Posted on 04/25/2021 11:45:04 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A BITCOIN crackdown could see the cryptocurrency "legislated" by the UK, EU, China and the US, an investment expert has told Express.co.uk - noting that Britain could "fall in line" with Joe Biden's reported plans.
Crypto markets plunged today after it was reported that the US President is planning to raise capital gains tax. Mr Biden is said to be considering nearly doubling tax to as high as 39.6 percent, from the current 20 percent. Cryptocurrency investors face higher taxes if Mr Biden presses ahead and the market responded respectfully – Bitcoin crashed 10 percent to $49,332 (£35,627), hitting the lowest level since early March.
But Chris Clothier, an investment manager at CG Asset Management, is not surprised.
He told Express.co.uk: “When governments want to enact financial control, capital control, they have lots of different tools at their disposal.
“A higher rate of capital gains tax would be one of those.
“But, equally, there are other historically precedence. In the Thirties, it was made illegal for private systems to hold gold in the US.
“They had to turn it into the treasury. It is not impossible for an asset to be outright banned or nationalised.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the UK fell in line.”
More than $200billion (£143.6billion) of value is thought to have been wiped off the cryptocurrency market today and concerns over a regulatory crackdown on Bitcoin continue to raise pulses.
India is planning to introduce a law to ban the trading or even ownership of cryptocurrencies and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned Bitcoin is an "extremely inefficient" way to move money and sees it mostly as a facilitator of "illicit finance”.
Mr Clothier, who has produced a special report on cryptocurrency, warned that authorities around the world are looking into how to regulate the coins.
He added: “It’s quite likely that other nations will follow suit, because of the fact that Bitcoin enables people to evade capital controls, launder money and avoid taxes.
“I can see that lots of countries will have reasons to try and restrict their use.
“I would not be surprised to see the UK, US, China and the EU legislating the use of cryptocurrency quite closely.
“Governments are very loath for there to be any type of money they cannot control and that has been the case for hundreds of years.
“They will be reluctant for Bitcoin to supplant and exist in fiat currencies – so measures like Biden’s are symptomatic of government resistance to these movements.”
But while Mr Clothier would steer clear of Bitcoin in the long run, he does not believe the signals today are an indication of an immediate crash.
He continued: “I think it’s dangerous to see a small drop in the price of Bitcoin and panic.
“The thing to say about Bitcoin is has a huge funnel of outcomes and possibilities. But none of them are set in stone.
“It is possible that Bitcoin will go on to be successful, but we think that it is likely to be highly volatile and there’s a pretty good chance it will end up being worthless.
“So for a conservative fund manager, it is not an appropriate asset to put in our portfolio.”
Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has previously warned against investing in crypto.
It stated: “If consumers invest, they should be prepared to lose all their money.
"Some investments advertising high returns from crypto assets may not be subject to regulation beyond anti-money laundering.
“Significant price volatility, combined with the difficulties valuing [Bitcoin] reliably, place consumers at a high risk of losses.”
Express.co.uk does not give financial advice. The journalists who worked on this article do not own cryptocurrency.
Biden does not even know where he is at.
In the meanwhile, Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence has signed an endorsement deal with cryptocurrency portfolio management app Blockfolio.
The interesting part?
He accepted his “signing bonus” exclusively in crypto, which is already worth more today than when it was deposited on Friday.
Either he’s really smart or really stupid.
The KC Cheifs Tight End Sean Culkin will receive his entire NFL salary 920k a year in Bitcoin. He is the 5th player to do this. So what we are seeing is mainstream adoption.
https://www.coindesk.com/chiefs-sean-culkin-convert-nfl-salary-bitcoin
He is very smart and gets it.
Unfortunately 99% of people do not get it. Even the so called, “experts”.
Bitcoin price year by year. Notice a pattern?
2021 - $53810
2020 - $7430
2019 - $5572
2018 - $8931
2017 - $1250
2016 - $455
2015 - $236
2014 - $492
2013 - $137
2012 - $5
2011 - $2
What is that saying about past performance is not indicative of future results.
Yup... That’s what the so called “experts” have been saying over the last 10 years.
So fun to see all these FR goofballs, having no clue about the nature of bitcoin, making predictions about its demise.
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Yes. You see them on this thread.
It used to be that people with no clue about crypto currencies used to refer to tulips.
Now they also mention beanie babies.
Totally valid point - about all investments. And few have had the rad swings of bitcoin.
But...I am parking a chunk of my liquid in bitcoin not to make a "killing" but to preserve what I already have.
I do not trust my government.
Banning Bitcoin won’t be near as easy as the government would like. The market will find a way. I believe right now the crypto market is valued over $1 trillion.
Some countries could gain by encouraging crypto in their economy and have a huge influx of money.
Most bubbles end up with the stupid and the greedy weeping.
Everybody assumes that Biden will get his capital gains tax increase. If he has to go through Congress — and I assume that he does — then this is pretty much dead-on-arrival. I don’t see it happening. So why the overreaction?
“but....but....but....THE US DOLLAR IS BACKED BY THE US MILITARY! WHAT IS BITCOIN BACKED BY?”
(sarc....)
good strategy
Like gold, Bitcoin is a commodity, not a currency. That is their first mistake, and it has property rights associated with it that it’s confiscation or ban would challenge on constitutional grounds.
And while that 40% tax is high, Bitcoin will still be a better investment than everything else that has that same 40% capital Gaines tax. And it is unlikely, I doubt it will pass into law. Starting at 40% I believe is just a negotiation tactic.
Higher? Perhaps but 40% would be a disaster. First to crash would be the housing market. And investment money would be leaving offshore faster than the mainstream media covers the puppet president’s incompetent senility !
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