Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As bitcoin pushes beyond the €8,000 mark this week I call on the Leader to liaise with the Department and Minister for Finance regarding their policy on bitcoin, of which I understand we currently have none. Today, bitcoin was the cause of two large American technology companies biting the dust. According to the Korean police, a bitcoin ponzi-type scheme recently in operation in Korea involved an estimated fraud of $38 million. This is only one of a few such schemes. There are possibly 100 similar schemes in operation. Ireland is at the cutting edge of technology, social media and finance. It has all of the ingredients to become a hot bed of bitcoin farming and, unfortunately, fraud. We need to play our part and immediately introduce a policy on bitcoin and its use in Ireland by the technology companies and as a method of payment throughout the country.