Freddie New

Idiotic statements like this are made when policy is prepared by those who do not understand technology, and lack the intellectual curiosity to try. I’m far from a defender of stablecoins (for me they retain all the disadvantages of fiat currencies, not least of which being the peg to a currency controlled by a central bank). But I recognise at least that they exist, and that people use them, and the technology has certain properties. At the same time, I try very hard not to publicly call out people for rank stupidity, even when (like the @bankofengland here) they clearly deserve it. Saying ‘self hosted wallets will not be permitted under the UK’s stablecoin regime’ is a statement of such monumental, such overweening, stupidity, that it is hard to formulate a sensible response. Perhaps there is no point in trying. Let them say this, and then let everyone in the UK simply continue to use their ‘self-hosted wallets’ (ie ‘wallets’) without paying them a second’s more attention.

ANNOUNCEMENT B HODL has added 1 BTC to its Bitcoin Treasury Total holdings now 163.487 BTC AQSE: HODL | OTCQB: HODLF | FRA: F5S #Bitcoin #BHODL

Nearly three million Britons petition against your policies. Your regulator is a toothless international laughing stock. Private companies fight for our rights to privacy while you, the government, attack them. Your Ministers get community noted for inaccuracy. The founder of Wikipedia himself is fighting for us harder than you are. When do you look in the mirror, @UKLabour and @darrenpjones, and change course? Better be before 2029...

In response to the innovative drive by @reformparty_uk , @ZiaYusufUK and @Nigel_Farage to accept donations in Bitcoin, we have seen the usual nonsense from some politicians about Bitcoin being used 'to disguise dark money' Rather than simply telling @liambyrnemp he was wrong, I thought I would test the system myself, and demonstrate just how transparent it is (vastly more so than any other form of donation). I would hazard a guess that Liam hasn't himself tested it, and is likely unaware of the radical transparency of Bitcoin (and its comparatively poor privacy protection). The flow is set out in the video here. You'll see that once you enter the amount, you have to provide your name, your email address, your phone number, your date of birth, and your home address, before you can make a donation. ie. Reform know EXACTLY who you are when you are donating. They even say on the screen that they can only accept donations from known donors. You'll also see that Reform provide an on-chain address to which you should send the Bitcoin. My video shows me doing this. Afterwards, you can paste that address into a block explorer (also shown in the pictures here) and it's possible for ANYONE WITH AN INTERNET CONNECTION to identify the exact amount sent, and when it was received. The other screenshots show this. Far from being a privacy-hiding tool, the Bitcoin system is actually radically transparent. That Bitcoin address in the screenshot is now permanently linked both to me and to Reform. This record cannot be changed and is admissible in court. I challenge @liambyrnemp to show an equivalent paper trail, accessible to anyone in the world, for any regular banking donation, made with a bank account, where I can check a political party's bank account details for records of their donations. We live (still) in a free country. Anyone may vote for whichever party or candidate they choose. But we shouldn't let party politics distract us from politically-neutral innovations, or lead us to spread inaccuracies about how those innovations work.

@JointCtteNSS Also the actual donation flow gathers names, addresses, phone numbers and includes a Bitcoin address that any one with an internet connection can check. Far more transparent that a donation from a bank account: x.com/freddienew/sta…

@JointCtteNSS I'm sorry but this is completely unsupported by the facts. Please review this article on the radical transparency of the Bitcoin system and the ease with which law enforcement can trace source of funds: x.com/bitcoinpolicyu…

The UK may be doing everything it can to shut down free expression and to monitor every second of our lives. But at least we have allies like @mullvadnet , literally out in the streets, fighting our corner. It's a strange world where a VPN company is fighting for the rights of citizens that are being attacked by their very own government, but it's the world we live in; and we're lucky to share it with Mullvad. "On the one hand, censorship and mass surveillance are escalating in the UK, through new laws, government pressure and proposed legislation. On the other hand, criticism of censorship and mass surveillance is being blocked through processes that are arbitrary and – to use their own words – unclear."

Stonehenge tunnel officially scrapped - after more than £179,000,000 spent on plan lbc.co.uk/article/stoneh…

Innovate Finance has sharply criticised proposed stablecoin regulations from the Bank of England, arguing that the framework risks undermining the development of a competitive sterling-based stablecoin market paymentsindustryintelligence.com/uk-fintech-ind…