5 years ago the CEO of Blackrock Larry Fink said “bitcoin just shows you how much demand for money laundering there is in the world”, adding “that’s all it is”.
5 years later Bitcoin investments is a financial product they offer to some of their clients.
Influential people must be careful about what they say, I would think a lot of people would have listened to Fink back in 2017 and believed BTC was for money laundering, I’m still not sure why criminals would use a system with a ledger that can never be changed to launder money. It’s always important to understand before forming opinions otherwise it will be confusing and people might think they are being manipulated.
Perhaps Fink should have made a statement that his view on BTC back in 2017 was hasty and poorly researched before his company announced investments in BTC.
By bying more BTC he will not solve the problem of energy getting more expensive. For that there should be more cheaper energy or less energy being consumed. Using BTC doesnt produce such effect. Its infrastructure and behavior that needs to be changed, not what you use to pay for energy.
I get it, its a lot more hard to do that, and it requires people at the top thinking and doing something.
But you are the one to demand it. You have to think long term, It is shortsightedness that is going to turn this world into hell.
Well I’m trying to suggest solutions to problems, saying “Change the infrastructure!” is great but it doesn’t provide a workable solution.
It looks like he is going to default on the loan and eventually on his electric bill. His electric company will put him on a pre-payment meter which he can top up with minimal amounts like £10 per day so he will have to pay for his electric in advance. If he doesn’t have the money his electric will turn off.
I believe there are laws in the UK that restrict electric companies from taking action, for example they can’t turn off the electric if there is a baby at the premises who is under age or if there is an elderly person over a certain age.
My thought was for him to learn GPU mining and use that £5000 to purchase an 8 GPU mining rig. After electric is paid he would have earned £52 per month at current BTC value. He is a mechanic so he has a technical mind he is over 40 with 3 kids so he has patience, he should collaborate his skills and try to diversify.
It doesn’t have to be crypto mining, he can spend the £5000 on some other sort of business, perhaps a mobile mechanic? He could do cheap vehicle checks and drive to his customers, he could drive and get the parts and fit them for a small fee.
My point was he has to create something that will regenerate that £5000 he is borrowing, I say crypto because that and computers is all I know.
As I say, all of what you’re saying is great, the only issue is the political approach can take months sometimes years. People need to do something right now, It’s sad to think there are so many right now with their last £10 on their electric meter which will run out in a few days.
Vehicle recovery is pretty good, He could also use the £5000 to put a deposit down on one of them vehicle recovery trucks, he could draw up an agreement with The AA (roadside recovery) then he could earn a good £150 to £200 for each vehicle recovery he does.
My general point is to diversify, Every car owner in the UK pays a set monthly amount to The AA or similar company so some major finance is there to be earned.
It is realistically possible. With well and handpump, there must be outhouse, solid fuel burner. Thats easy when you live out of the city, houses can be equipped with it already. Mine still is, it was equipped with those when build and they are an alternative to the solar panels and all electric everything. Outhouse was build outside house too just before house was build.
For city the thing is a bit harder. Water bought in bottles for driking, food that doesnt require boiling and can be eaten as is, no washing or bathing allowed beside in water that you could gather from rainwater or public water pump outlet (if you still have those in your city). Toilet washed with used water or rainwater too.
If you thing about entertainment, there is plenty of books to be read, before night, or things to do all the time in the bed.
He may have to borrow slightly more, but I think you get the jist of what I’m saying.
Exactly this, go where the money is, he is a mechanic so he could fit well into this additional role. If he did this then he wouldn’t need the £5000, he could borrow £1000 just to pay immediate bills and then start paying that back when he gets paid from his 2nd job.
Based on your link it does look like the industry is struggling badly.
The situation is frontline workers like Nurses and police are struggling badly even though they earn around £25k per year after taxes. If these type of workers can’t get to their job in a timely manner it could result in other people facing severe health problems and other dangerous situations. Not being able to afford food can affect well being pretty badly, I think there are rules which stop key workers taking on a second job.
So yes it is unrealistic to expect key workers who should be reasonably well off to live without energy. Imagine that, someone is having a heart attack and the ambulance driver is busy getting food to eat at the food shelter because his electric went off and the £100 worth of food in his fridge spoiled. This is unacceptable and will only lead to even more financial problems for the government.
There needs to be some type of law which makes it illegal for an energy company to turn off a key workers supply.
Dont make me say that hunter gatherers and early farming communities had it more realistic when it comes to way of living than where you live. If people there cant live without electricity, its too late for them and they will all have to die I am afraid. I see people polluting river here and I am curious what these people were thinking, now all the life in river is dead, river that was at the fundament of life in human history thru thousands of years. Dont be like those people, think about future.
France is nationalizing the EDF as to make sure there will be no issues. I think all utilities have to be nationalized anyways. The basic cornerstone of any country should never be in private hands. That’s why I would support CBDC’s as the people can have a target “to attack” when things go wrong. Imagine Michael Saylor saying “You can’t pay your bills? lol, I lost 1 billion dollars and can still buy a lambo, lolz.” So I rather have someone elected or put in power, any group can go protest and ask for change. With an-cap systems like BTC this is impossible.
I would not put all hope into government, People have to be given rights, and energy, but also there should be limits put in place. People have to know they cant waste energy. Doesnt matter what is their financial situation. They should not steal energy from others who then cant afford it for such prices.
Everything like BTC mining would have to be stopped.
In the 1980s in UK Margret thatcher privatised the energy industry which I think is the start of our current problems. This is when lots of competition started and you had everyone selling energy for dirt cheap, the competition was intense as all of the energy companies now had private shareholders to answer to, this system might be great for when the economy is going well but disastrous if the economy is bad. It’s funny that some leaders now think nationalisation is the answer.
I don’t agree BTC is an-cap as it has a fiat value. Factually nothing has gone wrong with BTC, the only issue has been how people manage the BTC they own or were given as part of an investment. Society does need a level of centralisation but it also needs a level of de-centralisation which can help when leaders aren’t executing their job in an ethical manner.
All governments around the world are free to buy BTC and use it to provide services, it doesn’t seem like BTC is an-cap.
If the allegations against the leadership in China are true then BTC could help some people lock a part of their assets away from everybody, they could relocate to another country and exchange the BTC to the local or whatever the legal tenders that country has. Surely this is an option? Or if it is true what is happening in China are you saying they shouldn’t have the BTC option?
Perspective will always be a funny thing, the alleged offences in China may make it’s citezens believe BTC is a godsend, Then citezens of another country where there are no corrupt government allegations may not think anything of BTC or even dislike it.
So the UK government has the power to stop energy companies pursuing people who owe them money. I don’t think the energy companies will win here due to the sheer volume of people that are unable to pay.
The people who can’t pay should not have their supply switched off and the energy company will have to extend repayment terms for anyone in debt with them. So if one owes edf money edf will have to cap the repayment at £1 or £2 per day and just keep letting the arrears build up.
Pursuing debt costs money and my opinion is that due to the sheer amount of people unable to pay pursuing them legally might cost a lot. Ordering banks to pay the debt out of the one who is in debt’s account won’t work either because it will be seen as unethical.
If energy companies think solving the issue means installing a pre-paid meter in homes of people struggling to pay then they are mistaken, many households simply won’t have the money to top up and we will see protests and riots in the uk.
Laws could have been passed years ago, for example there should be a law where house builders must incorporate a minimum of 0.5kwh electric generation in their new builds, such a move would have forced house builders to employ solar power specialists and create jobs, Imagine that, over 40 million households generating 0.5kwh each where possible and sending it back to the grid. We have had the technical knowhow to do this for such a long time.
You can see the undertone here. “government is bad”, “‘innocent’ Rich people who care about the ‘poor guy’ forced to plead guilty on fraud and other charges”, “One of the rich guys got it and made sure he remained anonymous, that way he could not be charged for anything like last time.”
Then the story on one of the guys who is cryogenically preserved in Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Just like the pharaos so one day, we’ll be able to revive them and heal them too. How does one pay for that for over a few thousand years? Then they have to deal with the legal issue of being pronounced dead. You will be alone (no friends or familiy, well if he wasn’t like that already) on the planet having to learn the language, customs,… . How much assets does he have after being legally dead? But as typical for those “long term investments”, as long as you don’t really think any of it through it’s all fine.
