Bitcoin ETF's

[Urbandreamer]

I "paid" in two different ways, though the bar man and his till saw no difference.

1) Paid immediately by debit card, in bitcoin. All in cost 0.00014416 BTC.*

Presumably the pub want payment in sterling so at some point your bitcoin will have had to be converted, i.e. sold, into sterling?

So no different in principle to selling anything to raise the necessary sterling.

BoE

As you say, no different from using your debit card when on holiday.

I have the choice of spending in bitcoin and the pub has the choice of receiving in pounds, or Euros in France etc.
You have the choice of spending GBP and the pub has the choice of receiving Euros, USD etc.

Where is the problem?

Of course the pub could add BTC to what it accepts.
https://www.dello.com/solutions/fiat-crypto-pos
Of course that would REALLY destroy the argument that BTC is not a currency, wouldn't it?

BTW, beer seems a bit cheaper these days, if you price it in BTC.
The bottle of beer that I bought in June cost me 0.00022816 BTC. Some 58% more than last night.

PS, yes at some point the pub and everyone else will require sterling so that they can "render unto Caesar".

[Bubblesofearth]

Of course the pub could add BTC to what it accepts.
https://www.dello.com/solutions/fiat-crypto-pos
Of course that would REALLY destroy the argument that BTC is not a currency, wouldn't it?

Yes, if goods were priced in Bitcoin and Bitcoin accepted in payment then Bitcoin would indeed be a currency.

But that's not generally the case just now

BoE

[Urbandreamer]

Of course the pub could add BTC to what it accepts.
https://www.dello.com/solutions/fiat-crypto-pos
Of course that would REALLY destroy the argument that BTC is not a currency, wouldn't it?

Yes, if goods were priced in Bitcoin and Bitcoin accepted in payment then Bitcoin would indeed be a currency.

But that's not generally the case just now

BoE

So to be a currency it must be "generally" accepted as payment. By that rule pound notes may cease to be currency. It's already the case in city center pubs. By that argument we can claim that the Euro and USD are not currency, in the UK, hence not currency. We might even extend the argument to Scottish pound notes, in England.

To be fair, your point, I think, is that bitcoin is not usually used as a unit of account. Ie like the price advertised for this product.
https://sovbtc.io/product/blockstream-jade/

It's rather more common for BTC to be accepted as payment, while using another currency as unit of account.

As for unit of account, I have been tracking my portfolio in BTC since October.
Boy is that depressing. In BTC terms my portfolio is not doing well at all, though it doesn't look to bad if I measure it in pounds. Possibly I should apply an inflation compensation to the value in pounds for a "real" in "currency" value.

I am FORCED to use pounds as a unit of account every time I spend BTC. Why? Well because the act of spending BTC may be a CGT event and it is not impossible that I may be required to pay CGT simply because I buy something. Hence my comment upon "render unto Caesar". It is a reason why I have rejected some BTC wallets for spending. By ignoring fiat, they make it very difficult for me to comply with the law.

I suspect that you have not thought about these matters, having no need or desire to do so.

[Urbandreamer]

And....back to ETF's rather than a debate about money (see other thread for that).

This popped up in the mainstream news.
UK looks increasingly isolated in its anti-crypto ETF stance (FT)

A quite interesting read. I would argue that even if you yourself seriously question crypto, but invest on the stockmarket, you should read it.

The "WISE" are again arguing that people need to have them act as a gate keeper, while arguing that people should be able to act through them. In this case to buy bitcoin.

Possibly you should be screened before you buy shares in BAT, DGE. or SHEL Do you really know what you are doing? Have you thought it through and are happy with the consequences of investing in tobacco, booze or oil?

FWIW, I'm of the opinion that you or I are the person in the best possible position to know our own objectives and risk tolerance.

I was going to provide a few choice quotes, but the FT has asked not.