Robin Smith

Dear @LucyRigby, I hope you will take a moment to read this. We spoke in the Anacta Suite at Labour Conference. During your conversation with Visa I asked you directly: “As the UK is the third largest sovereign holder of bitcoin, should the Treasury be researching a strategic bitcoin reserve to strengthen our economic position.” You took our organisation’s details and said you would follow up. Before and after that conversation @BitcoinPolicyUK has reached out to you on multiple occasions. We have contacted your office with open letters, emails, our bitcoin manifesto, invitations to meet, policy documents and evidence based submissions. These include the strategic bitcoin reserve letter published here: img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/aea… We have also submitted our policy material which can be found here: img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/aea… We have had no response. Our work is independent and carried out in the public interest. We ask only for the opportunity to contribute to the national conversation. In contrast, Visa and now Ripple appear to have extraordinary access and influence at the highest levels of government. At Labour Conference Visa representatives advocated for identity linked payments. Ripple is now pushing centralised digital infrastructure that aligns closely with government controlled money, a model that risks creating the most monitored and permissioned financial system we have ever seen. At the Texas Bankers Association roundtable Visa pushed programmable money and tightly controlled payment rails. These systems are often marketed as “inclusive,” but reports show they exclude the most vulnerable and create new risks for privacy and autonomy. Visa and Ripple have both the budget and the access to push this vision across every forum they enter. This creates a serious problem. The UK is being guided by advice from companies with vast resources and strong commercial incentives. Their interests are not aligned with the interests of citizens. When ministers hear mainly from large corporates they receive a narrow and distorted view of what the country’s digital future should be. This leads to policy ideas that weaken privacy reduce freedom and place growing power in the hands of intermediaries. Bitcoin offers the opposite: - It strengthens national resilience - It supports privacy and individual freedom - It provides an open monetary network that no corporation can manipulate - It is the only digital asset aligned with the principles of a free and open society My concern is simple. The UK is receiving advice shaped by powerful corporate interests whose incentives run directly against the public good, and Bitcoin is being sidelined at the moment it matters most. This is not a party political issue, it is about ensuring that government hears from more than one type of stakeholder. The stakes include financial stability energy innovation and the UK’s global competitiveness. img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/aea… Bitcoin Policy UK remains ready to brief you at any time. There is no cost and no commercial motive. Only evidence independence and a commitment to helping the UK make informed decisions. I hope we can finally begin this conversation. Yours sincerely Susie Violet Ward CEO, Bitcoin Policy UK