DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Use of Central Bank Currencies

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a measure into law on Friday that bans the use of a central bank digital currency in the state of Florida and further bans the use of CBDCs issued from foreign government reserves and central banks, including China’s digital Yuan.

“I’m just glad we are thinking ahead here in the state of Florida because once this genie is out of the bottle, I think it will be very hard to put back in,” DeSantis said, adding that cash is king, and allows a person to control their own lives.

Read the full story

Ukraine Crisis Will Accelerate China’s Push for the Yuan as an International Currency

Xi Jinping

For years, Beijing has pushed to have the Chinese yuan accepted as an international currency, while countries unfriendly to the U.S. such as Venezuela, Iran, Russia, and North Korea have been looking for a dollar alternative for international trade. Western economic sanctions against Russia are now accelerating talks between Moscow and Beijing about finding “workaround” solutions, as Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell is warning the invasion of Ukraine may step up Beijing’s efforts to cut its dependency on the dollar.

Over the past decade, it has irked Beijing that, in spite of being the number two economic power, China’s currency has never become truly international. Technically, the yuan’s admission to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Special Drawing Rights currencies (SDR) in 2016 makes the yuan an international currency. In practice, however, the yuan has very limited internationalization. Only 10.9% of the SDR is comprised of yuan. The only country which recognizes the yuan as an official currency is China, whereas about 15 countries use the U.S. dollar as their only official currency or an additional official currency.

Read the full story

US Wants Pledge for Stable Chinese Yuan as Talks Resume

Xi Jinping

by Reuters   The United States is seeking to secure a pledge from China it will not devalue its yuan as part of an agreement intended to end the countries’ trade war, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Officials from the two countries, which resumed talks on Tuesday in Washington, are discussing how to address currency policy in a “Memorandum of Understanding” that would form the basis of a U.S.-China trade deal, the news agency reported, citing unnamed people involved in and briefed on the discussions. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had told Reuters last October that currency issues must be part of U.S.-China trade negotiations and that Chinese officials told him that further depreciation of the yuan was not in their interests. The Bloomberg report said the U.S. request for a pledge to keep the yuan’s value stable was aimed at neutralizing any effort by Beijing to devalue its currency to counter American tariffs. Spokesmen for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, which is leading the talks, and the U.S. Treasury, which leads currency policy, could not immediately be reached for comment. Two days of negotiations between deputy-level officials began on Tuesday, led by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish on the…

Read the full story

China Scrambles To Blunt The Force Of Trump’s Tariffs With Over $100 Billion Injection

Xi Jinping

by Hannah Bogorowski   China’s central bank announced late Sunday that it is planning to unleash nearly 700 billion yuan ($107.5 billion) into the financial system by cutting the amount of cash some banks must hold as reserves by 50 basis points. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said on Sunday that the latest reduction in some banks’ reserve requirement ratios (RRRs), currently 16 percent for large banks and 14 percent for smaller banks, will take effect on July 5, according to CNBC. “This move will help support the real economy and stabilize financial markets. We’ve seen rising debt defaults and funding strains on small firms, as well as a sharp adjustment in the capital market,” Beijing’s chief economist at Zhongyuan Bank, Wang Jun said. Sunday’s announcement followed the worst weekly loss in the country’s stock market since February, as President Donald Trump’s threatening trade war looms over the country. China’s net exports were already lagging in growth for the first quarter, according to analysts at CNBC, emphasizing the need for strong and stabilized economy before the tariffs hit. This latest RRR cut will take effect a day before the awaited tariffs will be applied, as China and the United States are…

Read the full story