AnAfrican

Not really.

All financial institutions are surveilled and regulated. There's a reason Patio 11 describe the industry as an "arm of the government".

But furthermore, his argument is not about surveillance (which he accepts when he describes the central bank as the regulator) but about the competition.

It's the very idea of something being provided as a public good that is considered "anormal" and "anti-competitive" here.

It doesn't matter.

It's an issue of "this could happen to us".

Not the whole ICC but the sanctioned prosecutor has been disconnected !

A Microsoft spokesperson said that it had been in contact with the court since February “throughout the process that resulted in the disconnection of its sanctioned official from Microsoft services.” The spokesperson added that “at no point did Microsoft cease or suspend its services to the ICC.”

Does the Gabonese leadership really have the geopolitical know-how to make sure this stays as a boost to the economy and not an invitation to a series of US military assaults?

Well, they've had oil for the past 60 years. They have experience.

Because the underlying "account" is not necessarily a Bank Account.

This may be an arrangement set up in some jurisdictions and probably widely used nowadays.

The default (as in « the original setup ») is what i’ve described.

Careful: The rate mentioned for alcoholic beverages (and confectionery) may include Excise Duty. Excise Duty usually have the non-discriminatory aspect of VAT : they’re also applied on local production.

https://vatdesk.eu/en/import-export-and-vat/#:~:text=of%20VA...

Yes, imports of goods are subject to VAT, with taxation taking place when the goods clear through customs.

Tariffs on services are much harder to enforce. There's point of entry so it's harder to check.

However, some countries have a withholding tax for services provided by foreign companies. The client is responsible for withholding the amount from any payment and paying the government. And banks play a role in the enforcement if needed.

So it can be done !

So if you were a farmer you might find you were exempt on fertilizer and tractors but not on a pickup truck.

There are items that generate a non-deductible input tax in VAT countries (often entertainment items or cars). But usually, those will be the exception and deductible would be the default.

either you don't pay it when you purchase and are invoiced by a business

As a business you pay VAT when you purchase. And you collect VAT when you sell. Then you pay to the government the difference between collected VAT and paid VAT. That's what the "Value Added" part means.

I don't see how it's even possible to negotiate .

VAT countries apply VAT on all domestic transactions (and that includes imports). VAT countries do not apply VAT on exports because they _rightly_ assume that the importing country will apply VAT or whatever sale tax equivalent is in place in their territory.

This is not a distortion. There's really no other way to make it work.

I'm not sure it's really a matter of initial investment.

Excel allows managers/staff to iterate/change/adapt faster and independently while changing anything about an automated system requires much effort (in communication, in validation, in budget)

I guess he did succeed into enrolling more people into his narrow crusade.

It is explained in the article.

The concept of Politically Exposed Person has nothing to do with views in US politics.

It’s really about foreign officials and their families. And, in spirit, it’s really about officials from countries with high corruption risks.

And Andreessen knows it. That’s the bullshit.

Finally, if corporations can’t debank people, how do they handle unusual cost/risk? With pricing, of course. If porn and crypto transactions pose extraordinary financial risk, then allow pricing based on actual financial risk.

And you're absolutely certain that powerful and vocal crypto people won't claim that this special pricing is discrimination as they're doing now with debunking ?

Ouch. If even LaPoste did it…

Seems to me that he has crypto-related goals but involves more people to gain political support. The OP article's last paragraphs make it quite clear IMO.

Why should I not believe this?

Because you don’t believe an EU bank can terminate an account because they’re worried it may trigger an AML/CTF regulation or similar without bothering to really check if it does.

*edit : AML/CTF and similar rules have to be exceptions to basic banking rights.

The basic account thing ?

Does that apply to US citizens (legally residing in the EU) that routinely get denied bank accounts because the bank don’t want to deal with the IRS ?

May be he probably could bank with LaPoste.

Beyond that, I wonder if you really believe that the EU has no Anti-Money Laudering / Counter Finance Terrorism laws.

The PEP part of the Rogan interview was when I understood Andreessen was most likely bullshitting. Funny how this is not clearly stated, most likely because of who Andreessen is.

patio11 himself has mentioned in many podcasts that the sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine may have affected Ukrainian persons or businesses as they include territory currently occupied by Russia (perhaps more so than Russian persons or businesses themselves).

Many western financial institutions simply won't keep track of who holds Nikopol or Enerhodar and will close account held by Ukrainian people or business.

(and when you think about the possibility of the account holder lying, it gets worse)

I’m pretty sure US refeneries are not setup to refine Saudi oil. I remember it being the case with Venezuelan oil and that fact being a boon for West African oil producers when things were sour between the US and Venezuela.

Shouldn't Microsoft be somewhere between Google and Apple ? After all, they do rely on you buying their software in a way Google does not.

Damn near the whole west coast. And a major cable on the east coast got cut off a while ago in the Red Sea but repairs are impossible because well, it’s in the Red Sea…

A struggling artist may not be in a strong position to negotiate. When rent or food are needed now, you take what you can.

The logic is really about helping starving or struggling artists.

They sell their work for "cheap" while broke because they're struggling. Later (often too late) their talent is recognized and the same work is re-sold at a huge markup.

The idea is to give the original artist (or his heirs) a part of that new value.

In football, training club compensation is mandatory :

https://www.easportslaw.com/news/training-compensation-and-s...

Sure, this is a FIFA regulation (and not state or EU) but let's not act like this is purely voluntary.

Bitcoin is used as a tool against French colonial CFA Franc in Africa.

That's a new one. Sure there are some crypto enthusiasts/ scammers (those are not necessarily the same people) trying to push some convoluted argument related to the CFA but this is super niche at best. And furthermore, if anyone would actually use crypto in the CFA area, it would be as a mean to circumvent the exchange control and acquire Euros/Dollars. That's not exactly fighting "colonial money", is it ?

Also :

https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1579147610962919425?s...