Europe's Biggest Tax Swindle

Frequently irked by the centralised systems foot soldiers - banks, FCA members etc - decrying cryptocurrency and labelling it ponzi/scam/high risk/unsafe/unregulated and so on, I like to redress the balance with stories like this one.

Europe's financial elite lifted 55 billion euros, about US$63 billion, out of state coffers by receiving tax reimbursements for tax that had never been paid, a new crossborder investigation exposed Thursday last. [https://www.occrp.org/en/27-cc-watch-briefs/8772-cumex-files-european-taxpayers-cheated-out-of-55-billion]

Such a story MUST have been covered by the media - surely? Like me you probably are learning about this for the first time.

The investigation names many of the world's largest banks; UBS, BNP Paribas, Barclays, JP Morgan, Meryll Lynch, Banco Santander, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Swedish bank SEB. All have been implicated.

The "how" is staggering; the cover up bigger than another cover up, currently in the news just now. I am barely surprised. Rather than putting their own houses in order - so desperately needed - the banks prefer to go on the attack and condemn anything or anyone which threatens their dominance.

The banks know that across the world things are changing; China is in the midst of a cashless revolution [www.coindesk.com/what-chinas-cashless -revolution-can-teach-the-west-about-crypto] 90 crypto hedge funds have launched in the first 9 months of 2018 meaning that a notable 20% of all hedge funds launched this year are crypto based [in 2016 it was less than 3%] Ticketmaster - supporting event owners with greater control and fans with greater security - has acquired "Upgraded" - a Blockchain technology company which services the live event industry. Although the internet has rendered the box office virtually obsolete, scams remain a constant problem.

I read a report yesterday which confirmed Apple shares had been more volatile than Bitcoin this year and yet protagonists only mention Bitcoin and others in an effort to dissuade the mass adoption of this decentralised unit of currency. With over 6,000 crypto or digital or alternative currencies now in place, the biggest financial revolution in history is firmly underway.

Be part of it. Take back control.