Taproot Assets on Lightning | Britcoiners by CoinCorner #136

Transcript

The UK government has £3 billion in seized Bitcoin, and this has become a hot topic in the media. The Telegraph, a mainstream UK media outlet, recently discussed the pros and cons of whether the UK government should sell this Bitcoin or hold onto it. Historically, an article like this wouldn't have even appeared in the mainstream press, and most people would just have said, "sell it, sell it." But this article presents a more balanced view, weighing up both sides of the argument. It even compares the current situation to when Gordon Brown sold a load of the UK's gold in the late 1990s. There's a graph in the article showing that if the UK had held onto that gold, it would now be worth nine times as much. So, it's interesting to see a mainstream media outlet making these kinds of comparisons and providing a balanced discussion on whether the government should sell or hold onto the Bitcoin.

There's also the question of whether the UK government is under any obligation to sell the Bitcoin. The article doesn't mention anything about that, so it's unclear if there are any rules or regulations in place requiring them to sell it after a certain period. However, there's speculation that with a new Labour government trying to find money quickly, they might decide to sell it off. As we know, politics is often focused on short-term gains, particularly with four-year election cycles, so they might not be thinking about the long-term value of holding onto the Bitcoin.

Even the comments on the Telegraph article were fairly balanced, with some people for selling the Bitcoin and others against it. This indicates that the industry is maturing in terms of how mainstream media and the public view Bitcoin. Some comments were quite humorous, like Lord Sugar's saying, "Of course, they should sell; Bitcoin is worthless." However, there were also more informed comments, such as those pointing out that BlackRock has bought Bitcoin and recommends a 1% allocation, which provides a more balanced view than we've seen in the past, especially in the UK.

However, there was one quote in the article that was frustrating: a managing director of a tax firm in the UK claimed that Bitcoin is only used by criminals. This is obviously not true and shows that there are still outdated views out there. Maybe he needs to look into how much cash is used for crime, as someone pointed out in the comments. It's frustrating to see such uninformed opinions still being taken seriously by some people.

The article concludes by noting that £3 billion is a significant sum and would be a pretty bold move for the Labour government to sell it. It's around 6% of the defence budget or 8% of the health budget. Selling the Bitcoin could provide a significant financial boost, but there's also the risk of making a decision similar to Gordon Brown's gold sell-off and losing out on potential future gains. It remains to be seen whether the UK government will follow Germany's example or decide to hold onto the Bitcoin.