Will sanctions on Russia backfire on the U.S.? Will this be good for crypto?

#sanctions #russia #ukraine #peacenotwar #nowar

- Sanctions, led by the U.S. in hopes of punishing Russian aggression may NOT have the impact the U.S. is hoping for? Could they actually backfire?

- Saudi Arabia rejects Biden's request for talks on increasing oil production and instead announces that they are considering accepting Yuan instead of dollars for Chinese Oil sales (WSJ (http://wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-considers-accepting-yuan-instead-of-dollars-for-chinese-oil-sales-11647351541)

- India's move to "explore" alternative payment channels with Russia to avoid sanctions (https://www.livemint.com/politics/policy/russia-india-explore-opening-alternative-payment-channels-amid-sanctions-11647371750761.html)

- With official inflation numbers running at 8% and climbing the Federal Reserve is being forced to raise interest rates for the first time since 2018 (https://www.chron.com/business/article/Fed-Approves-First-Interest-Rate-Hike-Since-2018-17008947.php). Multiple rate hikes are projected. The last time rates were raised markets crashed and the Fed quickly reversed course. This leads many to say that the Fed won't really raise rates as much as projected, because the market won't let them, but what these people don't seem to get is that in order to finance the U.S. national debt, new debt has to be sold every year. As inflation rises countries like Saudi Arabia become more and more inclined to invest in assets that show a return or at least hold their value. This means that unless you raise the rates to a level that offsets inflation many investors will move elsewhere and you won't be able to take on new debt. Central banks are cornered. Once they start raising rates government budgets will quickly hit a wall as interest payments on existing debt become unmanageable.

- This may devastate the dollar along with the U.S. economy, but it may be great for crypto