inc. But there is no Bitcoin Inc. Instead, thousands of computers around the world process Bitcoin transactions in a peer-to-peer fashion. Second, MasterCard and PayPal payments are based on conventional currencies such as the US dollar. In contrast, the Bitcoin network has its own unit of value, which is called the bitcoin.
</blockquote>
Since then, lots of cryptocurrencies have popped up, and they’ve become <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/">their own economic sector</a>, potentially worth trillions of dollars. Cryptocurrencies have historically been very volatile, but in recent years, more <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fidelity-square-coinbase-launch-bitcoin-trade-group-11617710402">traditional financial institutions</a>, including <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currency-consensys/blockchain-firm-consensys-raises-65-million-from-j-p-morgan-others-idUSKBN2C01M8">banks</a>, investors, and regulators, have increasingly taken notice.
Here’s where Coinbase comes in. While people can <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coinbase-ipo-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-watershed-moment-in-crypto-11618350086">buy cryptocurrencies directly</a> — one individual buyer selling it to another — Coinbase aims to make the process easier by becoming a platform for people to buy, trade, and sell several of these various currencies, including bitcoin. Following its founding in 2012, the company has become the largest of these cryptocurrency platforms by volume in the US, and the second-largest in the world, according to <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coinbase-ipo-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-watershed-moment-in-crypto-11618350086#:~:text=Coinbase%20is%20the%20second%20largest,%2C%20according%20to%20CoinMarketCap.com.">Marketwatch</a>. In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1679788/000162828021003168/coinbaseglobalincs-1.htm">reported</a> that it had about 43 million retail users and that it had raised $3.4 billion in revenue up until the end of 2020, with most of those funds coming from transaction fees.
“What Netscape did for the internet in 1995 is what Coinbase will do for crypto and blockchain in 2021,” Roger Lee, a general partner at the investment firm Battery Ventures, which has invested in Coinbase, <a href="https://www.protocol.com/newsletters/protocol-fintech/coinbase-earnings-preview?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1">told Protocol</a> last week. “The internet was very opaque and a very abstract concept to most people in the mid-’90s. Netscape created a lens through which to interact with it.”
Starting on Wednesday, regular investors now have the opportunity to get their own stake in this marketplace. While the company has gone public, it’s doing so as a direct listing, not a public offering (<a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/6/20/18693327/slack-direct-listing-silicon-valley-wall-street-ipo">you can read more on what that means here</a>). Regardless, it’s a big step for cryptocurrencies as they become a more recognized part of the economy.
Coinbase’s public listing is just the latest milestone on cryptocurrency’s journey from nerdy curiosity to mainstream investing opportunity and payment method. Since 2018, Square, the payment processing service, has let most of its payment app Cash App users <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/31/jack-dorseys-square-launches-bitcoin-trading-for-all-cash-app-users-except-those-in-four-states.html">buy and sell bitcoin</a>. And lately, more and more of them have been doing so. Square CFO Amrita Ahuja <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/24/square-saw-1-million-users-buy-bitcoin-for-first-time-in-january-cfo.html">said</a> in February that 3 million people did transactions in bitcoin on the app last year, while 1 million did so in January 2021 alone.
Similarly, PayPal began to allow users to buy cryptocurrencies through their accounts last year. The platform <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/30/22357246/paypal-buy-with-bitcoin-litecoin-ethereum-crypto-checkout">expanded</a> its cryptocurrency capabilities this March and started allowing users to exchange their crypto holdings into US dollars in order to pay for things, which is just one step short of allowing users to make purchases with actual cryptocurrency. Paypal has also indicated that users of Venmo, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/24/venmo-has-40-million-users-paypal-reveals-for-first-time.html">which it owns</a>, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/04/venmo-to-gain-crypto-budgeting-bill-pay-and-honey-integrations-this-year/">will soon</a> be able to transact in cryptocurrencies, too.
More broadly, applications for blockchain technology are appearing in a growing number of domains. The blockchain is key to the digital art being sold as NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, that have become <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22313936/non-fungible-tokens-crypto-explained">more popular in recent weeks</a>. Blockchain technology has also popped up in <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-launch-excelsior-pass-help-fast-track-reopening-businesses-and">vaccine passport apps</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/6/21125636/iowa-caucus-app-election-technology-voatz">voting technology</a>, and even managing supply chains. At the same time, the use of blockchain technology has also raised a wide range of challenges, including the <a href="https://fortune.com/2021/04/06/cyber-thefts-bitcoin/">risk of hacking</a>, lack of regulation, and concern that its intense computing requirements <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/climate/nft-climate-change.html">can come with a whopping environmental footprint</a>.
So even if you think bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and the blockchain are weird or confusing, you should expect to see them continue to creep into everyday life.
Update, April 14, 5:10 pm ET: This piece was updated to include the news that Coinbase went public and to include its end-of-day trading price.
<a href="http://www.vox.com/open-sourced">Open Sourced</a> is made possible by Omidyar Network. All Open Sourced content is editorially independent and produced by our journalists.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22383757/bitcoin-coinbase-ipo-crypto-ethereum-cryptocurrency">https://www.vox.com/recode/22383757/bitcoin-coinbase-ipo-crypto-ethereum-cryptocurrency</a>

vox Like it or not, you should probably start paying attention to bitcoin

Coinbase, a platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, became the first major cryptocurrency company to go public in...

Senate Democrats use Asian American hate crimes bill as key test of Republican obstruction

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VFpMAcvQuYJkDv1KxSeo30vA0QY=/0x602:6240x3869/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22441943/1310799203.jpg" /></div>
Senate Democrats this week are putting forth a key test on the limits of Republican obstruction: A bill aimed at combating anti-Asian hate crimes.
<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/728?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22hirono%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=1">The legislation</a>, which is relatively narrow in scope, would designate a Justice Department official to review Covid-19 related hate crimes, and calls on the agency to provide reporting guidance for regional law enforcement bodies.
It’s a pretty limited bill, meant to signal the federal government’s commitment to <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/22338464/how-to-help-fight-anti-asian-racism">protecting Asian Americans</a>, who have faced increased racist violence over the past year. But a vote on it could also have broader effects: If Republicans block it, that would provide more fodder to Democrats looking to build a case for eliminating the filibuster, and suggest the GOP is unwilling to condemn anti-Asian racism outright.
Conversely, the bill could also offer a rare opening for bipartisanship: In fact, the No Hate Act, an even stronger piece of legislation aimed at improving hate crimes reporting, has both Democratic and Republican support, and could get added as an amendment.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), a chief sponsor of the legislation, spoke about the impact <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/4/21/21221007/anti-asian-racism-coronavirus-xenophobia">the hate incidents in the last year</a> have had on her during a press conference. “As an [Asian American and Pacific Islander] person, it does give me pause,” she said. “Before, when I was walking around outside, I would have my earbuds on and I’d be listening to books on tape. I would never do that now.”
The bill on Wednesday cleared an important procedural hurdle: Lawmakers voted 92-6 to open debate on it, which means that they’ll now consider possible amendments. The dynamic to watch will be just how much bipartisan support these amendments end up getting, and whether they deter members of either party from backing the final legislation.
Depending on how things shake out, this could be a unique opportunity for bipartisanship — while also serving as a chance for the Senate to send a resounding message denouncing anti-Asian hate.
The Senate’s hate crimes bill is quite modest: By allocating someone to the Justice Department who specifically focuses on Covid-19-related hate crimes, it would bolster the agency’s focus on tracking and prosecuting such incidents, which is important, but not exactly a sweeping change.
The bill also pushes for better guidance from the DOJ for city and state law enforcement when it comes to online hate crimes reporting, and public education campaigns that help potential victims connect to resources. Additionally, the legislation urges Attorney General Merrick Garland and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to ensure that discriminatory language, like “China virus,” isn’t used to address the pandemic.
Despite its limited approach, the bill could help raise the profile of this issue. “One of the greatest barriers to effective handling of hate crimes is resources,” says Brendan Lantz, director of the Hate Crime Research and Policy Institute at Florida State University. “If this additional review translates to additional resources and guidance, it has the potential to make a difference.”
In prioritizing this legislation, Democrats are also making an important point about the need to unequivocally call out anti-Asian hate, as incidents targeting Asian Americans have surged in the past year following the Trump administration’s decision to use racist language to describe the coronavirus and its origins. <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/2020-2021-national-report/">The organization Stop AAPI Hate</a> has received nearly 3,800 reports of such incidents, though it’s important to note that some of them likely wouldn’t meet current federal standards to be classified as hate crimes.
In the last few months, shootings in Georgia, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22335666/asian-spa-shooting-atlanta">which killed six women of Asian descent</a>, as well as videos capturing brutal attacks on Asian American elders, have renewed focus on this issue as well.
“There has never been a situation in my lifetime when I have felt this level of fear, of vulnerability, than I do right now,” Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) recently said.
Now that the Senate has voted successfully to proceed to the bill, one of the amendments that has bipartisan support is the <a href="https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5103">Jabara-Heyer No Hate Act</a>, sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS). Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has already backed the measure, according to an aide, and some Republicans have indicated a willingness to support it as well, because they feel hate crime reporting is currently unsatisfactory. <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/politics/millions-are-victims-of-hate-crimes-though-many-never-report-them/">Many studies have found that thousands of hate crimes likely go unreported each year</a> for a number of reasons, including lack of trust in law enforcement.
The No Hate Act would make reporting options more robust by including grant money for local and state law enforcement agencies to set up hotlines for hate crimes, and provide better training around hate crime tracking. It would also push for offenders who are convicted to serve out community service and educational courses related to the community affected.
“The No Hate Act would improve reporting on hate crimes and promote a better, community-centered response to such incidences,” says Becky Monroe, the senior director of the Fighting Hate and Bias program at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Both the bill as currently written and the No Hate Act are unlikely to fully address the root causes of hate crimes, though they could provide a more complete picture of how many people are being affected, helping to better combat them.
“Education, public messaging — particularly from elected officials — and other community-based programs aimed at reconciliation and repair are more likely to reduce the incidents of hate crimes,” says Columbia University law professor Katherine Franke. Incremental changes, meanwhile, could help provide context for the scale of the problem.
This vote is the first in a series that Senate Democrats have planned for this spring, and could reveal how much Republicans intend to obstruct notable Democratic priorities. Other upcoming votes on the docket include one on the Democrats’ sweeping voting rights bill, HR 1, and additional ones on gun control and immigration reform.
Whether Republicans reject the hate crimes legislation could be a sign of just how intent they are on blocking Democratic measures regardless of the issue: Some Republicans have suggested this bill could be a federal overreach that puts pressure on states to comply with reporting requirements.
“I’d love to see a bipartisan result here. But in some ways it goes too far, in our view,” <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/12/democrats-gop-asian-american-hate-crimes-bill-481052">Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) previously told Politico</a>.
Others, meanwhile, note that this is a subject area where both parties could actually work together to advance some reforms. “I’m trying to see if we can’t get this resolved and take this up tomorrow,” Moran told the Washington Post’s Paul Kane on Tuesday.
Democrats are watching this vote keenly, as the debate over the filibuster continues: Because of this procedural relic, if lawmakers from the minority party opt to block a bill, it will need 60 votes to pass — a near-impossible threshold for Democrats to meet on priorities like the $15 minimum wage, in a 50-50 Senate.
This bill — depending on how it’s treated — could offer more ammunition for Democrats who have been arguing for doing away with the filibuster, or, interestingly, provide a chance for Republicans and Democrats to actually agree on a piece of legislation.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/14/22382044/asian-american-hate-crimes-senate-bill">https://www.vox.com/2021/4/14/22382044/asian-american-hate-crimes-senate-bill</a>

vox Senate Democrats use Asian American hate crimes bill as key test of Republican obstruction

Senate Democrats this week are putting forth a key test on the limits of Republican obstruction: A bill aimed at combating anti-Asian hate ...