UK Treasury May Sell $5B of Bitcoin to Offset Debt, Bloomberg Says

IconCryptoNewsTerminal Staff19 Jul, 2024

cryptonews.jpg

UK Treasury May Sell $5B of Bitcoin to Offset Debt, Bloomberg Says

The UK Treasury may sell its $5 billion worth of Bitcoin holdings to help shore up the public finances, according to Bloomberg senior columnist Merryn Somerset Webb. In a recent column, Webb suggested that new Chancellor Rachel Reeves could follow in the footsteps of previous Chancellors who have sold off gold reserves in times of financial difficulty. Webb points out that the UK government is facing a "worst set of public finances since World War II" and that selling Bitcoin could provide a way to raise money without raising taxes. She also suggests that the Bank of England is unlikely to add Bitcoin to its reserves as it is not yet a currency and its status as an asset class is unproven. Webb warns that holding onto seized Bitcoin could expose the UK government to unnecessary risk, although she suggests that Reeves could relax the regulation of cryptocurrencies, which would allow the government to collect more tax from it. ```

Related News