Blockchain nears peak hype: UK politicos to probe crypto-coin Hot on the heels of Bitcoin’s dramatic rise and fall - and rise, British parliamentarians have decided to launch an inquiry into digital currencies. The Treasury Committee, one of the more influential of the House of Commons’ talking shops, today confirmed it will investigate the impact of cryptocurrencies and how they can be …
Surely it doesn't take a committee to conclude that the biggest risk with cryptocurrencies is the same as any other form of gambling: losing all your money.
They should table this next to crowdfunding under the heading of "Alt Gambling", and concentrate their efforts on simply raising public awareness of the fact that it is actually gambling.
No, no, gambling is GOOD! Oh shit, what I *meant* to say is that financial services as specialised in the Stock Exchange and Wall Street are good. Not gambling, no, that's bad and wrong and addictive and very, very profitable... Not like stocks, shares, and stuff like that. No.
>in the US *every* transaction is considered a taxable event
...and spare a care for all the poor yanks who received a Bitcoin Cash 'dividend' - it's looking like airdrops will actually be taxed as income at accrual price (huge at one point) rather than value when (or if) they are divested/traded for comparative buttons.
That's way to overreaching. It's like the US/UK government trying to tax every ruble to rupee exchange. It would only make sense if the exchange actually happened in an exchange operated and run in the US/UK. With crypto-currencies the exchange can be anywhere in the world.
Well the UK only taxes you when you cash out and I imagine that is on the basis of being tax domiciled, which as another post mentioned is fair - you incurred a capital gain, you get taxed on it. Not sure whether you can carry over capital losses though which could prove interesting as you always could with other "investments" although I haven't been tax domiciled for a while.
The US has always seen fit to do its own thing and it looks a little like the might of the financials when it comes to lobbying and regulatory capture may have paid dividends in this instance.
"...“People are becoming increasingly aware of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, but they may not be aware that they are currently unregulated in the UK, and that there is no protection for individual investors,” said committee chair Nicky Morgan."....
Translation " we need to work out how we can tax cryptocurrencies, and if we can't how we can stifle it's use"...
Translation " we need to work out how we can tax cryptocurrencies, and if we can't how we can stifle it's use"...
Did anyone think that wouldn't be the reaction to something intended to bypass the 'official and approved means and ways of doing things'?
The probe into crypto-currencies should be fairly short. It funds terrorism, it aid paedos, drug dealers, ne'er do wells, it enables money laundering other than by the rich and elite, and it keeps transactions away from our prying eyes and money-grabbing hands.
Unless they can come up with 'it's what we need to make post-brexit Britain great' I think we can all guess what the conclusion will be; 'It's okay so long as it's regulated, so long as we have a back door into the blockchain, have the right hashtags'.
"The probe into crypto-currencies should be fairly short. It funds terrorism, it aid paedos, drug dealers, ne'er do wells, it enables money laundering other than by the rich and elite, and it keeps transactions away from our prying eyes and money-grabbing hands"
Same reasoning applies to encryption, privacy, land records, British controlled tax havens, and pretty much all asset trading. So expect regulation, not a ban.
all this crypto nonsense obscures the incredible power of blockchain.
Not quite sure if that's actually a bad thing now, as it seems to have created a moron-filter for jobs.
Because people are hiring blockchain experts ... as I have just found out, having bagged a sweet job doing it.
"the incredible power of the blockchain ........"
Certainly interesting technology though a distubuted blockchain is unlikely to be a world changer. Bitcoin "works" by putting large sums of money into the distributed miners pockets. This makes it an eye wateringly expensive service that's only possible because it is printing money. Applyng this to "other" systems where blockchain might add some value is hard. Reward the distrubuted "miners" enough to incentivise them and its too expesive for real use. Don't pay enough and the incredible blockchain can end up being "secured" by a couple of old PC's running in an adolescent's bedroom.
"“People are becoming increasingly aware of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, but they may not be aware that they are currently unregulated in the UK, and that there is no protection for individual investors,” said committee chair Nicky Morgan."
The great unwashed can't be dabbling in something that could give them a few quid without paying more tax on it. Rabble rabble rabble.
The great unwashed can't be dabbling in something that could give them a few quid without paying more tax on it. Rabble rabble rabble.
I think they're worried about two things:
1. Missing out on taxes
2. The inevitable uproar when the great unwashed lose the shirt off of their backs because BitCoin is essentially worthless on most measures of worth. It isn't a store of value and it is impractical as a medium of exchange. FOMO != Value, but don't let that put you off of your wild punts you think are investments. There will be tales of those who "made a mint" but there will be plenty who lost more than they could afford to. I also have no doubt Governments could collapse BitCoin's price if they so desired.
..the whole point of crypto currencies – the exchange of ‘value’ without interference or regulation from a central authority (the reason for developing a distributed ledger technology in the first place). It is meant to offer freedom, which by definition, means you aren’t going to be protected from your own stupidity should you decide to use it in a dumb way – such as a speculation vehicle in a financial bubble.
Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty sure that Bitcoin will go the way of the tulip bulb bubble, but blockchain technology developments will form the basis of whatever stable cryptocurrency eventually comes from these ashes.
Then the MPs will have a real problem as there won’t be a reason for anyone to stay with the fiat currency the treasury controls....
Sir/Madam, you are bang on the money with that one (NPI). With any fledgling development there will be resistance from the old guard. Especially when there is such a seismic shift coming the way we transact and exchange information. There will be a distinct polarisation between those who adopt and the those who wish to maintain the status quo. The banks are Blockbuster and Blockchain/Bitcoin are Netflix, knocking on the door.
I highly, highly doubt that serious financial institutions would adopt Bitcoin as their primary transaction method. If their blockchain isn't denominated in some real-world currency, it'll probably be one specifically designed for the purpose. That way, the blockchain would be able to support however many transactions they need at whatever pace they like; they can also pick a better way to handle coin inflation(perhaps by just having a finite number of infinitely divisible coins).
"Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty sure that Bitcoin will go the way of the tulip bulb bubble,"
If you want to make comparisons, then use something accurate. Tulipmania was almost entirely a futures market, whereas bitcoin futures are a fairly new thing.
The link you posted for tulipmania is just so terribly wrong it's not funny. Implying the mania went on for decades and that it was traded on stock exchanges.....
The whole tulipmania lasted, inlcuding all court cases resulting from it, about three years. Only about a year and change of that were people actually trading bulbs, offshoots and futures.
The actual trading took place in pubs, where a percentage of each sale went into a "booze and food" fund. That is what is held as the main reason why things got a bit out of hand, since the traders where getting pretty pissed at the same time.
The most valuable tulip bulbs had roughly the same value before and after the mania. It was the common varieties going by the pound that had the price exponentially rising.
Considering the vast number of financial scams and frauds, and the rather large numbers of currencies that have been issued and are now void*, there are plenty of other suitable examples to warn people off bitcoin. Tulip's just indicates that someone does not understand either bitcoin or tulipmania.
* often the losing side in any big war
>I am pretty sure that Bitcoin will go the way of the tulip bulb bubble
there's always one.
.....also it's worth bearing in mind years after the crash - many varieties of unexceptional tulip bulb are worth more than the pound and a true Semper Augustus still will set you back more than most people earn in a year - if you can find one for sale (and you'll struggle).
"The inquiry comes as Bitcoin hit a three-week high on Tuesday 21 February, reaching $17,900 for one Bitcoin, more than recovering from the low at the start of this month of slightly below $7000"
The price of bitcoin did not go anywhere near $17900 on Tuesday the 21st of Feb maybe $11000.
Fact check?
Regulation is good if they don't FIU! But based on previous experience this is going to be the funniest thing to happen this year! If Amber Rudd can't understand how facebook works how's she going to get her head around blockchain? I'm sure they'll find some old dinosaurs to consult in as 'experts' then ignore the advice... This is why we need blockchain, take the decisions away from these incompetent professional talkers.
The vast majority of people have no reason to give a rat's arse about cryptocurrencies.
Quite, unless you got in early and managed to avoid having your nice fat virtual wallet stolen and can avoid potentially crippling fees to get it into real money.
11,900 for a bitcoin? Seemingly easier to get hold of a Ningh!!
Definitely the product of a deranged imagination....
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