
Bitcoin Startup Adds Former Barclays Chief Antony Jenkins - alcio
http://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-startup-adds-former-barclays-chief-antony-jenkins-1481581285
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osrec
A retail banker, with little understanding of technology and little clout.
Having served in the investment arm of Barclays during his tenure, I'm not
sure he can add much.

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knocte
Connections?

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osrec
He was a less than impressive CEO, fired by his own board. Sure he may have
connections, but he doesn't come across as the best mediator. I have nothing
against the guy, but I personally see little in terms of value add from having
him in a fintech start up.

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AntonyJenkins
Antony Jenkins is NOT someone you want in a BitCoin startup if you want your
customers' TRUST.

He was fired from Barclays because he got his hand caught in the cookie jar -
several times [1] (money laundering, management bonuses, tax avoidance,
conflicts of interest, rate fixing, market manipulation on electricity and
gold)

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclays#Controversies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclays#Controversies)

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kylebenzle
Seeing more and more Bitcoin stories and HN these days, is something
"happening" in that space finally?

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knocte
Simply crypto is eating finance. Very slowly but it's happening.

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sanswork
Is there any evidence it's making any progress into traditional finance? There
were a number of projects announced over the past few years but they all seem
to have sizzled out or been outright cancelled. Where are you seeing it
"eating finance"?

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alexmat
Synthetic USD/CNY/JPY bonds:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XehDfHTa8Sg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XehDfHTa8Sg)

This stuff is brilliant.

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sanswork
I feel like I'm missing a lot here. Why would anyone go through all that
trouble just to create an asset that follows the price of USD? Why not just
use USD?

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bottled_poe
Untaxed and black market trading. It's worth a lot of money, until it gains
serious traction at which point the government will simply outlaw it.

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JumpCrisscross
> _at which point the government will simply outlaw it_

If you are using it for tax avoidance or money laundering, it is already
illegal.

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tluyben2
I think many people see crypto currencies, until they are regulated, somehow,
as legal ways to not pay tax. Obviously they are not and when the gov catches
up, they might get you anyway. They are very patient.

Ofcourse things are easier to hide if you want to for a while, but how would
you turn it into actual money if we are talking large amounts?

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imranq
This guy used to run Barclays tax evasion division, which while apparently
completely legal, gave the wrong impression as Barclays accepted taxpayer
money...

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cm2187
No he used to run their credit card division. I think you are refering to
Roger Jenkins

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imranq
Oh I didn't know they were different people! Then I am wrong and apologize for
any misinformation

