CEX.IO

Friday 17 May 2013

Bitcoin presentation to the UK Government

On Monday 13 May 2013  I made the first formal presentation of  Bitcoin to the UK government at the Future of Money conference, which included an explanation of how Bitcoin works.

The conference was organised by the government’s Foresight Horizon Scanning Centre, an arm of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) which develops innovative, long-term policy. About 50 senior civil servants attended.

The Future of Money focused on the implications that widespread adoption of Bitcoin might have. Since Bitcoin users are pseudo-anonymous, government authorities worry that it could be used for purposes such as money laundering, and that transactions between individuals fall outside the boundaries of tax collection.
The feedback was very positive both from those who attended the meeting and the organisers. 

The London Financial Times reported this on the following day on page 3 (with a lead-in on the front page) and the full story can be found on these links here:

UK taxmen, police and spies look at Bitcoin threat


A useful Q&A on Bitcoin was published alongside the FT article: