It's as negligent for a nation not to have a #Bitcoin strategy today as it would have been to ignore the internet in 1994.
The UK is the third largest nation state holder of Bitcoin, with over 61,000 coins. Nearly five million UK citizens are thought to hold Bitcoin.
And the government holds its Bitcoin on behalf of the nation – you might have thought we'd use this head start to our advantage, to protect and preserve the value of this important reserve (which has increased in value by more than a billion pounds just in the past year).
But the policies of the previous government, and FCA – far from making this country a ‘crypto hub’ - have instead placed constraints on UK citizens looking to buy #Bitcoin , and have driven jobs, businesses and tax revenue offshore. We give examples in the thread.
Today, we have written open letters to the Chancellor, RachelReevesMP , and to the City Minister, TulipSiddiq , recommending three simple policy changes, to help HMG change course, and really capitalise on the country’s first mover advantage:
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Ensure that Bitcoin businesses and holders can freely operate in the UK, with access to exchanges and to banking, and to adapt our tax policies to encourage spending and saving of Bitcoin in the economy.
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Conduct feasibility studies relating to the opportunities Bitcoin mining offers in achieving the UK’s net zero goals.
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Capitalise on the UK’s current position as the third largest nation state holder of Bitcoin and consider an allocation of our existing Bitcoin as a Treasury reserve asset, alongside our gold.
Gordon Brown famously sold a significant portion of the nation’s gold at a generational low in the market; at what is now a loss exceeding 20 billion pounds.
We should not make such a mistake again.
We encourage you to read our open letters, to download the policy manifesto in the thread, and to share it with your local MP. Please also share and repost this thread!
With thanks also to Dennis_Porter_ , to Excellion and to JAN3com , whose work with legislators and on nation state adoption has inspired and informed our work, and also to thetrocro and JoeNakamoto , for their ever-welcome advice and support.