Prices in the United Kingdom continue to rise, hitting another 40-year high of 10.1%. According to figures from the U.K’s Office for National Statistics, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 10.1% in the 12 months to September 2022, up from 9.9% in August. The 10.1% figure mirrors July’s recent high.
According to ONS data, “Rising food prices made the largest upward contribution to the change in both the CPIH and CPI annual inflation rates between August and September 2022.” The BBC reported that the Ukraine war led to an increase in grain prices, also sharing that dairy products have risen by over 30% in cost in one year.
But what do incessant price rises mean for the British Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency community? In recent months, British pound trading volumes soared on exchanges, while the pound almost hit parity with the dollar before the Bank of England got back to the business of printing money.
Jordan Walker, CEO of the U.K based Bitcoin Collective told Cointelegraph:
“Given the current policies in place by BoE [Bank of England] and our government, double-digit inflation is quite obvious. I feel like it is a wake-up call for many people in the UK to start learning about why this is happening to our money.”
Walker explained that hosting the U.K Bitcoin Conference should help to teach people about “The ‘why’ and offer a solution which we believe is Bitcoin.”
James Dewar, founding partner of U.K based Bridge2Bitcoin told Cointelegraph, “There are two components to inflation. One is supply/demand mismatches caused by disruptions such as Covid, responses to Covid, and war. All we normally hear about are these, as politicians argue these are events ‘outside’ our control.” Dewar continued, shedding light on the underbelly of inflation:
“What we don’t hear so much about is that the other component of inflation is monetary and that since 2008 governments have encouraged central banks to both directly buy their debt (money printing) and indirectly to encourage them to get banks to increase lending (money printing).”
His colleague Simon at a volunteer organization that seeks to help local businesses in the U.K. reduce payment processing costs by accepting Bitcoin told Cointelegraph, “Everyone on this planet has unfortunately been born during a period of government-controlled money and this fiat system is now in its death throes.”
“Massive money printing and Covid lockdowns have sped up its demise. Fortunately, Bitcoin emerged as a solution just when humanity needed it. Bitcoin is money for the people, by the people and can’t be controlled by the state.”
Bridge2Bitcoin recently hit the streets of the UK to boost Bitcoin merchant adoption–to varying results. In brief, Bitcoin adoption is growing in the U.K but it’s a slow and challenging journey.
Finally, British crypto influencer Laiyah Heilpern, a staunch Bitcoin advocate in the face of CBDCs, reached for Twitter to express her emotions at the increase:
Breaking: Inflation in the UK is back up to 10.1% – a 40 year high!
— Layah Heilpern (@LayahHeilpern) October 19, 2022
Paul Dales, a chief economist at Capital Economics, commented to the Financial Times that the U.K will have to get used to rising prices. Dales explained that the rate of inflation would remain in the double figures well into the new year.
