Cnn.com | The power of all the computers networked together to maintain the digital currency's system far exceeds the combined processing strength of the top 500 most powerful supercomputers. Easily. The matchup isn't even close. There have been lots of stories about Bitcoin in the past few months thanks to its rapid price rise -- from $5 a year ago for 1 bitcoin to a record high of $266 in April, before falling back to around $122 today.

Numismaster.com | A man who attended a financial conference earlier this year told me that the famous speaker began his presentation by asking the audience how many thought that the price of gold had peaked. He was stunned that almost everyone other than him raised their hands.

RT | The US Department of Homeland Security seized a payment processing account Tuesday belonging to Mt. Gox, the largest international Bitcoin trader, claiming the monetary exchange service falsified financial documents. The American government has previously made it clear that officials are watching Bitcoin, a decentralized economic currency that international regulators have not yet been able to control. Many of those who favor Bitcoin use Dwolla, an Iowa-based startup that allows customers to transfer their dollars into Bitcoins.

WSJ | Central banks want to add Chinese yuan and other emerging market currencies to their emergency cash stocks, according to a new International Monetary Fund survey, a change that could redefine the world’s reserve currencies.The shift, should it occur, would broaden reserve holdings from dollars, yen and euros and modernize countries’ emergency stockpiles of foreign cash. Central banks want their reserves to reflect changes in global trading patterns amid tepid growth in the U.S., Europe and Japan and rapid expansion of emerging economies. Diversifying currency portfolios will give central banks more flexibility to better to respond to emergencies.

CNBC | Foreigners now hold more than $13 trillion in American securities, a record set as the U.S. seeks to assert itself as the safest port in troubled global waters. China and Japan combined owned more than $3.4 trillion, including $2.4 trillion in debt, a number that has grown since the data set was compiled. The total value of U.S. stocks and bonds under foreign ownership rose 6.5 percent in 2012, with stocks actually rising more on a percentage basis, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Treasury.

Rolling Stone | Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an apology. You were right. The players may be a little different, but your basic premise is correct: The world is a rigged game. We found this out in recent months, when a series of related corruption stories spilled out of the financial sector, suggesting the world's largest banks may be fixing the prices of, well, just about everything.

Kingworldnews.com | Today Jim Sinclair sent King World News one of the most extraordinary and powerful pieces he has ever written in his 50 years in the financial business.  Below is what Sinclair, who was once called on by former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker to assist during a Wall Street crisis and grew up under the tutelage of his father Bert Seligman, who was business partners with legendary trader Jesse Livermore, had to say in this remarkable piece.

OfTwoMinds.com | Comparing the American Empire with the Roman Empire in its terminal decline is a popular intellectual parlor game. The comparison is inexact on a number of fronts, starting with the nature of empire: Rome ruled a territorial empire, while the U.S. is a hegemony that doesn't need to hold territory (other than key overseas military bases); its dominance is based on the global projection of hard and soft power, diplomacy, finance and the monetary regime of the reserve currency.

Goldseek.com | They just showed their hands. The paper Ponzi pyramid is wobbling. It’s time to go in for the kill. Let me explain. But first let’s get a handle on what’s happening:

24hgold.com | Anyone who wants to get to the truth behind the inflationary threats to their wealth should ignore everything the Central Banks say about inflation and look instead at their actions. Worldwide gold demand in 2012 was another record high of $236.4 billion in the World Gold Council’s latest report. This was up 6% in value terms in the fourth quarter to $66.2 billion, the highest fourth quarter on record. Global gold demand in the fourth quarter of 2012 was up 4% to 1,195.9 tonnes.

TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com | Do you think that you know how to prepare for the collapse of the economy?  If so, are you putting that knowledge into action?  In America today, people are more concerned about the possibility of an economic collapse than ever before.  It has been estimated that there are now three million preppers in the United States.  But the truth that nobody really knows the actual number, because a lot of preppers keep their "prepping" to themselves.

Cnet | Zach Harvey has an ambitious plan to accelerate adoption of the Internet's favorite alternative currency: installing in thousands of bars, restaurants, and grocery stores ATMs that will let you buy Bitcoins anonymously. It's the opposite of a traditional automated teller that dispenses currency. Instead, these Bitcoin ATMs will accept dollar bills -- using the same validation mechanism as vending machines -- and instantly convert the amount to Bitcoins and deposit the result in your account.

Washington Post |  Virginia Del. Robert G. Marshall fears that a financial apocalypse is coming and only one thing can save the Commonwealth: its own currency. The idea that Virginia should consider issuing its own money was dismissed as just another quixotic quest by one of the most conservative members of the state legislature when Marshall introduced it three years ago. But it has since gained traction not only in Virginia, but also in states across the country as Americans have grown increasingly suspicious of the institutions entrusted with safeguarding the economy.

TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com | You can thank the reckless money printing that the Federal Reserve has been doing for the incredible bull market that we have seen in recent months.  When the Federal Reserve does more "quantitative easing", it is the financial markets that benefit the most.  The Dow and the S&P 500 have both hit levels not seen since 2007 this month, and many analysts are projecting that 2013 will be a banner year for stocks.

Bloomberg | An increase in the value of bitcoin, the world’s largest online currency, may fuel concerns that virtual money could undermine the role of central banks. The CHART OF THE DAY shows that bitcoin has more than doubled in the past 12 months, strengthening to $16.37 from $5.88, according to data from Mt. Gox, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange. The money, issued by a decentralized network of computers, has recovered after falling to $2.14 in November 2011 from a high of $29.58 five months earlier.