Currency updates & News

Politics is complicating efforts by South Africa’s central bank to set monetary policy and keep inflation under control, according to Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago. “Our job is already difficult,” Kganyago said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in London. “What the politics does is that it just adds to the complexity.” Uncertainty has prevailed for more than a year over who will replace President Jacob Zuma as leader of the ruling African National Congress in December. The contest is widely seen as a two-horse race between Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the president’s ex-wife and former chairwoman of the African Union Commission. The central bank hasn’t been spared in the political infighting that accompanied the succession race, with the nation’s anti-graft ombudsman instructing lawmakers in June to change the constitution to make the bank focus on the “socioeconomic well-being of the citizens” rather than inflation. The High Court

The Trump administration is reaffirming its commitment to blockchain as a technology with the potential to improve U.S. government operations. Speaking at Data Transparency 2017, a conference exploring the role of open data in government this week, two senior White House officials emphasized that distributed ledger technology is increasingly being viewed as essential to U.S. policy and strategy considerations. "With artificial intelligence and blockchain, the [White House] is exploring a whole range of forward-leaning capabilities that might be helpful to government," Margie Graves, acting federal chief information officer at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said at the event. The remarks are notable given that the OMB, which is  headed  by Congressional Blockchain Caucus co-founder Mick Mulvaney, is responsible for carrying out the president's vision for the executive branch of government – a core tenet of which is streamlining bureaucracy and improving

We asked a Chartered Accountant to explain foreign exchange gains and losses and this is what he had to say. IAS 21   The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates   outlines how to account for foreign currency transactions and operations in financial statements, and also how to translate financial statements into a presentation currency. An entity is required to determine a functional currency (for each of its operations if necessary) based on the primary economic environment in which it operates and generally records foreign currency transactions using the spot conversion rate to that functional currency on the date of the transaction. IAS 21 was reissued in December 2003 and applies to annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005.                                                John Mawerere a chartered Accountant Foreign exchange gains and losses refer to an Increase or decrease in a cash flow caused by a change in the  exchange  rate of two currencies, such as whe

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) prices are grinding higher this week on renewed optimism that the blockchain will overcome China’s latest regulatory crackdown. // -- Discuss and ask questions in our  community on Workplace . Don't have an account? Send Jonas Borchgrevink an email -- // Prices continued to trade comfortably north of $3,900 at the start of Tuesday trading. Prices shot up nearly 7% on Tuesday, according to Bitstamp. The  BTC/USD  was last seen trading at $3,909.00, where it was little changed from its previous close. At present values, bitcoin is capitalized at roughly $65 billion, according to  CoinMarketCap . That’s more than double the next leading blockchain currency Ethereum. // -- Become a yearly Platinum Member and save 69 USD and get access to our secret group on Workplace.  Click here to change your current membership  -- // S&P’s China Downgrade Highlights Limits of Bitcoin Ban Last week, Standard & Poor’s  downgraded  China’s sovereign credit ratin

It's safe to say Friday wasn't the most stable day for the ( BTC/USD)  exchange rate. After news of  exchange shake-ups  in China triggered a wave of  panic selling , prices fell below $3,000 for the first time in months. Overall, this was the lowest total observed on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index since August 5, when a V-shape recovery saw prices rise all the way to $3,875. Yet, just a few days later, the price is already back at that level, having gained 33% in three days. The sharp recovery could be attributed to oversold technical conditions and to the relief offered by news that China’s exchange ban would not impact all forms of cryptocurrency trading. But while the exact causes are uncertain, it seems safe to say the bad news has already been priced in by the market. The recovery from the low of $2,980 followed by a bout of consolidation (ongoing) in the range of $3,500 to $3,800 over the weekend and move above the resistance of $3,900 (September 5 low) to

Outgoing American Banker editor-in-chief Marc Hochstein has joined CoinDesk Inc., the leading digital media, events and information services company for the blockchain industry. A 17-year veteran of SourceMedia, Hochstein will serve as CoinDesk's managing editor, a role in which he'll be working alongside editor-in-chief Pete Rizzo and CoinDesk's New York editorial team, while helping lead the media startup's next phase of expansion. At American Banker, Hochstein was responsible for some of the earliest mainstream coverage of bitcoin and the innovations it later inspired. His March 2014 feature article, "Why Bitcoin Matters for Bankers," won a  regional award  from the American Society of Business Publishers and Editors and was a  Neal award  finalist. His hiring comes amid a wave of growth for CoinDesk, founded in 2013, that has seen it become one of the top websites globally due to its dedication to chronicling the evolution of blockchain tech. &quo

oila! Finally, the  Inglourious Basterds script  is here for all you fans of the Quentin Tarantino movie. This puppy is a transcript that was painstakingly transcribed using the screenplay and/or viewings of the movie to get the dialogue. Inglourious Basterds Script (DISTANT RUMBLING) (SPEAKING FRENCH) (MEN SPEAKING GERMAN) (SPEAKING FRENCH) While I'm very familiar with you and your family, I have no way of knowing if you are familiar with who I am. Are you aware of my existence? Yes. This is good. Now, are you aware of the job I've been ordered to carry out in France? Yes. Please tell me what you've heard. I've heard that the Führer has put you in charge of rounding up the Jews left in France who are either hiding or passing for Gentile. The Führer couldn't have said it better himself. But the meaning of your visit, pleasant though it is, is mysterious to me. The Germans looked through m