Privatise the pound and replace it with bitcoin, says free-market thinktank

[_smudger_]

The UK should privatise the pound and replace it with a cryptocurrency like bitcoin, according to a paper published Wednesday by the free-market Institute of Economic Affairs.

Kevin Dowd, a professor of finance and economics at Durham University, says that although bitcoin isn't the first example of private money, it is the first that governments can't shut down. Therefore, he says, authorities should admit that it's here to stay, and allow competition on a level playing field between all alternative forms of money.

Full story..

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/17/bitcoin-privatise-pound-free-market-thinktank

[hilariousandco]

Privatising something doesn't make it better. It usually makes it worse, but Bitcoin can co-exist along with the pound and every other currency peacefully. In fact, I'm sure it will. I think having a decentralised one-world currency will be a great thing. A centralised one on the otherhand wouldn't be.

[_smudger_]

http://www.coindesk.com/thinktank-uk-privatise-pound-embrace-cryptocurrency/

"The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has today released a report stating that the UK should privatise the pound and replace it with cryptocurrencies.

Founded in 1955, the London institute was described as the “most influential think tank” in modern British history by journalist Andrew Marr. Its impact on public policy should not be underestimated.

The institute believes bitcoin will “open the floodgates to a tidal wave of private money,” but points out that digital currencies are quite a bit different than previous examples of private money. For example, due to its decentralised nature bitcoin cannot be easily shut down, so the institute thinks it is here to stay."

[Erdogan]

Why do you have to do anything at all with the pound, when you are going to replace it?

[Beliathon]

Why do you have to do anything at all with the pound, when you are going to replace it?

This think tank is basically saying that Bitcoin is so far and away superior to fiat money, that the pound has now become a liability for the British government - a grenade waiting to go off - and it's therefore best for the nation to sell it to the highest bidder before it implodes and takes their whole economy down with it. It's a wise analysis and a prescient call to action.





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Consider the implications, and then watch this talk to bring it all together.

[NEM minnow]

I think it would be a great experiment if a currency was backed by bitcoin.