UK Launches Task Force To Scrutinize Cryptocurrency Risks and Benefits (cnbc.com) 27
U.K. Finance Minister Philip Hammond unveiled a task force that examines the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies on Thursday. From a report: Hammond announced Thursday that the task force includes Britain's central bank, the Bank of England (BOE), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) watchdog. He said that the BOE and FCA would also take the "first steps" toward automating financial compliance in Britain. The cryptocurrency task force is part of a wider fintech, or financial technology, strategy laid out by Westminster. As part of its initiative, the U.K. signed an agreement dubbed a "fintech bridge" with Australia on Thursday that will enable British fintech firms to sell products and services in Australia. The deal will also look to build cooperation on policies and regulation surrounding the sector, Hammond said. Hammond said he wanted to make the U.K. the "most attractive home" for global fintech firms.
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To be fair, evaluating isn't really standard operating procedure. Normally they just decide to ban things - it goes down well with the sherry-sipping shirefolk.
Tax (Score:1)
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+1 Informative.
Exactly. This is the _other_ Golden Rule: "He who has the gold, makes the rules."
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Maybe, although gains by gambling (so long as gambling isn't your profession) are actually not taxable here.
Another thing to know: the Bank of England (who apparently have an acronym BoE, which I've never seen used) have been developing their own crypto currency (presumably as a replacement for Sterling, rather than for any decentralised benefits).
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Just curious, how do they decide whether gambling is or isn't your profession?
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They look at what income you're getting (or declaring). A lot of 'traders' do a bit of public speaking, seminars and training courses "on the side" so that they can call that £30k/year profession their job and the trading is just 'gambling'.
Ultimately, the Tax Avoiders Guide to Gambling says that you need a "job" of some sort (ideally part time, to give you time to gamble) which pays a reasonably decent amount of money. If your "job" pays £15k/year and you make £100k/year gambling, then yo
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Finance Minister? (Score:2)
Just saying.
I'll save them some work (Score:3)
Risks: Loss of control over foreign exchange, massive ease to criminal finance (tax evasion, ransomware, black market purchases, terror funding, sanctions evasion), massive energy consumption, massive risk of irreversible loss due to cybercrime or scams, accelerating inequality due to early purchaser/miner advantage, potential for infinite tulipmanias.
Benefits: Warm n' fuzzy feelings for the very nuttiest libertarians.
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A crypto currency, does not need to be mined, it simply can be minted, so no particular cost in energy. Most actual cryptocurrencies, most notable bitcoin, are not anonymous at all. ... which would probably not make much sense, because of the involved costs.
A government e.g. could even go so far to actually back the currency
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Most actual cryptocurrencies, most notable bitcoin, are not anonymous at all.
O RLY? Well what is the command for returning the real name of a bitcoin wallet's owner? There are some ransomware and cryptojacking operations I would like to bust. And I'll solve that Satoshi Nakamoto mystery once and for all.
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As you probably know the FBI had no problem to find the "real names" behind some bitcoin transactions.
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Yes, some. So all we have to do is hope that a person compromises their own anonymity with a traceable transaction so they can be deanonymized. Sounds pretty anonymous to me.