New Zealand – praag.org

Bitcoin Smashes the legendary $ 15 000 mark. Now what?

Bitcoin has smashed the legendary $ 15 000 mark just after noon (SAST) today, the 7th of December. With every YouTube video and website advertising a wide variety of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency-related services, the average, normal individual is left to wonder what to make of this exciting and strange phenomenon in our modern tech-society.

Nordea Bank AB, the largest financial group in Northern Europe, had their chief executive calling it a “joke”. Many more finance professionals and long-time players have raised their eyebrows in severe skepticism, and given the nature of the entity, investors have plenty of reasons to be concerned.

Crypto fever has caught on in South Africa as well. As Bitcoin is a currency, it has many different prices connected to various currencies. The Rand-Bitcoin (BTCZAR) price of a single Bitcoin broke through the R 200 000 barrier on the morning of December 7, although volatility remains high with violent fluctuations in every market. On a granular level, the BTCZAR singular price has pushed as far as R 230 000 in individual markets such as Luno, a South African-based Bitcoin exchange.

South African citizens are embracing the plethora of opportunities that Bitcoin presents. Citizens can even pay their traffic fines using Bitcoin through certain companies. A specific company, Fines4U, is not adopting Bitcoin in the more traditional sense which has been seen in other countries such as Japan however, where direct payments are allowed. Rather, this is a creative attempt to accumulate Bitcoin without direct investment. This approach represents a new wave of individual adoption where individuals are thinking out of the box in order to participate in the cryptocurrency mania, with some South African I.T. employers offering their staff bonuses and even salaries in Bitcoin.

Nona Creative, a digital consultancy and product development firm in Cape Town, with the slogan “Web Apps for Humans”, recently purchased a significant chunk of shares in what it claims to possibly be the first Bitcoin equity transaction in the country ever. CEO, Mike Scott, said: “We firmly believe in Bitcoin and wanted to show just how effortless it is to conduct normal business transactions using cryptocurrency.” Clearly, Bitcoin is becoming more and more integrated into our mainstream financial society and shows no signs of becoming irrelevant.

Cryptocurrencies have been carefully crafted to avoid fitting into any conventionally-defined security categories. It cannot be a commodity; it has no physical and tangible form. It isn’t a derivative either; again, it simply sits in cyberspace. Regulators are struggling to even begin regulating cryptocurrencies as they have no geographical source. Korea, for example, has banned the exchange of Bitcoin but is finding it incredibly difficult to enforce the ban and it hasn’t realised a significant decrease in the crazy growth in the relevant local market at all. At the time of writing this, Korea’s local market was valuing a single Bitcoin at $ 19 000.

Bitcoin and other cryptos are here to stay it would seem. They are also near impossible to regulate right now. How can an individual and society as a whole benefit from this new technology?

Firstly, what makes Bitcoin so great? There is clearly a general consensus that cryptocurrencies are simply pockets of hot air. Bitcoin’s price has no grounding in anything besides sentiment. It has no influence on interest rates, inflation trends or any other macro-economic indicators. The true innovation, as propagated by numerous financial and tech experts, is not Bitcoin itself. It lies in the mechanism upon which Bitcoin is built, the blockchain. Not going into the technical details, blockchain technology allows any cryptocurrency to function as a gigantic, collective and completely transparent public ledger. Nobody can lie about their Bitcoin transactions. Every time a crypto is sold or bought, every single holder of all the other Bitcoins in the world has their “ledgers” updated. The future financial applications are fantastic, indisputably so.

Secondly, there is a clear upward trend in the price of Bitcoin, despite the wild volatility levels – rapid up and down price movements are intrinsic to an entity that has no other driving force besides investor sentiment – and more and more people are investing in cryptocurrencies as Bitcoin’s market capitalisation has surpassed Warren Buffett’s total value and the entire New Zealand GDP. There is opportunity in investing here, but around every corner scams and shady businesses have sprung up around the craze. If a website has long, complicated user agreements and makes it easy for a new user to swipe their credit card, it is best to be avoided. Etoro and IQ Option spring to mind as gambling service sites masquerading as legitimate financial institutions, whilst Bitcoin pyramid schemes such as BitClub Network openly admit to being pyramid schemes. Even simply buying and holding Bitcoin is risky, although the clear upwards trend has the world in awe.

Bitcoin has grown close to 1 800% in 2017 alone. Since its inception, it has grown from $ 0.01 in 2009 to $ 15 000 today (2017/12/07), totalling 29 000 000 %. That is 29 million percent. Most of the growth has occurred in 2017. It is the greatest modern investment bubble of our time, because it has no intrinsic value. It is bits of code in cyberspace, at its core. Bubbles can burst, and the brutal price movements make speculation very risky.

The verdict? Avoid the scams and the pyramid schemes. Buying and holding Bitcoin can be good this year end. It has repeatedly defied expectations. But bubbles are always profitable until they are not, and this is a bubble through and through. Caution must be exercised when investing in Bitcoin, and no sane-minded investor should invest a significant proportion of their capital in an entity such as this. Moreover, it would be inadvisable to park cash in the cryptocloud for too long. As for the innovation behind the cryptocurrency mania, it is here to stay and we should welcome it. A worldwide, completely transparent, constantly updated public ledger seems to be a very refreshing concept.

Please note that this article is NOT intended to be used as financial advice and the author cannot be held responsible for any financial or any other losses as a result of Bitcoin-related interactions. Stay safe, don’t gamble.

Red card struck from Bismarck’s record

A red card against Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis in a weekend rugby test between South Africa and New Zealand has been removed from his record.

“The judicial officer found that the decision made by referee Romain Poite to issue a yellow card as a result of the tackle by Du Plessis on Dan Carter was wrong, as it was within the laws of the game,” Southern hemisphere rugby body Sanzar said on Monday.

“No further sanction was imposed on the player. However, the second yellow card remains on his record for the remainder of the Rugby Championship.”

Du Plessis received a yellow card in the 17th minute of the Rugby Championship match in Auckland on Saturday, for what proved to be a perfectly legitimate tackle on New Zealand flyhalf Dan Carter.

Poite ignored the advice of the Television Match Official (TMO) and deemed his tackle to have been high and without arms.

The International Rugby Board admitted in a statement on Sunday that Poite had made the wrong decision in carding Du Plessis for the tackle.

“Just as players and coaches make mistakes, the decision was an unfortunate case of human error by the match officials who, having reviewed the match, fully recognise and accept that they made a mistake in the application of the law,” the IRB said.

“All match official performances are thoroughly reviewed and assessed by the IRB and are considered when appointments are made for future test matches.”

Du Plessis copped a second yellow card in the 42nd minute for elbowing flanker Liam Messam in the throat, which resulted in a red card.

Judicial officer Terry Willis removed the red card from Du Plessis’ disciplinary record following a judicial hearing on Monday.

Gerrie Swart appeared at the hearing — which was originally scheduled for Tuesday — on behalf of Du Plessis, via teleconference.

“Submissions were made on behalf of the player and the video footage was reviewed,” Sanzar said. – Sapa

‘Frenzied bloody massacre made no sense’

A third man has died from injuries suffered during a bloody ambush on foreign trekkers in Papua New Guinea which has rocked the tourism industry, police said Monday.

The man, a porter for the group of Australian and New Zealand hikers on the remote Black Cat track, sustained machete wounds in last week’s violent assault and died in hospital in Lae, police spokesman Superintendent Dominic Kakas said.

Two other local guides were hacked to death with machetes in the harrowing attack in Morobe province on September 10, and several others were taken to hospital with serious wounds.

Four of the eight tourists were also hurt, including one who was speared in the leg.

PNG police arrested four men on Sunday — three in the town of Wau and a fourth in nearby Salamauan — in connection with the attack but two other suspects are still on the run.

“They are being interviewed now,” Kakas told AFP of the four, adding that no further arrests had yet been made.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has warned that the crimes will attract the death penalty, and the family of one of the slain porters, Kerry Rarovu, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation they felt “the criminals must die the same as Kerry died”.

Christie King, the Australian leader of the hiking group, has described the attack as a “frenzied bloody massacre which made no sense”.

“I am so sorry for these men to have received such terrible injuries,” she told the ABC, which reported that it was doubtful any of the injured porters would walk again.

“I’m worried about my future. I’m going to be paralysed maybe, I don’t know,” one of the wounded men told the broadcaster.

Crime in Papua New Guinea is rampant, including in the capital Port Moresby where in June four Chinese nationals were hacked to death, with one reportedly beheaded and the others dismembered.

Peter Vincent, chief of PNG’s Tourism Promotion Authority, has condemned the attack and told The Post Courier that the Black Cat trail was closed “until further notice”. – Sapa/AFP

Trekkers attacked by Papua New Guinean bandits tell of horror

Hikers on the Black Cat Track in Papua New Guinea

A group of Australian and New Zealand trekkers brutally attacked by bandits in Papua New Guinea told Thursday of their harrowing ordeal and horror as two porters were butchered.

The eight tourists were in their tents on the remote jungle-clad Black Cat Track in the lawless Pacific nation’s northern Morobe province when a mob of six armed men struck at dusk on Tuesday.

Two porters were hacked to death with machetes and four of the Australians were injured, including one who was speared through the leg.

“It started to rain and some of us were inside the tents when there was a whole lot of noise, shouting. I thought the boys had found a bush kangaroo, an animal or something like that,” one of the survivors, Nick Bennett, told Channel Nine after arriving in the capital Port Moresby.

“Next thing, I thought ‘what’s going on’, I put my head outside tent and smack — I thought I’d been shot actually,” he said of being hit with a rifle butt.

“Blood just erupted out of my head and I looked up and I saw this guy with a mask on standing over me, and then the whole thing unfolded.

“They were laying into the porter boys. I realised they were butchering the porters. It was just appalling and we’re very fortunate.”

Another survivor, Peter Stevens, told Australian Associated Press he and the rest of the group were forced to lie on the ground as the men ransacked their backpacks, stealing passports and other items.

“They then laid into us with bush knives, hitting us with the flats of the knives,” Stevens said.

“You can’t tell whether they’re going to hit you with the flat side. Some people were cut.”

Stevens said two of the attackers were clearly on drugs and “they did the most damage”.

The group managed to hike some four hours back to safety, reportedly carrying the porters’ bodies.

Papua Prime Minister Peter O’Neill vowed the tribesmen responsible will face the death penalty if caught and convicted.

“I make no apology whatsoever for the death penalty being the punishment available to be applied for such crimes,” he said in a statement.

While the attack was believed to be a robbery, some reports suggested it could also stem from growing resentment that the booming trekking industry is not giving back to local communities.

Crime in Papua New Guinea is rampant, including in Port Moresby where in June four Chinese nationals were hacked to death, with one reportedly beheaded and the others dismembered.

Brutality against women is particularly endemic, with high rates of domestic violence. In April, a US academic was gang-raped while she was trekking along a jungle trail with her husband and a guide.

The Black Cat Track runs between Wau and Salamaua in northern PNG through leech- and snake-infested jungle with precarious drops and potentially dangerous river crossings.

It was the scene of bitter fighting in 1943, pitting Australian and US troops against Japanese forces. – AFP

Earthquake shakes central New Zealand, damaging homes

Scene from New Zealand after its previous earthquake in 2011

Strong earthquakes shook central New Zealand on Friday, damaging homes, destroying a bridge and sending office workers scrambling for cover in the capital. No serious injuries have been reported.

A magnitude-6.5 temblor struck just after 2:30 p.m. near the small South Island town of Seddon, and at least six aftershocks were 5.0 magnitude or stronger.

Several homes near the epicenter were severely damaged, with chimneys collapsing and roofs caving in, said police spokeswoman Barbara Dunn. She said a bridge was severely damaged on the main highway near Seddon, and that rocks and debris had fallen onto the road. Police closed a section of the highway.

Some buildings in Wellington, the capital, were evacuated, and items were knocked off shelves in places.

Police said a number of people were freed from Wellington elevators that stopped working. The initial temblor also forced the nation’s stock exchange to close for more than an hour.

Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said there was no major damage to the city’s infrastructure or office buildings. She said highways had become clogged as people left the city.

“We think this is business as usual,” she said, “but it is going to take a little while for people to get home tonight.”

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the initial temblor was 94 kilometers (58 miles) west of Wellington at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

A quake of similar strength in the same area three weeks ago broke water mains, smashed windows and downed power lines.

Caroline Little, a seismologist with New Zealand quake monitoring agency GeoNet, said the series of quakes since July had followed an unusual pattern.

“Normally you get a big quake and then the aftershocks get smaller in magnitude,” she said.

Little said the July quake was on a fault line near Seddon that had not previously been mapped. She said it was too early to determine if Friday’s quakes were on that same fault.

A different fault line runs through Wellington, and many in the city fear a major disaster if it were to become active.

New Zealand is part of the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire” that has regular seismic activity. A severe earthquake in the city of Christchurch in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed much of the city’s downtown.

Local authorities issued no tsunami warnings after Friday’s quakes. – AP

New Zealand’s PM defends spy laws

New Zealand knows of al Qaeda-trained activists within the country who need to be monitored, Prime Minister John Key said Thursday amid debate on the need for stronger spy laws.

Key took to the airways to defend legislation that allows the country’s intelligence agency to spy on local residents, saying opponents refused to acknowledge security threats were genuine and needed to be addressed.

“In the real world, in New Zealand, there are people who have been trained in al Qaeda camps,” he told commercial radio.

“(People) who operate out of New Zealand, who are in contact with people overseas, who have gone off to Yemen and other countries to train. That’s the real world, the reality of what we’re dealing with.” Key did not provide any further details on the potential al Qaeda threat in the remote South Pacific nation, which sent a small military force to Afghanistan but played no part in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

New Zealand’s intelligence service, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), is currently barred from spying on New Zealand citizens or residents.

Key wants the restriction removed, saying it needs to cooperate more closely with agencies such as the police and military in an increasingly complex cyber-security environment.

Groups ranging from the Law Society to Internet giants Facebook and Google have raised concerns about the proposal, while “hacktivist” group Anonymous crashed Key’s website this week in protest.

One of the strongest opponents is Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, who received an apology from Key last year after revelations the GCSB illegally spied on him before he was arrested for alleged online piracy.

The Auckland-based German national mocked Key’s assertion, suggesting al Qaeda’s presence in New Zealand was most likely limited to “Kiwi kids watching ’how to make a bomb’ on YouTube’s terrorist channel”.

“The only terrorists living in New Zealand are those who terrorised my family to impress Hollywood and the White House,” he tweeted, referring to the armed police raid on his Auckland mansion in January last year.

The Green Party accused Key of scaremongering in an attempt to justify changes that would have a “chilling” effect on the privacy of New Zealanders.

“John Key is trying to frighten the New Zealand public into submission as he pushes through his law to strip away their rights,” Greens co-leader Russel Norman said.

The spy bill is currently being debated by parliament, where it is expected to pass by a single vote. – Sapa/AFP

11-year old New Zealand boy fathers child to 36-year old woman

An 11-year-old New Zealand boy was reported Saturday to have fathered a child with the 36-year-old mother of a school friend, raising questions on why women cannot be charged with rape in the country.

Counsellors working in the area of child sexual abuse said the case highlighted a lack of attention to women as potential offenders, according to the New Zealand Herald, which reported the story.

The case has also prompted an examination of the law, under which the crime of rape applies only to men.

Justice Minister Judith Collins said she would investigate, the paper reported.

“This case raises an important point. I will seek advice from officials on whether or not a law change is required,” Collins said.

The woman and boy, whose names were not released, live in the main North Island district of Auckland.

The boy’s school principal told the New Zealand Herald that he was shocked when the child told him what was happening.

“You won’t be very happy with me,” he recalled the boy saying late last year. He said he had been having sex with his friend’s mother “and it needs to stop”.

The organisation Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse said if the case is proved then the woman should be held accountable.

Under New Zealand law, the crime of rape applies only to men and carries a maximum jail sentence of 20 years.

Women who force a male to have sex face a charge of sexual violation which carries a maximum 14-year sentence.

According to the newspaper, government welfare officials — who took the baby into care about two months ago — confirmed they were dealing with a case at the boy’s school and that it was before the courts, but refused to comment further. The police also refused to comment.

The Herald reported that the young father, who has now turned 12, was also understood to have been taken into care.- AFP

New Zealand, China to drop US dollar

New Zealand—Seeking to help its exporters, New Zealand is negotiating with China to make their currencies directly convertible, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister John Key said.

Most of New Zealand’s exports to China are agricultural products—particularly milk powder, meat and wool—while most of its imports from there are computers, mobile phones and clothes. Above, sheep shearering near Dunedin, New Zealand in September.

Wellington’s push is aimed at driving down costs for companies that do business with China, which is close to overtaking Australia as New Zealand’s No. 1 trading partner.

Talks are in the “very early stages” and “progressing,” the spokeswoman said, adding that the issue had been brought up during Mr. Key’s visit to China last month.

Officials at the People’s Bank of China didn’t return calls seeking comment.

Direct convertibility between the Chinese yuan and New Zealand dollar would end the need for New Zealand’s companies and currency traders to convert New Zealand dollars or yuan into U.S. dollars when making or receiving payments.

New Zealand’s two-way trade with China totaled 15.3 billion New Zealand dollars (US$12.4 billion) in the year ended April 30, compared with NZ$16.8 billion with Australia, government data showed last week. Most of New Zealand’s exports to China are agricultural products—particularly milk powder, meat and wool—while most of its imports from there are computers, mobile phones and clothes.

Trade relations took a knock earlier this month when China temporarily blocked millions of dollars of New Zealand meat from entering the country, as it bolstered scrutiny of imports after a spate of mainly homegrown food-safety scandals.

Beijing is undertaking a long, gradual campaign to establish the yuan as a more market-oriented, international currency. China’s State Council, or cabinet, said in a statement this month that the country would draft a plan to allow the yuan to become fully convertible. Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China is guiding the currency higher and set the median point of its permitted daily trading band last week at the strongest level ever.

China and Australia reached a deal to allow direct convertibility between the yuan and Australian dollar last month; before that, only the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen were directly exchangeable with the yuan. As China has become more industrialized, it has become Australia’s biggest trading partner and buyer of its commodities, including raw materials such as copper and iron ore.

For New Zealand, “There is no time frame for concluding an agreement,” Mr. Key’s spokeswoman said. “We are aware it took Australia around 12 months to achieve its recent agreement with China.”

China topped Australia as New Zealand’s biggest trading partner from February through April this year, recent monthly government data showed. Trade between the countries has been growing ever since they reached a bilateral free-trade agreement five years ago. That increased trade helped New Zealand, like Australia, weather the economic turmoil in Europe and the fragility of the U.S. recovery, which have weighed on global growth.

As well as lowering business costs, direct convertibility may pave the way for New Zealand’s central bank to diversify some of its foreign-exchange assets into Chinese government bonds. Last month, the Reserve Bank of Australia said it planned to invest up to 5% of its foreign-currency assets—close to two billion Australian dollars (US$1.9 billion)—in Chinese government bonds.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand declined to comment. – WSJ

After win over Australia, Heyneke Meyer still cautious

mike-harris-try — Australia's Mike Harris, left, scores a try as Springbok Andries Bekker, center, attempts a tackle

Coach Heyneke Meyer says South Africa must become more clinical finishers if they hope to beat New Zealand in Soweto next weekend.

The Springboks and the All Blacks square up at the 90,000-capacity Soccer City stadium where late tries by flanker Richie McCaw and full-back Israel Dagg saw the visitors snatch a 29-22 victory two years ago.

South Africa will enter the final-round Rugby Championship clash with their confidence boosted by a five-try 31-8 victory over Australia at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria Saturday.

Right wing Bryan Habana scored three tries and full-back Zane Kirchner and flanker Francois Louw one each as a fired-up Springbok pack set the platform for a convincing first success against the Wallabies in six attempts.

But Meyer was not getting carried away after the Springboks ended a dismal run in which a lucky draw away to Argentina was followed by losses in Australia and New Zealand.

“We have high standards and should have scored three more tries against the Wallabies,” said the coach who transformed the Northern Bulls into southern hemisphere provincial juggernauts and also worked with the Leicester Tigers.

“It is great to come home and win and we have not beaten Australia for some time, but we have to start taking those opportunities,” he told a Loftus media conference.

“While we want to score tries again next week, we are aware of the challenge of playing the world champions. New Zealand are a very settled side and a number of players have been part of their defensive system for ages.

“They are the world champions and one of the reasons for that is their defence. It is going to be really difficult to create and score against them,” stressed Meyer.

“We will need to be more patient with ball in hand and more tactically astute. If we get scoring chances, we will need to make them count. We are hoping that all South Africans get behind us.”

There is cause for Springbok optimism as they could have beaten New Zealand in Dunedin this month instead of losing 21-11 had seven kicks at goals not been fluffed, and endless possession squandered through mindless field kicking.

That defeat led Meyer to drop long-time fly-half Morne Steyn and 20-year-old replacement Johan Goosen recovered from a couple of early missed penalty attempts in his first Test start to regularly bring the backline into play.

Centre Jaco Taute also did well on debut after Francois Steyn withdrew with an ankle injury and flank Francois Louw from English club Bath was the pick of a Springbok pack that impressed in the set piece and loose exchanges.

[ad 1]

Australia lost so many players to injury — centre Adam Ashley-Cooper was the most serious with concussion — that they ran out of replacements and played the last eight minutes a man short.

Full-back Berrick Barnes, centre Pat McCabe and prop Benn Robinson were other first half casualties and No 8 Radike Samo quit during the second half with wrist and shoulder problems.

“We are going to have to bring some players across from Australia which will be challenging because we have already delved so deep into our resources and there are a couple who will not have visas organised,” said coach Robbie Deans.

Australia face Argentina at the Estadio Gigante de Arroyito in Rosario eight hours after the Springboks and All Blacks come face to face in a potential Championship highlight. – AFP