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posted by mrpg on Monday February 26 2018, @04:26PM   Printer-friendly
from the 21-millions-of-problems dept.

Title: 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 regulated.

[...] "Striking the right balance between regulating digital currencies to provide adequate protection for consumers and businesses, whilst not stifling innovation, is crucial."

[...] Many regulators and government bodies - from the European Commission to the US Securities and Exchange Commission - have made no secret of their disdain for Bitcoin.

[...] But the committee also plans to investigate the potential benefits of cryptocurrencies and the underlying distributed ledger technology, for instance in boosting security or disrupting the economy or work of the public sector.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @04:37PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @04:37PM (#644005)

    The blockchain bros [nytimes.com].

    At least they'll know where to find them [google.com].

    • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @04:55PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @04:55PM (#644018)

      They called him Little Timmy. He was a kind, caring, and curious young lad around the age of 9. Everyone who knew him knew that his favorite colors were black & blue; he made sure of that. Everyone also knew that he was quite the artist.

      Today, Little Timmy was creating another work of art featuring his two favorite colors. Black. Blue. Black & blue. These colors were spread all over the object with Timmy's fists, resulting in a truly bizarre - yet strangely alluring - work. When Timmy was done, he decided to hang his finished piece on a tree in the park for all to see.

      Later, a large group of people gathered around a tree in a certain park. Everyone was looking at a piece of artwork. Beautiful. Amazing. Wondrous. It was Timmy's greatest work of art yet. The people admired the boy's immense skill and understood that he would eventually become someone famous.

      Two weeks later, a woman's rotting corpse was removed from a tree in a park and taken to a landfill.

  • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Monday February 26 2018, @04:39PM (1 child)

    by Sulla (5173) on Monday February 26 2018, @04:39PM (#644006) Journal

    http://fortune.com/2018/02/06/bitcoin-stock-volatility-vix-sec/ [fortune.com]

    SEC Chair pointing out that bitcoin is less volatile than the stock market.

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @07:34PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @07:34PM (#644115)

      I haven't understood all the nuances of that article you linked, but frankly, it doesn't pass the smell test.

      Just looking at the graph of "Daily Percent Change in Prices of Bitcoin, Gold, and S&P 500 Index" makes it clear that Bitcoin is FAR more volatile than stocks as a whole.

      Anecdotally, when the S&P drops 5% in a day it's national news on all the networks. When Bitcoin drops 10% in a day, everybody yawns.

      I suspect this quote was cherry-picked by Bitcoin boosters to pump bitcoin further.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @04:48PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @04:48PM (#644013)

    Oh well. Shitcoin had a good run. Bros, let's innovate another scam, dude bros.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @05:57PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @05:57PM (#644053)

      I'd like to purchase exclusive mining rights to your personality. People overlook common commodities, but there is a lot of money to be made in salt mining. Mining, not just for dude bros!

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @05:32PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @05:32PM (#644038)

    Dear Fine and Honorable British MPs,
    You cannot "regulate" cryptocurrencies. You can either ban them or suffer their existence. And don't try to buy a large stake in them now in order to manipulate their values at a later date. You are not welcome in our sandbox.

    Signed,
    The Future

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @07:13PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @07:13PM (#644104)

      Of course, that prohibition created organized crime on a continental scale, and then a global scale.

      Governments can wreak havoc trying to control people, so don't be so smug.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday February 26 2018, @08:48PM (1 child)

      by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday February 26 2018, @08:48PM (#644175) Journal

      Properly I don't think they can even ban them. They can only prevent their purchase with and conversion to currency of the realm. And even then there shalt be bootleggers - send me a wire of pounds or mail me some cash or physically courier it over to me.... I'll convert it to bitcoin for you and send you the wallet codes, and vice-versa. (Until my government bans me from doing so).

      And no, I wouldn't actually do that as I'm sure that breaks some-law-or-other in my jurisdiction. But someone will.

      They can't stop the signal.

      --
      This sig for rent.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 27 2018, @07:17AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 27 2018, @07:17AM (#644523)

        Hawala for the future

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