Rishi Sunak Is the First Crypto Enthusiast To Serve In UK's Top Office 37
Gizmodo points out that the United Kingdom's next prime minister, Rishi Sunak, "is a certified Crypto Bro who once requested that the Royal Mint issue an NFT." From the report: During his tenure as finance minister under former PM Boris Johnson, Sunak was in charge of advancing a number of crypto-related initiatives that sought to normalize digital currencies and integrate them into the British economy. By all accounts, he is the first crypto enthusiast to serve in the UK's top office. He's also the first person of color and the youngest PM -- 42 years old -- that Britain's had in 200 years. To be fair, Sunak's efforts at crypto promotion have at least trended towards regulation and taxation as opposed to total laissez faire deregulated madness -- though those efforts could, ultimately, simply normalize a phenomenon that critics say is redundant at best and a privacy hazard at worst. In April, Sunak announced a series of programs to turn the UK into what he called a "global cryptoasset technology hub." Among the initiatives announced at the time was a plan to integrate stablecoins into the national payment system, thus "paving their way for use in the UK as a recognized form of payment." Considered to be the least volatile form of cryptocurrency, stablecoins have seen more interest by governments than other forms of crypto -- though projects like Terra and Tether have shown the potential danger in putting too much faith in the assets' stability.
Sunak's plans also suggested creating additional regulations that would've helped further incorporate crypto into the UK's economic and legal framework, thus spurring greater investment in the space. "The measures we've outlined today will help to ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country," Sunak wrote in a press release published at the time. Another ambitious initiative pushed by Sunak was the Financial Services and Markets Bill, a piece of legislation that would give local governments in Britain broad discretion to regulate cryptocurrencies, thus further assimilating them into the nation's economy. The bill, which has not yet passed, is currently being looked at by Parliament.
At the same time, Sunak also recently backed a study to look at the potential benefits of creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC), or "Britcoin" as he dubbed it. Proponents of CBDCs argue that they could have benefits for spenders, making payments "faster, cheaper, and more secure," as one op-ed puts it. However, critics argue that they are unnecessary and could ultimately spell huge privacy troubles, given the trackable nature of crypto and digital currencies. Despite his crypto track record, analysts have suggested that is is unlikely Sunak will have time to focus much on any web3-related initiatives in the near term. Given Britain's current economic dumpster fire, any work on "Britcoin" might have to take a backseat.
Sunak's plans also suggested creating additional regulations that would've helped further incorporate crypto into the UK's economic and legal framework, thus spurring greater investment in the space. "The measures we've outlined today will help to ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country," Sunak wrote in a press release published at the time. Another ambitious initiative pushed by Sunak was the Financial Services and Markets Bill, a piece of legislation that would give local governments in Britain broad discretion to regulate cryptocurrencies, thus further assimilating them into the nation's economy. The bill, which has not yet passed, is currently being looked at by Parliament.
At the same time, Sunak also recently backed a study to look at the potential benefits of creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC), or "Britcoin" as he dubbed it. Proponents of CBDCs argue that they could have benefits for spenders, making payments "faster, cheaper, and more secure," as one op-ed puts it. However, critics argue that they are unnecessary and could ultimately spell huge privacy troubles, given the trackable nature of crypto and digital currencies. Despite his crypto track record, analysts have suggested that is is unlikely Sunak will have time to focus much on any web3-related initiatives in the near term. Given Britain's current economic dumpster fire, any work on "Britcoin" might have to take a backseat.
Well... farther back (Score:4, Funny)
I think Winston Churchill was into crypto, of some sort ...
Re:Well... farther back (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't think Churchill was a fan of crypto... Also he set the British computer industry back years by having the Colossus machines dismantled and kept secret. The UK built the first general purpose programmable computers, but kept it quiet until the 70s when details of those first machines started to come to light. By then the credit had gone the US and ENIAC.
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Yup. His most famous words: "Never was so much owed by so many to so few."
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Well, his writing certainly could be. if you read his 6 volume history of WWII, it gets pretty dense. Page after page of references to all the various memos he wrote to generals, admirals, the minister for deck chairs and ash trays, etc. Man, those guys must have hated him getting into their business at such a detailed level. FDR certainly didn't seem to follow this approach.
Now, when he is simply writing prose narrative about the war, that can be sublime. OF COURSE the books are heavily slanted in his
Oh good. (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Oh good. (Score:5, Interesting)
Their current problem is that they've become a laughing stock. They're hoping to hold out as long as possible before they are forced to call a General Election because current polling has them losing all of their seats.
Re: Oh good. (Score:3)
Tbis never stopped filthy rich people trying to get MOAR. For some people there is no "enough".
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To be fair, Obama actually won an election. Sunak won because the Tory leadership intentionally stacked the rules so Boris Johnson had little chance of ever ending up on the ballot, and that was only after the disastrous short premiership of Liz Truss, who in turn, beat Sunak after replacing Johnson in another leadership race. Neither Truss or Sunak have been tested in a general election, so I'll be more impressed if Sunak can actually make the Tories electable in two years.
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...it won't be because it will make him richer, he doesn't need it nor he owes it to anyone..
I don't think that makes any difference.
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Re:Oh good. (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem with conservatism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.
As far as I can tell Thatcher coming up with the inverse of the slogan was simply the now popular act of pointing and yelling that someone else is doing what you're actually doing. Thatcher decided to go in for a massive spree of privatisation: i.e. selling off the family silver in terms of council housing stock, utilities, etc etc. Basically a huge giveaway funded by previous labour governments.
Well, they've run out, there's no more family silver to sell and it's causing problems. They have never been economically sound, just good at hiding that fact.
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The real problem with conservatism is that you end up running out of other people to blame. After eleven years of Conservative rule in the UK, they can't blame Labour anymore, so after trying to blame the Anti-growth Coalition (which, apparently, also includes the bond and currency markets, since those were the two groups that actually destroyed Truss's leadership), now we have Sunak blaming his predecessors. And after the post-Brexist disasters, whenever the next election comes, it's going to be hard to re
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You say it's hard but they're already doing that.
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They don't have any other message to use. At this point, and unless things significantly change, Sunak isn't going to be trying to win the next election, but rather to prevent a Tory electoral catastrophe. If he can keep the Tories at 150 seats, that will be a considerable victory. Not that he'll be rewarded. He willingly accepted this poison chalice, but no one will thank him for it if Labour wins. They'll heap all their blame on him. This is a party in desperate need of a reckoning and a renewal, but they
Re: Oh good. (Score:2)
Why am I not surprised? (Score:1)
PM Rishi Sunak (Score:4, Informative)
Quit using "crypto" that way! (Score:2)
A "crypto enthusiast" is someone who is into bent functions and truncated differential cryptanalysis.
great to see him taking everyday Britons along... (Score:2, Flamebait)
Re: great to see him taking everyday Britons along (Score:1)
combine the ideas (Score:3)
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When the economy is in the shitter, trying to profit from being a safe haven for the shadow economy's ill-gotten gains is a tried and tested strategy. Hence crypto.
Oh yes. (Score:1)
I'm sure this will pull the ukonomy right out of the gutter.
Re: Oh yes. (Score:1)
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Yeah definitely what the UK needs at this very moment, more crypto enthusiasm!
Seriously, is this a Labour false flag op? (Score:3)
Looking down the list of the past PMs that littered Downing 10, I can only assume that they're Labour members in disguise trying to discredit the Tories for good.
I mean, for fuck's sake...
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I think Truss is a Lib Dem member in disguise trying to discredit the Tories for good. Last weeks pools showed the Tories winning between zero and 48 seats at the next election, which would make the SNP the official opposition party, and potentially, have the Lib Dems as the second largest party that fields candidates in enough seats to potentially win a future election.
This could be like 1922 when the Liberal Party lost the election to finish in third place, and Labour replaced them as the main alternative
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Truss was Thatcher 2.0. I'm dead serious, she thought she could be a Mrs. T for the 2020s. Guess what, the yuppies of the 1980s ain't here anymore and the new youth doesn't believe in your trickle-down bullshit anymore. Yeah, people learn slowly, but eventually they catch on when their legs have been pulled long enough.
I think the UK had its 2 parties long enough. The Whigs, later Libs, eventually crumbled and died and made the path clear for Labour, it's time the Tories finally kick the bucket as well and
Crypto for taxable earnings (Score:2)
'Crypto Enthusiast' (Score:2)
of course he is (Score:2)
Rishi Sunak will be one of the UK's wealthiest prime ministers ever - nearly a billionaire.
Of course he's into crypto: all the cryptocreeps I know are wealthy enough that if they lose a few $million they don't give a shit.
Who better to exploit what's basically a corrupt moneylaundering system that has on a few occasions turned into a windfall(for some)?