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Tinman57:

  I came across this today, it gets into how BTC are made, how they're traded, security, and the authors opinions on investing:

7 things you need to know about Bitcoin
Bitcoin is booming, but don't buy the hype before you read our guide.
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http://www.pcworld.com/article/2033715/7-things-you-need-to-know-about-bitcoin.html

IainB:
Bitcoin or some other crypto-currency might yet be the place of calm in turbulent times. I would suggest this news (following) will further destabilise the world currency of the US$, and inflate Bitcoin prices:
Here It Comes – Australia to Abandon the U.S. Dollar
April 13, 2013 - 07:00 America/
The Trumpet

Australia’s announcement that it is abandoning the U.S. dollar for trade with China is the latest broadside in the global currency war. Starting April 10, Australia and China will no longer use the U.S. dollar for trade between the two nations. For the first time, Australian businesses will be able to conduct trade in Chinese yuan. No more need for U.S. dollar intermediation.

This is a significant announcement and key development for China as it continues its campaign to internationalize the yuan and chip away at the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard made the announcement during an official visit to Shanghai on Monday. She noted that China is now Australia’s biggest trading partner and that the direct currency trading would be a “huge advantage for Australia.”

She called the currency accord a “strategic step forward for Australia as we add to our economic engagement with China.”

(Read the post for more.)

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40hz:
This is a significant announcement and key development for China as it continues its campaign to internationalize the yuan and chip away at the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency.
-IainB (April 13, 2013, 07:01 AM)
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>

I think it's more a political statement than an economic groundswell at this point. But still not something to dismiss as pure politics either.

Ideally (for China >:D ) this move will be coupled with a significant shift towards less manipulative monetary policies and exchange rate games on the part of China.

Because if China could just pull it's political head out of Mao's butt they would probably become unstoppable economically.

IainB:
^^ Yes, Mao's butt would seem to be a potentially  limiting factor for China.
A potentially bumpy ride for us all though, if the US$ is being incrementally removed from its mandated position as the primary currency/unit of global exchange. This rather looks like a first brick being removed from the wall.

40hz:
This rather looks like a first brick being removed from the wall.
-IainB (April 13, 2013, 09:56 AM)
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Or at least an attempt to do so. The real trick will be to pull enough bricks out of the wall to make a new entry for yourself without having the whole building come crashing down on your head.

But China will first need to do a lot more to fix the problems caused by the need to secure highly placed political patronage in order to conduct any significant business. And also to check the blatant and pervasive corruption plaguing their emerging new economic elite before it will be able to push any harder than what it's intrinsic market potential as a customer base will allow.

Unfortunately, cases like the 'disappearance' of Chinese billionaire Liu Han, and the somewhat bizarre circumstances leading up to it, won't give the average western investor warm fuzzies about dealing with Chinese businesses or the Chinese government.

As a recent article about Lui Han in Bloomberg noted:

Liu’s rise to riches and sudden disappearance aren’t just the makings of a made-for-Hollywood potboiler. They’re a warning of the risks investors take when dealing with opaque private businesses in China, where fortunes depend on political ties and the favors of state entities, and even the wealthiest entrepreneurs can vanish if they lose the patronage of powerful government allies.
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Certainly gonna be worth watching.

For these times, they are a-changin'... as the old Dylan tune goes.

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