Disruptive in office, losing MP focuses on Bitcoin disruption to turn a digital dollar post-politics
Posted
A one-term MP booted from Parliament at the recent Queensland election is now punting on cryptocurrency as his post-political career.
Rob Pyne was elected as Member for Cairns in 2015 as an ALP candidate, but turned independent after falling out with the party a year later.
What is Bitcoin?
- A digital cryptocurrency
- It operates on a decentralised peer-to-peer network, with no central authority or government backing
- They can be bought with fiat currencies like Australian dollars from online exchanges or created through mining
He lost the seat to the ALP's Michael Healy at the November state poll.
But Mr Pyne said he had moved on. His future, like that of our economies, would be digitally focused.
"It's basically a financial revolution taking place that really is going to challenge the status quo," he said.
"The banks and the establishment are really going to struggle to deal with this and that suits me just fine."
The former MP's own cryptocurrency portfolio is worth about $900, up from a $300 investment made three weeks ago.
He estimates he owns 0.002 of a Bitcoin, with all his resources having been invested in holding office.
"I spent everything on the election — financially, physically and emotionally — so I'm certainly starting from a low base, but it's so fascinating, I'm addicted to it."
'Rob Pyne: Cryptocurrency guru'
Mr Pyne is now promoting himself as a cryptocurrency guru via social media.
Despite talk of Bitcoin bubbles, he believed the fundamentals were more sound than traditional financial systems.
"Instead of talking about what's wrong with Bitcoin, which operates on the blockchain … why don't people look at the shortcomings of fiat currency?" Mr Pyne said.
"What's a dollar buy now? Compare that to what a dollar bought 10 years ago and that's going to continue to be the case."
Mr Pyne has no formal financial qualifications, but has enquired about tertiary training, and was also unsure how to declare his earnings to Centrelink.
"There's not one university offering anything in these digital currencies. It's an example of how it's ahead of the curb, and organisations, universities, tax offices, Centrelink, really have to catch up with where we're headed."
Cryptocurrency questions abound
An Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) spokesperson did not believe Mr Pyne required a licence to promote his cryptocurrency expertise.
"That sort of general advice might not require any sort of licence," the spokesperson said.
"As far as I can tell [Mr Pyne] isn't pretending to provide a detailed, personalised financial service, which is when you need a licence and all sorts of client obligations kick in."
The Financial Planning Association of Australia said its industry was adopting a wait-and-see approach to cryptocurrencies amid the hype and speculation, given a lack of real understanding of their value.
"History is full of examples where the latest money-making idea turns into the latest way to ruin an investors' financial position," head of policy and government relations Ben Marshan said.
"The current trajectory in the valuation of Bitcoin is very reminiscent of the Dutch tulip bubble which destroyed the finances of a whole nation in the 17th century."
Mr Marshan believed cryptocurrencies would play a role in the future of finance, but warned investors needed to carefully understand how they were investing their money.
"Many of the underlying technologies have far-reaching benefits beyond currency uses. These are still very new technologies and need to be properly understood," Mr Marshan said.
"Bitcoin has been compared to gold, but without the ability to make jewellery, which suggests that the current valuations have very little basis in reality."
Investors are urged to do their own research.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, government-and-politics, money-and-monetary-policy, cairns-4870
