BPUK Newsletter
BPUK aims to bring together the community, policymakers, environmentalists, businesses, energy producers, and Bitcoiners to explore how we might utilise this groundbreaking technology to support UK households, businesses, and our communities in a sustainable and innovative way.
We’re doing this by breaking our work into three initiatives:
Policy
Mining and Sustainability
Next Gen
These groups focus on positioning Bitcoin at the forefront, providing information where needed, and being a representative for Bitcoin in the UK.
The leaders of the initiatives are Freddie New as the head of Policy, Susie Violet Ward as the head of Mining and Sustainability as well as Krista Edmunds as the Head of Next Gen.
What BPUK has been up to:
June was a busy month for BPUK. We met with many energy, environmentalism, and data protection representatives. Besides these meetings, we also attended a few events and a conference in Prague.
Policy
The Policy team was busy in calls and meetings with European campaigners for financial privacy and data protection as well as representatives of environmentally sustainable energy infrastructures.
These successful meetings led to a follow-up meeting with a Bitcoin-focused VC fund team. For now, we can’t share the details of these discussions. However, we’re hoping to be announcing something exciting very soon!
Head of Policy, Freddie New, also attended a panel discussion in Parliament with Ukraine’s deputy minister of digital transformation, discussing ‘The Power of Crypto and Emerging Technologies.’ These attendances aim to put BPUK at the forefront and show a demand for Bitcoin, Mining, and sustainable solutions for the UK economy.
The Policy team also submitted a policy paper to HMRC on the taxation of cryptocurrencies and the application of DeFi to the Bitcoin ecosystem. You can read our response here: https://www.bitcoinpolicy.uk/post/bpuk-response-the-taxation-of-decentralised-finance-defi
Last but not least, the Policy team, in partnership with the Mining and Sustainability team, is working on a BPUK mining arm that includes a project that would utilise the waste heat from ASIC miners for heating purposes. All of that would be powered by solar energy, proving that mining sites can run on 100% green energy.
If you wish to help the Policy team, make sure to retweet our responses on Twitter or help with our Parliament Geyser project.
Mining and Sustainability
The Mining and Sustainability team was busy this month with attending events, speaking to industry leaders, and ensuring everyone in the UK knows its energy potential.
Susie Violet Ward, Head of Mining and Sustainability, talked to politicians, energy researchers, family offices, and conference organisers. These talks aimed to show the work BPUK has done so far and the current projects we’re working on.
One of these is the accumulation of ASICs to build a demonstration site in the South of England to invite people of interest and industry leaders. We’re currently crowdfunding with our Mining Geyser project and are very close to our goal!
Susie was also busy writing about Bitcoin, the mining industry, and the potential of decentralisation in her City A.M. columns. We featured all of them in our media sections below!
Next Gen
After School Bitcoin Clubs
The Next Gen team has been working with a UK-based school teacher who is running an after-school club using the El Salvador open-source ‘Mi Primer Bitcoin’ curriculum. They will release a how-to guide and host a virtual training session for any Bitcoin parents or school teachers who would like to learn to replicate this in their communities and schools.
AMAs
Several Bitcoin business founders have agreed to host virtual AMAs for anyone interested in working in Bitcoin, these will be scheduled from August onwards and will be open to anyone, but we would be especially keen for students to attend.
Jobs
Lastly, we have embedded ‘Bitcoiner Jobs’ into our website under the Next Gen tab so you can see a live list of Bitcoin-only jobs available globally: https://www.bitcoinpolicy.uk/next-gen
BPUK’s responses in June 2023
Below you’ll find the list with all of our responses and updates in June.
BPUK Response - House of Commons Treasury Committee’s “Regulating Crypto – Report Summary”: https://www.bitcoinpolicy.uk/post/bpuk-s-response-house-of-commons-treasury-committee-s-regulating-crypto-report-summary
BPUK Response - The taxation of decentralised finance (DeFi): https://www.bitcoinpolicy.uk/post/bpuk-response-the-taxation-of-decentralised-finance-defi
Media Appearances and Events Attended
Some of our team has been on podcasts, at events, or invited to speak at conferences. Below you’ll find the list of our current and upcoming media appearances.
Freddie New, Head of Policy, appeared in the ‘Rabbit Hole Stories’ Podcast:
Freddie attended the APPG meeting with the deputy minister for Digital Transformation in Ukraine in Parliament.
Susie Violet Ward, Head of Mining and Sustainability, was on the ‘Nephology Podcast’ with Myna Accounts to talk about Bitcoin, CBDCs, and how mining can help our government with its climate change goals.
Lee Hall interviewed Susie for the British Thought Leaders regarding CBDCs and how Bitcoin can be a solution.
Susie attended the Coin Bureau Event in London to speak with Simon Dixon.
Susie attended the CryptoAM Summer Solstice and spoke to a Coin Bureau representative about BPUK’s vision.
Susie attended a webinar by The Digital Pound Foundation and The Payments Association called ‘Demystifying the Pound.’
Susie was a panelist at Cap-Connect, speaking to Family Offices about Bitcoin and representing BPUK.
Susie represented BPUK at the Code is Law vs. Code & Law event.
Susie’s City A.M. column ‘The SEC’s previous rejections of a Bitcoin spot ETF raise concern over BlackRock filing:’ https://www.cityam.com/the-secs-previous-rejections-of-a-bitcoin-spot-etf-raise-concern-over-blackrock-filing/
Susie’s City A.M. column ‘Bitcoin and crypto are entirely different things – that’s why Gary Gensler and the SEC might be right about securities:’ https://www.cityam.com/bitcoin-and-crypto-are-entirely-different-things-thats-why-gary-gensler-and-the-sec-might-be-right-about-securities/
Susie’s City A.M. column ‘Why I believe the Bank of England’s CBDC consultation amounts to a national scandal:’ https://www.cityam.com/why-i-believe-the-bank-of-englands-cbdc-consultation-amounts-to-a-national-scandal/
Coming Up…
Here is what we will be up to over the coming weeks:
Open position
We’re hiring and looking for a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on a volunteer basis. If you’re interested or know someone who’s a great fit, send them our way or to our announcement: https://bitcoinpolicyuk.substack.com/p/were-hiring
Podcast
The BPUK podcast is in pre-production; you can expect episodes soon. There will be an announcement as soon as the podcast is live.
Events
Some of our team will also be present at a few MeetUps in London, Bedford, and Wales, as well as Bitcoin conferences in Central Europe.
If you have any questions or suggestions or would like to support our work:
Email us: contact@bitcoinpolicy.uk
Contact us on our website: https://bitcoinpolicy.uk
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bitcoinpolicyuk