The UK banks are falling into line. They mostly limit customers' access to crypto to £1000 per day. Another one announced this today. Some don't allow transfers to crypto exchanges at all. They claim this is about protecting against fraud, but this looks like a very thin argument. Doubtless we'll be hearing the same argument from some other countries too.
It appears to me more likely that the government is trying to close the on and off ramps. Why? What are they afraid of? They certainly don't seem to be too bothered about making their people poorer.
The answer: losing control of the money supply. If the public are losing trust in the banks; inflation is not under control; and (in Britain) the country is facing economic decline, many people will want to put their wealth into assets that are not denominated in the local fiat currency. A stampede into Bitcoin would be very troubling for a central bank that does not own any.
So, we could be in for a period of difficulty – getting money into and out of crypto might be harder for a while as governments vie with the crypto community. The outcome is far from assured.
Making things illegal does nothing to stop demand. The very act of trying to prevent people from buying Bitcoin says much about how in demand it is and the advantages it offers. There will be workarounds.
There is also a good chance that some smaller countries' central banks will start to hold Bitcoin. Once (if) this happens the floodgates will open and laws passed in Washington or London will be as effective tissue paper in a rainstorm.
submitted by /u/Nullius_123
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