John Eagleton, CEO of Intellabridge, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the next protocol to gain critical mass adoption.

Grant McCarty, Policy Director of Bitcoin Magazine discusses the ramifications of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on civil liberties with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News.

Last year Northern Graphite (CVE:NGC) leap frogged from a company holding an advanced asset to now being the biggest graphite producer in North America, said Gregory Bowes, CEO and director. Bowes spoke to Kitco on Tuesday. Graphite is enjoying an upswing due to energy transition. Graphite is the anode in a lithium ion battery and its single-largest component. On average, a plug-in EV has around 70 kg of graphite. With at least 125 million EVs expected globally by 2030, that’s more than 8 million tonnes of battery-ready graphite needed in the coming decade, according to Kitco commentator Richard Mills. In December 2021 Northern Graphite acquired two graphite mines from Imerys SA: the Lac des Iles producing graphite mine in Quebec and the Okankande/Okorusu graphite producing operation in Namibia. The $55 million financing was a mixture of debt, financing and royalty agreements led by Sprott. "It's a truly transformational acquisition for us," said Bowes. "We're going from having one advanced stage project in Ontario to being a producing company immediately. We're buying the only producing North American graphite mine, and we're buying a second mine from them in Namibia, which is on care and maintenance. We'll have it back online in nine to 12 months." With the deal done the company touts 50,000tpy of graphite production capacity, plus two large development projects with 100,000tpy potential making it the third largest non-Chinese producer. Follow Michael McCrae on Twitter: @michaelmccrae (https://twitter.com/michaelmccrae) Follow Kitco Mining on Twitter: @KitcoMining (https://twitter.com/KitcoMining)

Zero premium acquisitions are a thing of the past, according to Peter Marrone, executive chair of Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) who stressed acquirers need to pay fair value. Marrone spoke to Kitco correspondent Paul Harris at BMO's Global Metals & Mining Conference held in Florida last week. Yamana recognizes that it may potentially be a target following the acquisition of Kirkland Lake Mining by Agnico Eagle Mines, given it has a 1 million ounces a year production profile at an all-in sustaining cost of around US$900 per ounce, and a number of development projects.

With a wobbly economy and too much household wealth tied up in equities, the markets have less to fear from a hawkish Fed, said Ronald-Peter Stoeferle, responsible for fund management and research at Incrementum AG. Stoeferle spoke to Kitco on Tuesday. He said there may be a once-a-done rate hike instead of several rate increases some were expecting as the Federal Reserve tries to tamp down inflation. "Inflation numbers are coming down, so we can actually take a little bit more time with our rate hike campaign. I cannot emphasize it enough: I think the market is expecting [too] much hawkishness from the Federal Reserve. It's ridiculous," said Stoeferle.

Jay Martin, CEO of CambridgeHouse and host of The Jay Martin Show, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the outlook for the economy and some of the safest assets to buy in the event of an economic downturn.

Tolga Kumova’s Aston Minerals (ASX:ASO) started out as a gold junior when the company hit significant nickel mineralization. Kumova was behind Syrah Resources, an African graphite company, which now has a valuation north of $600 million. The company recently signed up Tesla for an offtake agreement. Aston Minerals Edleston project is located about 60 Km south of Timmins, Ontario. The company announced 163.5m at 0.52% Ni & 0.016% Co from 186.5m at its Boomerang target. Kumova is executive chair of Aston.

The Federal Open Market Committee has announced a doubling in the pace of asset tapering on Wednesday. The Dot Plots indicate that there will be an average of three rate hikes in 2022, three more in 2023, and two in 2024, all in increments of 25 basis points. Gary Wagner, editor of TheGoldForecast.com discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the impact that monetary policy next year will have on financial markets.

E.B. Tucker, director of Metalla Royalty, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News the outlook for stocks, gold, and silver in 2022.

Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius Network, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the major investment themes of 2022, and which assets will perform the best.

2022 will see silver and gold prices diverge once again, with silver falling by 2% while gold climbs in value, said Jeff Christian, managing partner of CPM Group.

Kurt Wuckert Jr., the "Bitcoin Historian" at CoinGeek, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, evidence that points to the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bitcoin has a reputation as being a stable store of value in the cryptocurrency space, but one company proves that the largest coin has utility besides being an investment. Chantelle Borrelli is the co-founder and CEO of CrownBits Rewards, a loyalty platform that offers cash-back rewards in Bitcoin. Borrelli discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, how incentive programs are what's needed for mass adoption in Bitcoin to happen.

Michael So, VP of Business Development of Cook Finance, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the newest developments in decentralized finance (DeFi).

The uptrend for gold is still intact, said Dr. Nicole Adshead-Bell, director at Cupel Advisory Group. Earlier this month Adshead-Bell spoke to Kitco at the Deutsche Goldmesse show in Frankfurt, Germany. "We're no longer at the very beginnings of a bull market," said Adshead-Bell, adding that the easy money has already been made. "Bull markets have varying degrees of gestation and some of them can be exceptionally long in duration," she said noting 2020 was a "euphoric" year. "Whenever you have that kind of parabolic equity performance, there will always be a correction. That's a very natural thing, and that's a healthy thing." Adshead-Bell said inflation and global uncertainty favors gold. "All of these elements that are circling around the globe are very, very good for gold. I think we'll look back on this year and think that this was an opportune time to enter into the sector."

The biggest risk facing investors right now is the unsustainable stock market valuations that will eventually mean revert, said Ted Oakley, founder and partner of Oxbow Advisors.

The crypto protocols and projects that will stand the test of time are those that can scale to allow for massive adoption should over a billion people use blockchain, said Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and founder of FTX. FTX is one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges and had recently acquired the rights to rename the American Airlines Arena in Miami, home to the NBA team Miami Heat, to FTX Arena.

While 2020 may have seen gold broach peak prices in some currencies, the average cost of the metal in 2021 is a bigger boost for gold miners, according to Ronald-Peter Stoeferle. Stoeferle spoke to Kitco on Friday. He is managing partner at Incrementum AG. "The average gold price is at an all-time high," said Stoeferle commenting on 2021. "Of course we are seeing some cost inflation when it comes to labor and materials, but the margin of the producers is still spectacularly high."

The strong rally in precious metals was a bit of a surprise for First Majestic Silver (NYSE: AG) CEO Keith Neumeyer. Neumeyer spoke to Kitco on Friday at the Deutsche Gold Messe show in Frankfurt, Germany.

The problem with the "inflation is transitory" argument is that it overlooks the growth in money supply, said Willem Middlekoop, founder of Commodity Discovery Fund. Middlekoop spoke to Kitco on Friday at the Deutsche Goldmesse show in Frankfurt, Germany.