There are some rumors spreading on Twitter that UK banks are making moves to prevent their customers from buying and selling crypto. You know, the decentralized coins that compete with their CBDC. Let's think about what the larger ramifications would be if countries were to continue down this path.
A basic psychological principle is that people want what they cannot have. Consider how Apple would deliberately under supply retailers the newest iPhone to artificially create demand. Similarly, restricting access to crypto would only draw more attention to it, and generate more interest.
Also consider how the price of alcohol skyrocketed during the days of prohibition, when it was illegal. When a government decides to ban something, it becomes more expensive. Ultimately, this will be true for crypto prices if banks decide to block access to it.
That's not to say that such official announcements wouldn't cause a temporary dip in the market, similar to what happened when China banned Bitcoin/crypto. But in the long-run, it would lead to higher prices as the on-ramps to crypto would become fewer and far between.
Some commented on Twitter that crypto would become worthless if all fiat on-ramps were to be shut off. But consider all the merchants in El Salvador, Venezuela, the Philippines, Thailand, Africa, etc. that have begun to accept cryptocurencies directly as payment in recent years. Essentially they are leapfrogging the traditional banking system, which becomes less relevant with each day that passes.
Of course, it's not going to happen overnight, but look at how far we've come already over the past 13 years since Bitcoin was invented. The overall trend is obvious, the average rate of adoption continues to grow every year, and more officials are beginning to worry about the dramatic paradigm shift it represents.
What should investors do? Have some stablecoins at hand such as DAI or HBD, just in case such announcements cause a temporary dip in the markets. Avoid panic, keep building, and don't lose faith. Seems the "then they fight you" stage may be picking up speed.
Source:
https://twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1622941704251752448
- BitcoinMagazine
Image source:
https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/11/03/08/59/