Authored by Jonathan Turley,

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.” Those words from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg came this week with an admission in a letter that his company, Facebook, did yield to pressure from the Biden-Harris administration to censor American citizens on a wide array of subjects.

For those of us who have criticized Facebook for years for its role in the massive censorship system, Zuckerberg’s belated contrition was more insulting than inspiring. It had all of the genuine regret of a stalker found hiding under the bed of a victim.

Zuckerberg’s sudden regret only came after his company fought for years to conceal the evidence of its work with the government to censor opposing views. Zuckerberg was finally compelled to release the documents by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and the House Judiciary Committee.

Now forced to admit what many of us have long alleged, Zuckerberg is really, really sorry.

In my book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss Facebook’s record at length as a critical player in the anti-free speech alliance of government, corporate, academic, and media forces.

In prior testimony before the House Judiciary Committee and other congressional committees, I noted that Zuckerberg continued to refuse to release this information after Elon Musk exposed this system in his release of the “Twitter Files.”

Zuckerberg stayed silent as Musk was viciously attacked by anti-free speech figures in Congress and the media. He was fully aware of his own company’s similar conduct but stayed silent.

When the White House and President Joe Biden repeatedly claimed that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation, Facebook continued to withhold evidence that they too were pressured to suppress the story before the election.

When the censorship system was recently put before the Supreme Court in Murthy v. Missouri and the justices asked about evidence of coordination and pressure from the government. In Murthy, states successfully showed lower courts that there was coercion from the government in securing an injunction. The Biden administration denied such pressure and the Court rejected the standing of plaintiffs, blocked an order to stop the censorship, and sent the case back down to the lower court.

Zuckerberg still remained silent.

But Facebook was not silent when it came to censorship, or “content moderation” as the company prefers to call it. While Zuckerberg now expresses “regret” at not speaking out sooner, his company previously sought to sell Americans on censorship.

In 2021, I wrote about the Facebook commercial campaign in which the company attempted to rally young people to embrace censorship.

The commercials show people like “Joshan” who says that he “grew up with the internet.” Joshan mocks how much computers have changed and then objects how privacy and censorship has not evolved as much as our technology. As Joshan calls for “the blending of the real world and the internet world,” content moderation is presented as part of this not-so-brave new world.

Joshan and his equally eager colleagues Chava and Adam were presented by Facebook as the shiny happy faces of young people longing to be content modified.  They were all born in 1996 — the sweet spot for censors who saw young people as allies to reduce free speech.

For years, young people have been taught that free speech is harmful and triggering. We are raising of a generation of speech-phobics and Zuckerberg and Facebook wanted to tap into that generation to get people to stop fearing the censor and love “content modification.”  It was time, as Joshan and his friends told us, to “change” with our computers.

Now, Zuckerberg and Meta want people to know that they were “pressured” to censor and really regret their role in silencing opposing voices.

It is the feigned regret that comes with forced exposure.

The Facebook files now put the lie to past claims of the Biden administration and many Democrats in Congress. For years, members attacked some of us who testified that we had no evidence of coordination or pressure from the government. At the same time, they opposed any effort to investigate and release such evidence.

The evidence is now undeniable.

The Biden administration has long demanded the removal of opposing views on a wide array of subjects and Democrats in Congress pushed Zuckerberg to expand the scope of censorship to include areas like climate change denial.

Jen Easterly, who heads the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is an example of the chilling scope of this effort.  Her agency was created to work on our critical infrastructure but Easterly declared that the mandate would now include policing “our cognitive infrastructure.” That includes combating “malinformation,” or information “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.”

Consider that for a second: true facts are censorable if the government views them as misleading.

As I write in my book, President Joe Biden is arguably the most anti-free speech president since John Adams. His administration helped create a censorship system that was described by one federal judge as “Orwellian.” Vice President Kamala Harris has been entirely supportive of that effort.

In 1800, Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in the only election where free speech was one of the principal campaign issues. It should be so again. Harris should have to take ownership of the censorship system maintained by the administration.

In my book, I propose a federal law that would bar the government from using any federal funds to support efforts to censor, blacklist, or suppress individuals or groups. It would take the government out of the censorship business. Harris should be asked if she would oppose such a law and dismantle the current censorship apparatus in the federal government.

Democracy is not on the ballot in 2024, as many have claimed, but free speech is.

*  *  *

Jonathan Turley is a Fox News Media contributor and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster, June 18, 2024).

China’s imports of Iranian oil are poised to reach a record 1.75m b/d this month, data from Kpler show.

That will surpass the previous peak of 1.66m b/d set in October 2023, according to Kpler data that extends back to January 2013, and is almost 50% higher compared with 1.24m b/d last month.

Shipments into Rizhao and Dalian significantly higher m/m, said Muyu Xu, an analyst with Kpler

“Chinese teapots see refining margins slightly improving, they now have stronger motivation to ramp up production and therefore need more feedstock,” she said

Flows into Lanqiao/Rizhao and Dalian almost doubled m/m to 342k b/d and 132k b/d, respectively

We got an advance look at China’s record appetite for Iranian oil last week when Bloomberg reported that China imported a record volume of crude from Malaysia last month, pointing to a renewed appetite for cheaper Iranian oil as refiners grapple with lower margins due to an economic slowdown.

The world’s biggest crude importer took 6.21 million tons from Malaysia in July, the equivalent to 1.47 million barrels a day, or almost triple the average daily production from the Southeast Asian nation over the course of 2023.

Why is this a key leading indicator? Because the seas off Malaysia have long been a hub for transferring crude and oil products from one tanker to another, meant to mask the country of origin, especially from Iran. Officially, China hasn’t purchased Iranian barrels since June 2022, according to government data. Unofficially, it is buying record amounts.

Oil from Iran – which once upon a time the US pretended to sanction – has become the cheapest option for Chinese buyers, even more than Russia, and more independent refiners are seeking barrels from the OPEC producer to boost their margins, said traders who participate in the market. Iranian Light was last offered at a discount of $6 a barrel to ICE Brent, they added, compared with a discount of less than a $1 for comparable crude from Russia.

Importers registered in China’s Shandong province were the biggest buyers of Iranian crude – masking as Malaysian – accounting for over 70% of the volume, according to customs data. Overall, eight Chinese regions including Liaoning and Henan took oil from the Southeast Asian nation, the most since October 2023.

By Martin Lynge Rasmussen of Money: Inside and Out

• China’s trade balance reached $852bn in the year to July reflecting weak domestic demand and Chinese manufacturers growing global market share.

• What gets less attention is the activities of Chinese goods traders who have curbed FX sales from this surplus in recent months—something that could change quickly in coming quarters as the US policy cycle turns.

Dollar weakness = exporter FX sales?

The size of China’s goods balance is widely remarked, but how this foreign exchange surplus is recycled receives less attention. Yet the conversion of this FX surplus could be crucial for the Chinese exchange rate, the CNY, in the coming months.

Indeed, we have found that goods traders have been reluctant to convert their (mostly FX) net export proceeds into renminbi in recent months. This makes sense as interest rates on FX deposits are currently greater than renminbi equivalent—and as RMB sentiment remains weak. In turn, this has weighed on RMB.

But with the Fed contemplating initiating rate cuts for the first time this cycle, the interest rate differential will tip back towards Chinese assets—changing the conversion calculus for exporters.

To contemplate prospects over the next year, we can look at goods exporter behaviour during historical episodes of dollar weakness.

The US Dollar is, when measured using the Fed’s broad NEER, extremely elevated – and stands at the 91st percentile (vs. the 2015-2024 history). But it has started to decline and, given the prospect of an aggressive cutting cycle by the Fed, hinted at by Governor Powell at Jackson Hole last week, could decline more persistently.

We can identify four recent episodes when the Dollar peaked: Jan. 2016, Jan. 2017, May 2020 and Nov. 2022 (see below chart). 

What happens to FX conversion during periods of dollar weakness?

The below chart shows the FX conversion rates and highlights the months when USD declines begin. It is clear that FX conversion rates bottom out right around the time when the Dollar starts to decline. 

To develop a baseline scenario, we look at how much the FX conversion rate changes compared to the month prior to dollar peaks. The trend here is very clear, and all four episodes saw a large increase in the FX conversion rate. The median episode peaks out at +56%-pts nine months after the Dollar has peaked.

Though a 56ppt increase would indeed be large it would, if realized, still leave the FX conversion rate at a relatively normal peak level of 63% (80th percentile). 

This is due to the fact that FX sales by Chinese goods traders has been very low this cycle and stood at just 6% of the trade balance in July and only 9% across Q2—much lower than the 2016-2024 average of 43% (which even implies large offshore accumulation – see more in our earlier analysis here). 

But even this 56ppts increase in conversion would have important implications. FX sales would increase $15-22bn/month compared to the pace over the past 3-12 months using Bloomberg consensus forecasts of export and imports. We illustrate the potential shift in the FX conversion rate in the projection below.

This implied path sees goods traders’ FX sales increase from just $4bn in July to $53bn by May next year.

Having said that, FX sales by goods traders have been unusually small recently. If we compare the implied FX sales in the next 12m ($30bn/month on average) to the last 3m/12m ($8bn/$15bn), we get an increase in monthly FX sales of $15-22bn/month. That would still be substantial. 

Is this time different?

There are multiple reasons why, even if the Dollar declines substantially, the impact on goods traders’ FX sales this time around could be more muted than has historically been the case, however. 

Chinese authorities might, for example, push back against aggressive renminbi purchases by goods traders. One reason is that the contribution of net exports is likely viewed as more essential than five years ago (see below chart), when domestic consumption was growing more quickly. Authorities might therefore push back against declines in international competitiveness. There are already anecdotes that SAFE is trying to gauge the impact of this month’s decline in USDCNY on exporters (link). 

Authorities might therefore, perhaps, prefer that exporters convert their Dollars into other FX assets and gold rather than into renminbi. This would, of course, lead to indirect downwards pressure on USDCNY through sales of Dollars and purchases of other currencies. But the impact would perhaps be smaller than via outright conversion of Dollars into renminbi. 

In terms of international competitiveness we should keep in mind that, though the renminbi remains strong in NEER terms, it fell sharply during 2022 in REER terms as Chinese inflation has not surged like elsewhere. 

Another factor is that exporters’ downbeat sentiment on the renminbi could possibly be sticky as the slowdown in Chinese growth is likely (viewed as) more structural than during prior growth declines.

Relatedly, US yields could well remain above that in China in the coming quarters. The US-China 2y spread stands at around 230bps, and imply that Dollar deposits will likely continue to yields more than renminbi deposits. In contrast, the 2y spread was consistently negative during 2008-2021.

We showcase the link between the FX conversion rate and SHIBOR-HIBOR spreads below and see an intuitive link (HIBOR rates are similar to Dollar yields as USDHKD is fixed). 

Conclusion: FX sales ahead?

In any case, Fed normalisation could allow a large pickup in dollar sales by Chinese goods traders, perhaps to the tune of $15-22bn per month in the coming quarters.

However, even if Dollar weakness materializes, multiple factors could lead to a smaller-than-usual increase in FX sales. More specifically, good exporters could remain downbeat on the renminbi outlook, authorities might push back to maintain competitiveness and positive US-China rate spreads could make exporters prefer to park excess cash in FX rather than RMB. 

SpaceX’s Starlink “Direct to cell” service, in partnership with mobile carrier T-Mobile, will be offered free worldwide for connecting to emergency services. 

“After thinking it through, SpaceX Starlink will provide emergency services access for mobile phones for people in distress for free,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X, adding, “This applies worldwide, subject to approval by country governments. Can’t have a situation where someone dies because they forgot or were unable to pay for it.” 

After thinking it through, SpaceX Starlink will provide emergency services access for mobile phones for people in distress for free.

This applies worldwide, subject to approval by country governments.

Can’t have a situation where someone dies because they forgot or were unable…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2024

Musk’s comments come as SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission to let it begin commercial operations of its “direct to cell” technology, as AT&T and Verizon have demanded the FCC terminate the request on the premise Starlink satellites will generate an abundance of radio interference.

Here’s how the direct to cell works: 

Already tested. 

🚨🇺🇸FIRST-EVER VIDEO CALL ON X USING STARLINK

SpaceX:

“First video call on X completed through Starlink
Direct to Cell satellites from unmodified mobile phones!

We’re excited to go live with T-Mobile later this year.”

Source: X, Reuterspic.twitter.com/cRg28irhF6

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 21, 2024

“Specifically, AT&T’s technical analysis shows that SpaceX’s proposal would cause an 18% average reduction in network downlink throughput in an operational and representative AT&T PCS C Block market deployment,” the legacy mobile carriers told the FCC in a report earlier this month. SpaceX sent a letter to the FCC refuting AT&T and Verizon’s claims, adding the carriers are attempting to derail consumer access to Starlink’s direct-to-cell technology.  

SpaceX’s plan is facing interference from rivals AT&T and Verizon who have urged the FCC to deny SpaceX a waiver to operate the cellular Starlink satellites.

AT&T and Verizon have partnered with AST SpaceMobile to launch a competing satellite internet service for mobile phones.

— ALEX (@ajtourville) August 27, 2024

Weeks ago, we penned a note about the space race underway in low-earth orbit as AT&T and Verizon begin building satellite constellations via startup AST SpaceMobile. 

GOP FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr chimed in on X: ” Direct-to-cell technology will really benefit public safety communications and first responders.” 

Direct to cell technology will really benefit public safety communications and first responders.

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) August 27, 2024

Starlink appears to be locked in lawfare with legacy mobile carriers. The move to offer free emergency service acts as a kind gesture for humanity to secure FCC approval for commercialization.

If Musk’s companies can build cars and rocket ships, surely he can make a smartphone & eventually roll out Starlink as a mobile phone carrier for the masses. Hence, AT&T and Verizon fear this as they must pursue lawfare to stymie Starlink’s progress. This is also why Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin waged lawfare against SpaceX to prevent additional Starship launches.  

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times,

A federal appeals court has allowed Florida to enforce a ban on hormone replacement therapy for children while the legal challenge against the ban proceeds.

In the Aug. 26 decision, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Florida, reversing a district judge’s order that put the ban on hold while the matter is appealed. The court also approved expedited proceedings in the appeal.

“The district court itself recognized that there were ‘legitimate concerns’ about some of the treatments’ effects, as well as a ’risk of misdiagnosis,‘ ’risks attendant to treatment,‘ and the potential for ’additional medical risks,’” the panel’s 2–1 majority, Judges Britt Grant and Robert Luck, wrote in the unsigned opinion.

The defendants, including Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and the Florida Board of Medicine, have made “a strong showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits,” the judges concluded.

At the center of the legal battle is a 2023 law that prohibits doctors and nurses from performing sex-reassignment surgeries or prescribing medication such as cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to anyone under the age of 18, regardless of parental consent. Children who were already taking those medications when the law was passed may continue, but surgeries are no longer permitted.

The law also places restrictions on adults seeking gender transition treatment, requiring that adult patients receive such treatment exclusively from a physician and sign the consent form in person, effectively preventing them from seeking the treatment from nurses or telehealth services.

In June, Judge Robert Hinkle of the Northern District of Florida ruled in favor of those challenging the restrictions, including the parents of a 10-year-old boy diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The judge stated that while Florida may regulate treatments, it should not deny “safe and effective medical treatment” to people identifying as transgender.

The state appealed Hinkle’s ruling and asked the judge to allow it to enforce the law while waiting for the appellate hearing. Without a stay, the state argued, it would not be able to ensure those treatments meet appropriate medical standards.

“That is simply not true. The state has in place abundant means of ensuring that health care professionals adhere to the prevailing standards of care,” Hinkle wrote in his denial of a stay.

“The state allowed and even paid for gender-affirming care for many years before enacting the statute and rules at issue in a wave of anti-transgender bias.”

Grant and Luck disagreed with Hinkle. They concluded that the harm the state would suffer from not being able to enforce the will of the Legislature and the need to “avoid irreversible health risks to its children” outweighs the potential harm to individual plaintiffs.

“As to harm to others, even with the law in effect, physicians may continue to prescribe and administer puberty blockers and hormones to adults. And minors who were already receiving them may continue to do so,” they wrote in the Aug. 26 opinion.

Judge Charles Wilson dissented, arguing that there is “sufficient record evidence” to back the claim that the 2023 law was based on “invidious discrimination against transgender minors and adults.”

“On balance, evidence in the record demonstrates that the plaintiffs and class-members would suffer if the stay were granted—withholding access to gender-affirming care would cause needless suffering,” he wrote.

“This matter is a medical issue, where patients are best left to make decisions alongside health professionals, with access to complete, unbiased information, as needed.”

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, one of the pro-LGBT advocacy groups litigating the case, said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision.

“Allowing these discriminatory restrictions to go back into effect will deny transgender adults and adolescents lifesaving care, and prevent Florida parents from making medical decisions that are right for their children,” the group said in a statement.

Florida’s Department of Health didn’t respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Today in “the unending successes of migration” news, a Venezuelan migrant working for Amazon drove his truck into a Florida mother who was pushing her 4 month old child, and then fled the scene of the crime, according to a new report by the NY Post.

The hit and run caused the mother “catastrophic” injuries and the child was thrown into the street, the report says. Home surveillance video showed the mother being “dragged onto the front of the car”. 

The mother, whose identity has not been revealed, was walking with her infant and the family dog in Ives Estates near Miami when they were allegedly hit by Sarahy Parra-Ovalles.

Parra-Ovalles entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2019, which expired in 2021, according to Homeland Security sources. She was granted Temporary Protected Status that same year, allowing her to apply for a work permit.

The driver briefly stopped to upright the stroller and place the baby back in its seat before fleeing the scene.

The Post report says that a few days after the incident, the mother was recovering at home from severe injuries, including a brain injury, a fractured skull, and a brain bleed, Rosen said.

Over the weekend, she had to pump breast milk from her ICU bed, which her husband took home to the baby, who was fortunately uninjured, family lawyer Judd Rosen added.

“This is one of the worst and most graphic videos as a parent that I have ever seen,” he said. 

Parra-Ovalles was released on bond after being arrested, the report says. “She was run down in broad daylight and left for dead, and within 24 hours of getting arrested, [the suspect is] back on the streets, potentially driving around. Where is the justice system when you need them?” Rosen asked. 

A spokesperson for Amazon said: “This is a terrible incident and our thoughts are with this family. We’re looking into the matter and will support law enforcement as they investigate.”

“They’ve sacrificed their safety and standards to increase the speed of delivery. And I’ve seen over the last months and years that the drivers they’re hiring are less and less qualified,” Rosen concluded. 

Video of the incident is available at the report. 

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has announced a halt in relations with the U.S. and Canadian embassies after their ambassadors raised concerns over his judicial reform proposal.

Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that the embassies will have to be respectful of Mexico’s sovereignty for relations to be reestablished. He did not elaborate on the potential effect of the pause.

“They have to learn to respect Mexico’s sovereignty,” Lopez Obrador said during a press conference on Tuesday. He noted that the pause was with the embassies and not with the countries.

The U.S. and Canadian embassies in Mexico didn’t reply to The Epoch Times’ requests for comment by publication time.

The Mexican president’s remarks came a day after lawmakers in Mexico’s lower house of Congress passed the judicial reform proposal, paving the way for it to be approved when the newly elected Congress takes office in September.

The reform proposal includes a provision requiring judges to be elected by popular vote. The Mexican president has said that the reform is needed to combat judicial corruption.

Lopez Obrador earlier accused U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar of interfering in his country’s internal affairs after Salazar said that the reform poses “a major risk” to Mexico’s democracy.

Salazar said in an Aug. 22 statement that the changes would allow drug cartels to exploit the Mexican judiciary and put U.S.–Mexican trade relations in jeopardy, which he said “relies on investors’ confidence in Mexico’s legal framework.”

The U.S. envoy said the judicial branch in Mexico needs “capable judges” to handle complex litigation for extraditions, trade disputes, and other issues.

But the reform proposal will remove the necessary qualifications for judges, allowing those with only a few years of legal experience to become judges through popular vote, he noted.

Salazar subsequently stated on X that he was open to engaging in dialogue with the Mexican government and exchanging views on different judicial models. He also said he has “the utmost respect for Mexico’s sovereignty.”

Canadian Ambassador to Mexico Graeme Clark said last week that Mexico’s judicial reform proposal has sparked concerns among investors.

“My investors are concerned, they want stability, they want a judicial system that works if there are problems,” Clark said at an event last week.

Judges and magistrates in Mexico have launched a strike to protest the proposal. They argued that the reform would end merit-based career paths and make the judiciary more vulnerable to outside influence.

Lopez Obrador said the strike will not result in any changes. His term as president is set to end next month, when he will be succeeded by Claudia Sheinbaum.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A power line battle is unfolding across the Mason–Dixon, a demarcation line separating Pennsylvania and Maryland, as 10,000 Marylanders in a Facebook group are raising hell about failed ‘green’ energy policies by far-left Annapolis lawmakers. These policies now lead to the rising probability that eminent domain will be used to seize small farms to construct and expand transmission cables to increase load capacity to power new artificial intelligence data centers.

Developer Public Service Enterprise Group, or PSEG, is seeking to install 70 miles of new high-voltage power lines that zigzag through Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick Counties in a project called the “Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project.” The upgraded transmission lines will increase load capacity in the state by importing power from surrounding states, such as Pennsylvania, to power AI data centers in Frederick. 

PSEG recently spoke with Fox Baltimore about their willingness to work with small farms to reach a mutual agreement on acquiring property rights. However, PSEG is prepared to invoke eminent domain if an agreement cannot be reached.

According to a recent note by ESG Legal Solutions, Maryland consumes about 40% more electricity than it generates. The note adds that “apocalyptic environmentalism” has led to the retirement of fossil fuel power generation and the reliance on increasing power imports from surrounding states. 

“Solar energy, wind, and biomass are increasing but will not at any reasonable time replace that capacity or energy density; so, the state will import more electricity,” ESG Legal Solutions said, adding the state “cannot import its way out of this predicament with ever-increasing electricity demand.” 

As a result of failed green policies and rising power demand, power bills in the region are set to skyrocket. Goldman notes…

Meanwhile, nearly 10,000 Facebook “STOP MPRP Community Group” members are fed up with Annapolis lawmakers over flawed green policies that are backfiring and morphing into an energy crisis in the state. Just remember that developing new NatGas generation down the street from the AI data centers could quickly solve the state’s power problem and save the farms.

Members of the group are beginning to fight back. They plan to launch a demonstration on Thursday at the Maryland Data Center Summit at Frederick Community College. The goal is a show of force to the politicians and industry insiders attending the summit.  

The flyer for the demonstration notes, “Remember: data centers = power lines.” And how it should be expanded: “Remember: data centers = power lines = eminent domain.” 

What’s happening in Maryland is also happening in other states.

After yesterday’s solid 2Y auction, moments ago the US Treasury sold $70BN in 5 year notes, in an auction which saw yields tumble 46.8bps, to 3.642% – the lowest since April 2024 – from 4.110%. However, unlike yesterday’s stopping through 2Y auction, today’s sale tailed the When Issued 3.642% by 0.3bps, which was the 4th tail in the past 5 auctions.

The bid to cover of 2.41 was effectively unchanged from last month’s 2.40% and just above the six-auction average of 2.38%.

The internals were stronger, with Indirects awarded 70.5%, the highest since March, and up from 67.25% in July. And with Directs taking 16.3%, or the least since May and below the recent average of 17.9%, Dealers were left holding 13.2%, down from 14.0% last quarter and also below the recent average of 15.2%.

Overall, this was a mediocre, tailing auction if one looks at the superficial metrics, yet a quick look deeper reveals more solid demand than yesterday’s stopping through 2Y. Of course, nobody ever accused the market of digging deeper in anything, ever, and so yields are pushing out to session highs with 10Y rising above 3.84% for the first time today.

Via The Cradle

Crypto exchange platform Binance has seized the accounts of numerous Palestinian users at the request of the Israeli government for allegedly being linked to “illicit funds” and “terrorist organizations.”

“Cryptocurrencies transferred by a declared terrorist organization … and cryptocurrency wallets to which said property was transferred constitute property that was directly used to commit a serious terrorist offense… as defined in the Anti-Terrorism Law,” reads a letter circulated by Binance from the Israeli Ministry of Defense and signed by the head of its National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing, Paul Landes.

The letter continues: “…and therefore in accordance with the provisions the law allows the Minister of Defense to order their seizure by administrative order in preparation for their confiscation.” 

According to Ray Youssef, co-founder of crypto marketplace Paxful, Binance has “[refused] to return the funds. All appeals denied.”

“All Palestinians are affected, and judging by the way things are going, all Lebanese and Syrians will get the same treatment. Not your keys, not your coins,” Youssef added.

“Only a limited number of user accounts linked to illicit funds were blocked from transacting. There have been some incorrect statements about this,” Binance CEO Richard Teng said on 28 August.

“As a global crypto exchange, we comply with internationally accepted anti-money laundering legislation, just like any other financial institution,” he added.

Binance has yet to provide details on the number of affected users and when the restrictions were enforced.

BREAKING: Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has seized all Palestinian assets at Israel’s request pic.twitter.com/rxXQQaYrCC

— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) August 27, 2024

“Palestine is a minor market for Binance, with Palestine’s traffic share amounting to roughly 0.05 [percent] of Binance’s visits over the past year,” Cointelegraph reports, citing data from website analytics source SimilarWeb.

Nevertheless, Palestine’s traffic on Binance has reportedly surged more than 80 percent since August 2023.