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Texas Lawmakers Consider Creating Gold-Based Digital Currency for Use by Anyone Anywhere
May 17, 2023
Texas could become the first state in the nation to issue its own digital currency based on gold and silver.
The Texas Senate could vote on Senate Bill 2334 this week. A similar bill in the Texas House, House Bill 4903, did not advance.
If the Texas digital currency proposal becomes law, money could be spent with a debit card by people anywhere in the world, not just within Texas.
The measure would create an alternative to a federal digital dollar, an idea currently being considered by the federal government because of a directive by President Joe Biden.
Some conservatives have said they fear a federal digital dollar could be manipulated by the U.S. government and used to spy on account owners, possibly controlling how and when they can spend their money.
Under the proposed law, the Texas comptroller would create a digital currency based on gold or silver and would be given the authority to mint pure gold or silver coins based on weight.
The coins and the digital currency would be considered legal tender to pay debts and would be “readily transferable … to another person,” according to the bill.
Under the plan, the digital money debit card could be used anywhere debit cards are accepted.
There is no provision to eliminate the use of the federal dollar in Texas. The use of the state’s digital currency would be optional and in addition to using U.S. legal tender.
Under the proposed bill, people outside of Texas could create accounts and use the system wherever they live in the world as long as it’s legal.
How It Would Work
Under the Texas law now under consideration, the Texas comptroller would be required to create a mechanism to use the new gold-or-silver-based digital currency in everyday transactions for goods and services.
The state comptroller, or a trustee hired to oversee the program, would purchase and hold enough gold or silver to cover the units of digital currency set aside for each account holder.
The value of the digital currency account would fluctuate, depending on the current value of gold, which is now hovering around $2,000 per ounce.
So if a user opens an account by purchasing an ounce of gold on a day when gold is valued at $2,000 per ounce, the account value would start at $2,000. As purchases are made, the amount of gold owned by the account holder changes, based on the current value of gold.
If a purchase of $1,000 is made when gold is valued at $2,000 per ounce, the amount of gold held in that user’s name would drop to a half-ounce. The account value also would rise and fall with the changing value of gold.
Users could redeem their digital currency from the state for cash, bullion, or coins of gold or silver, based on the metals’ market rate on the date of redemption.
All the gold and silver purchased would be pooled into a depository account and held at the Texas Bullion Depository (TBD), a state-run agency already in existence where the public can store precious metals in a secure facility vault. It’s located on a 10-acre campus in Leander, just north of the capital city of Austin.
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In today’s society, gold is not always easy to trade for cash.
But Lone Star Tangible Assets, the operator of the TBD, has relationships with well-known commercial bullion banks and investment banks that are capable of providing liquidity for gold owners, according to the company’s website.
TBD offers liquidity on the scale of COMEX, the Commodity Exchange Inc., a major platform for metals trading, according to its website.
The legislation would allow the state to charge transaction fees, similar to those charged by credit card companies and banks. Any profit from those fees would go into the Texas general fund.
Why It’s Legal
The U.S. Congress has the power to coin money and regulate its value. But states also can make their own gold and silver coins, as authorized by Section 10, Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
The Texas bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Bryan Hughes, said that inflation, bank failures, and the specter of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) are financial issues that worry Texans.
“We know that the dollar, of course, lost more value last year—in 2022—than any year since 1980,” Hughes said during a hearing on the bill.
The proposed plan for digital currency in Texas based on gold and silver is “a hedge against inflation, a signal to the Feds that their digital dollar will not control us, and another way to pay at a very basic level,” Hughes said.
Kevin Freeman, an investment expert for 40 years who spoke during an April hearing on the bill, said Texas could dominate the digital currency market, if it becomes the first state to create a workable plan.
Freeman, the host of the Economic War Room podcast, told The Epoch Times that the Texas plan would operate in a way similar to Glint Pay, a London-based payment platform.
Glint Pay purchases gold and holds it in Switzerland for users. The gold owned by each user is tied to a debit card.
When the debit card is used to make a purchase, Glint converts the money, based on the current value of the gold in the user’s account, into the merchant’s local currency and deducts the total from the user’s account balance.
As the value of the held gold fluctuates, so does the value of each user’s account.
Tax and Privacy Implications
The downside to Glint Pay is that people must report and pay taxes on capital gains on gold transactions because those associated with the program are considered private sales of gold, Freeman said.
The Texas bill would allow the state to make its digital currency and coins legal tender, eliminating the need to pay capital gains taxes, he said.
Other states have made silver coins as legal tender, but the coins didn’t function as money that could be used in transactions.
“This is the first bill in modern times that addresses all of the issues and problems,” Freeman said.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/in-depth-texas-lawmakers-consider-creating-gold-based-digital-currency-for-use-by-anyone-anywhere_5267493.html
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Wright-Patterson AFB to host 76th ISR Squadron
May 17, 2023
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) – Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is expected to host the 76th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron after an environmental impact analysis, scheduled for completion in summer 2023.
The 76 ISRS will improve and integrate intelligence capabilities that will enable comprehensive military advantage in space.
76th ISRS primary tasks include:
Executing ISR data exploitation mission across all orbital regimes and terrestrial environments, fusing multi-intelligence data from all fielded sensors in the current and future space surveillance network to identify adversary capability, predict and define intent, and deliver enhanced threat warning to the Department of Defense, inter-agency, and civil allies and partners operating in space
Coordinating with designated Space command and control nodes, orbital analysis elements, and other space operations Deltas to provide on-orbit operations with threat warning
The squadron will bring almost 90 additional personnel to Wright-Patterson AFB and is expected to reach full operational capability in 2025.
The Department of the Air Force decision to host the 76th ISR Squadron at Wright-Patterson AFB came after conducting a site survey, which assessed the location’s ability to facilitate the mission and infrastructure capacity while accounting for community support, environmental factors and cost.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article/3398601/wright-patterson-afb-to-host-76th-isr-squadron/
M9 Flare (R2-Moderate) Event on 16 May, 2023
May 16, 2023
A M9.6 flare (R2-Moderate HF Radio Blackout) occurred on 16 May at 12:43 pm EDT (1643 UTC). The flare erupted from a yet to be observed active region just beyond the southeast limb of the visible solar disk. However, the NSO - Gong (National Solar Observatory - Global Oscillation Network Group) helioseismology(link is external) observation detected a noteworthy signature just about to rotate into Earth-view in another day or so. SWPC forecasters utilize this technology when available to assist in forecast decision-making. Continue to monitor our SWPC website for the latest information and forecasts.
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/m9-flare-r2-moderate-event-16-may-2023