Cryptocurrency trading is "gambling" and should be regulated as such, say MPs

The Treasury Committee has delivered a bombshell report that likens consumer speculation in cryptocurrencies to gambling and "strongly recommend[s] that the Government regulates retail trading and investment activity in unbacked cryptoassets as gambling rather than as a financial service". By Esther Martin

Social purpose "parasite"?

The cross-party committee of MPs did not pull their punches [1] when they described unbacked cryptoassets - ie, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether - as having "no intrinsic value, and their price volatility exposes consumers to the potential for substantial gains or losses, while serving no useful social purpose". Not content to question their positive value, they highlighted the deleterious impact of these financial instruments. For instance, the environmental risks of Bitcoin alone - the largest cryptocurrency - were estimated by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance to amount to an annualised energy consumption of 131 terrawatt-hours, more than that of Norway or Sweden.