I want to mount a legal challenge against the Reserve Bank of New Zealand against their "loan to value"(LVR) rules. At a very cursory level the LVR rules require bank lenders to loan no more than 80% of the value of home mortgage for owner occupiers i.e. borrowers need a 20% to obtain mortgage funding. For "property investors" a 40% deposit is required.

Why do i want to do this?
- NZ is experiencing a severe shortage of homes across the country but particularly in Auckland the largest city
- The shortage is driven primarily by excessively restrictive land use rules by local councils and govt regulation. It is exacerbated by monopoly suppliers supported by local councils and nonsensical house building standards
- There is no shortage of land in NZ, demand is intense, we have record low interest rates, strong migration and consumer confidence. Imo it is a disgrace and scandal that we are in this situation
- The RBNZ has piled on top of council and govt and has restricted the flow of capital to the housing market and indirectly trying to suppress prices i.e. imo the LVR rules are a form of price controls although not as a blunt instrument as a price ceiling
- NZ led the world down a monetarist approach to monetary policy in the early '80s by having a sole function of price stability and nothing else. This has now changed for the worse.
- The LVR rules have been implemented under the so called "macro prudential policies" which came into effect during the GFC. Many other countries would have experienced the same policies implemented if they were not already.
- Macro prudential policies imo is the wrong path to take. Rather than stabilising the financial system they merely make too big to fail financial giants even bigger and more entrenched. These policies intensify rather than mitigate risks to the system. Macro prudential policies are the modern day keynesian approach of attempting to fine tune and economy. Central banks should stick to their knitting which is monetary policy.

Why bitcoin?
- Bitcoin is near perfection of monetary policy - no capital controls, no fixed rate of exchange and most importantly a predictable certain monetary policy that cannot change.
- Bitcoin has bypassed the central banks and imo time will prove it to be an inherently more stable reliable currency/medium of exchange
- Many of those involved in bitcoin will have similar views and background to me; in a nutshell i'm a libertarian monetarist who dislikes and excessive regulation that has very bad consequences and has an interest in social justice.

What do i need?
- Initially a modest amount of funding to obtain legal council
- Expert testimony from economists to support the legal challenge

Im in two minds whether this is the right place to start this. If anyone has any interest or suggestions please do post your ideas or message me. Obviously there are a lot of details to the above which will be explained pending interest.

Hi everyone

A few questions regarding the IRS ruling.

1. Is is final? i.e., when they ask for comments/questions does that mean they are seeking feedback on their initial view?

2. Where is the technical analysis to support the position that it is property and not a currency? The paper itself is cursory and contains almost no legal analysis to support the conclusion.

3. Can US taxpayers take a position it is currency and fight it out in the courts? i.e., I would think the IRS is not the arbiter of whether virtual currencies are property or not. It is a legal question rather than a decision to be made by the IRS?

I am a tax professional (outside the US) and would be very willing to assist in making submissions regarding this. The ruling is obviously not a good outcome and without seeing any legal analysis seems contrived to argue this is "property".

This is my first post and introduction.

I first read about Bitcoin in 2009 and thought what a fantastic idea. It appealed to the libertarian and economic views i hold (Minarchist to be specific). It never actually occurred to me that it could be an investment!

Anyway, im glad to be here and want to do a few things. Invest in bitcoin. Looking for a $500 entry point to hold for long term. Look into mining alt-coins. Contribute to discussions.

Thank you