A financial adviser who has launched a petition urging the U.K. government to ban Bitcoin transactions has told Modern Consensus: “I want to crash crypto.”
In a phone interview, Neil Liversidge said that he isn’t bothered that his petition has received just 111 signatures at the time of writing—saying:
“It’s had the desired effect as a lot of Bitcoin people went berserk.”
Liversidge added that he “had an idea as to what would happen when I published that petition. I’ve had death threats, I’ve had people wishing me dead, I’ve had umpteen GIFs telling me to shut the f*** up.”
Which doesn’t upset him in the least. He said:
“Some of it is in the hands of the police already. One of the fools who got in touch with me has now got trouble from his professional body because he used his own address. I couldn’t have wanted a better response.”
Liversidge warned that those who own cryptocurrencies are “speculating on fresh air”—and expressed a determination to cripple the criminal gangs that use digital assets.
Liversidge also claimed top law enforcement officials in the U.K. and abroad are exasperated at the lack of action that has been taken to clamp down on Bitcoin: “Not one of them can understand why governments are sat on their hands, like they have, over cryptos. If it was up to these people, my petition wouldn’t be necessary. Everything I’m asking for in there would have been done years ago.”
He’s not entirely wrong, although few elected officials are calling for an outright ban. But, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority banned crypto derivatives sales in retail investors in October.
Then earlier this week, European Central Bank President Christine LaGarde called for increased regulation, arguing that Bitcoin has been used for “some funny business and some interesting and totally reprehensible money laundering activity.”
A long way to go
British citizens can create petitions on a government website—but action is only taken if they attract a high level of public support.
The government responds to petitions that are signed by more than 10,000 people—and the issue is considered for a debate in Parliament after 100,000 signatures.
Liversidge, who runs West Riding Personal Financial Solutions and has been a regular contributor on financial matters to the BBC, made no apologies for his bluntness in the interview—pointing to his company’s motto: “Honest advice in plain English.”
He has been equally outspoken on Twitter, using the hashtag #BitcoinShitcoin and writing: “Bitcoin ‘wealth’ is also illusory. If you buy it you are merely a bigger fool than the seller, and he breathes a sigh of relief.” He also said:
“The supply of fools is running out, people are wising up.”
Liversidge added: “One of my haters has the self-awarded ‘qualification’ of CBP—Certified Bitcoin Professional. The ‘Certified’ bit is almost right. It should read ‘Certifiable.’”
The sometimes-violent response to the Yorkshireman’s campaign, and the fact that he anticipated it would come, shows that—for all of the billions of dollars flooding into Bitcoin—the crypto markets (and some of its followers) lack maturity.
But Liversidge had a clear message for those who had leveled abuse and threats since his petition was launched:
“You’re pissing on an electric fence.”
You May Also Like
-
September 15, 2020 -
May 22, 2019 -
June 24, 2020
