Bitcoin lobbying group warns UK not to sell its 61,000 bitcoins

A Bitcoin lobbying group wants the UK to refrain from selling more than 61,000 government-controlled bitcoins, citing pro-crypto sentiment from Donald Trump, El Salvador, and the United Arab Emirates.

Bitcoin Policy sent a letter along with its manifesto to the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and City Minister Tulip Siddiq this morning, suggesting three ‘simple’ pro-crypto policy changes for the government.

It claims that five million people in the UK own bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and notes that the government controls over 61,000 bitcoins (currently 61,245). Because of this, Bitcoin Policy argues the government is ‘duty bound’ to avoid policies that may lower the price of citizen-held and government-controlled bitcoin, and that it should, “take steps to preserve and enhance the value of the bitcoin that it holds on the nation’s behalf.”

Bitcoin Policy’s letter to the UK’s chancellor and city minister.

It then reiterates in its third suggested change that the country should hold seized bitcoin as a Treasury reserve asset, and that it shouldn’t be sold in a similar manner to Germany’s bitcoin.

The UK needs to join the Bitcoin conversation

The lobby group claims bitcoin, “Would enable the United Kingdom to continue to transact with its trading partners even in the event that all other channels of transaction were closed.” However, it doesn’t elaborate on what type of event this might be.

“In July 2024, Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump will speak at the largest Bitcoin conference in the world,” reads the letter. “He will be joined by the Independent Presidential Candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, and the former Presidential Candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy.”

It continues, “State legislatures in the United States are passing legislation to protect the right to self-custody and the right to mine bitcoin. Nation states, among them Bhutan, the UAE, and El Salvador are beginning to mine bitcoin at a state level. Yet the United Kingdom is nowhere in this conversation.”

It claims that bitcoin mining, “Is an ideal partner for sustainable grids,” and suggests that bitcoin mining companies can buy up surplus energy generated by wind turbines.

Read more: Donald Trump wants close to 1 bitcoin a photo at Bitcoin 2024

Bitcoin Policy claims to be a not-for-profit, non-partisan, independent organization, “Spearheading a movement to integrate Bitcoin into the UK’s economy.”

The lobbying group is led by Susie Violet Ward, Freddie New, and CEO Bill Aronson. Ward is a Bitcoin journalist, New is the co-founder of a crypto research platform, and Aronson is an executive at an artificial intelligence research group.

Source