Financial Advisors Asks UK Government to Ban Bitcoin

Independent financial advisor Neil Liversidge recently introduced a petition to ban digital currency transactions in the UK. He argues that cryptocurrencies have a destabilizing influence on society.

A new petition for the British government

IFA and the managing director of West Riding Personal Financial Solutions Neil Liversidge recently introduced a petition with the UK government. He urged the government to ban Bitcoin as it could have a destabilizing effect on the economy.

His petition states,

“Cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value and can be a destabilizing influence on society, and often used for criminal activity. Banning crypto transactions in the UK would impede criminals that rely on these currencies, and could also affect faith in the currency and so lead to a fall in prices, reducing the wealth and power of those holding cryptos.”

He went on to say that cryptocurrencies are not essential to legitimate businesses and citizens and mining cryptocurrencies could be very harmful to the environment.

Could the petition be heard?

For the petition to be heard in the Parliament, 100,000 signatures will be necessary. Liversidge’s petition has only 85 signatories. The petition comes only a few days after the UK financial services regulator banned crypto-based products.

Liversidge says that he has helped several people who were scammed by bad actors. One person was blackmailed while sending personal pictures to a woman he went online. However, he ended up sending £5,000. Another victim was an elderly woman who lost £18,000 to a South African gang of crypto scammers operating a trading program.

He called cryptocurrencies a con and claimed that he was out to crash cryptocurrencies. He said that if the UK government takes a lead on banning crypto transactions, it would crash these currencies almost overnight. He said that while banning may not help law enforcement catch all the criminals, it can reduce their power and destroy their financial base. He even went on to say that people holding cryptos should find someone who is a bigger fool and dump their coins to them quickly.