2022-04-09
"I'm from the government and I'm here to help" was I believe identified by Ronald Reagan as a proposition that most of us might feel somewhat leery about.
Still, there seem to be very few areas of modern life that the government doesn't wish to assist us with, and crypto currencies which have hitherto managed to seem too distracted to be of interest are now deemed sufficiently significant to merit the Treasury's attention.
Naturally, since the main attraction of a crypto-currency is precisely that it is perceived to operate outside and independently of the purview of officialdom, the government proposes to rectify this attraction by launching an official stablecoin, that, being pegged in value to the official fiat currency, will permit government-controlled "stability and high regulatory standards" to benefit the UK financial markets (ie: you can buy and sell them through the regulated official intermediaries with all that that implies).
If history is any guide, the notion of government-controlled stability may be more readily associated with inflation (loss of real value) rather than deflation (gain of real value) - indeed, inflation is officially enshrined in the Bank of England's monetary targets. However, if the ongoing improvement of humanity's lot is what we strive for, should not this be the other way around?
Given the ever-fluctuating balance between demand and supply within any economy, and not forgetting that a newer product of nominally the same identity as an older product (eg: a motor car) may offer enhanced value (in terms of for example comfort and safety) which may defy precise measurement, an exact balance will likely be for ever beyond reach; nevertheless it does seem perverse to actually target a loss of nominal purchasing power.
" ... the UK will proactively explore the potentially transformative benefits of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in UK financial markets, which enables data to be synchronized and shared in a decentralised way"
Shared with whom? A Central Bank stable-coin allied to a digital id for every citizen would be the primary step toward a Chinese-style social credit control system, even if "shared in a decentralised way".
"John Glen also confirmed that the government will consult on wider regulation of the cryptoasset sector later this year"
So the currently prevalent assumption that your crypto assets exist untraceable outside the usual financial controls looks like it may be rather short-lived.
The Daily Exposé has the details - don't ignore.
