Speaking to CoinMarketCap, the former politician said he's against CBDCs, and called on Bitcoiners to educate politicians so "sensible regulation" is achieved.
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Nigel Farage has told CoinMarketCap that Bitcoin has a "great future" — and inflation is a disease that's harder to cure than many people think.
The former politician — who once served as the leader of the U.K. Independence Party as well as the Brexit Party — was at Bitcoin Amsterdam to host his GB News program.
During a panel with Peter McCormack, Farage drew parallels between the battle for Bitcoin adoption and his long-running campaign to get the U.K. to leave the European Union.
Speaking to the CoinMarketRecap podcast, he argued that the high levels of Bitcoin adoption currently in the U.S. will gradually make its way across the pond to Europe.
When asked about what Britain's crypto policy should be — and whether Bitcoin should be made legal tender — he said not yet, but anything's possible in the future.
As leader of UKIP, Farage aggressively campaigned to "save the pound" — and stop the U.K. from adopting the euro.
He stressed that his support for Bitcoin doesn't amount to a U-turn, and that he believes sterling still has a role to play in the British economy.
Farage Against CBDCs
Overall, Farage revealed that he is most fearful about central bank digital currencies — and claims a digital pound could erode privacy and lead to closer surveillance of how consumers spend their money.
"That is ultimately your personal sovereignty — gone out of the window — living in a cashless society. If I've got the option of the pound under a central bank digital currency or Bitcoin on my cell phone, I know which one I will choose."
Brexit was long positioned as an opportunity to "take back control from unelected bureaucrats in Brussels" — and return powers to British politicians.
But Farage disagreed with the suggestion that more widespread use of Bitcoin would actually cause the U.K. to relinquish power over its own financial affairs.
"It's actually giving power back to individuals. This is a freedom project. It's about people being free of the state and making their own decisions and they can comfortably do that living within the concept of the nation state."
Farage went on to call for London to become a "Bitcoin center" — and said the City already has a reputation for financial innovation.
But he conceded that there are difficult questions that must be answered surrounding how the government taxes profits — as "nobody yet has found an answer to that."
In his eyes, Bitcoin is here to stay — and adoption is becoming more widespread.
"We still think it's the 3.30 at Newmarket, but it's not. There is going to be regulation in this space, and I think we need to educate our members of parliament as to what this actually is, because most of them haven't got a Scooby Doo. Let's try and aim to get sensible regulation and a sensible means by which the government can get some tax return."
Talking Bitcoin on TV
The cost-of-living crisis — with the cost of energy, mortgages and food all rising — means Britons have a lot on their mind right now. We asked Farage whether this was the right time for his GB News show to be focusing on Bitcoin.
He said that he likes to be ahead of stories — and that he wanted to highlight to his viewers that Bitcoin is going to become "a bigger part of our lives over the next few years."
"There are people in life who are weathercocks — they're blown around by the wind — and there are people in life who are signposts. I try and be a signpost. That's why I'm here."
During his panel with Peter McCormack, Farage had also spoken about the importance of language. When asked whether he thinks Bitcoiners are too combative — and end up putting off consumers — he admitted that the space can look "a bit cultish."
"You can see why establishment opponents of Bitcoin can say they're all kooky, crackers, don't think that men actually walked on the moon, think that 9/11 was an inside job … I think it's true that there are people in this space, in this industry, that don't do it any favors at all. But then I remember in the early days of being a euroskeptic, there were all sorts of very, very odd people around. But in the end, a very grown up, sensible majority took over — and the same will happen here."
