Ironically, as the Loan Charge fallout deepens, UK freelancing is booming again.
A new Tide Global Freelancer Report finds soaring demand for SEO specialists, graphic designers, filmmakers and copywriters — with searches for freelance roles hitting millions.

“Freelancing has opened up the world to me,” said filmmaker Oreoluwa Peter Famosa.
Yet as more Britons turn to independent work, campaigners warn: unless the Loan Charge injustice is resolved, trust in the flexible economy may never recover.

Recruitment giants like Hays, Capita, Reed, AMS, and Atlantic Resourcing were named in LCAG reports for recommending or approving non-compliant umbrella companies.
Contractors trusted these household names — many working on government projects — only to be betrayed.

The LCAG says:

“It is manifestly unjust that HMRC and successive Governments decided to ruthlessly pursue the victims of mis-selling, not the parties who profited hugely.”

While freelancers face ruin, The Telegraph revealed HMRC gave up to 85% tax discounts to large companies implicated in the same schemes.

“At the same time as doing sweetheart deals with multi-million-pound companies, HMRC was preparing a law to retrospectively hit individual workers,” said the Loan Charge APPG.

MPs Greg Smith and Sarah Olney are demanding a “proper, independent inquiry” into what they call “a staggering injustice.”

At least ten suicides have been linked to HMRC’s Loan Charge, according to Sky News and parliamentary reports.

Victims — cancer patients, parents, and small contractors — describe mental torture and despair as they received tax bills for schemes their recruiters endorsed.

“I sent HMRC a suicide note because I was just fed up,” one contractor told Sky News.

Campaigners call it a state-enabled tragedy, where the real perpetrators — agencies and umbrella companies — “have faced no sanction at all.”

Two new parliamentarian-backed reports and Sky News interviews reveal how recruitment agencies and umbrella companies profited from coercing contractors into disguised remuneration schemes, leaving devastation across the UK’s flexible workforce.

Agencies reportedly demanded £30k–£45k upfront fees and £12–£15 per timesheet commissions to push contractors into non-compliant umbrella firms. Many workers never knew — until HMRC pursued them years later for “unpaid” tax.

“It’s nothing short of a pickpocketing racket,” said Dave Chaplin, CEO of ContractorCalculator.

The fight for encryption is also a fight for trustless systems.
Web3’s guiding principle — truth by verification, not authority — depends on encryption that is universal and uncompromised.

Technologies like zero-knowledge proofs and proof-of-personhood show that it’s possible to balance privacy and accountability without creating backdoors.
If we weaken encryption for “lawful access,” we weaken it for everyone — and lose the very trust Web3 was built to restore.

We don’t protect privacy because we have something to hide.
We protect it because we all have something to protect.

Encryption isn’t just a security feature; it’s the mathematical foundation of digital trust.
When institutions fail, or when surveillance grows, encryption remains the last defense for private speech, identity, and ownership.

But Europe’s new ProtectEU proposal risks breaking that foundation by requiring apps to scan private messages before encryption — effectively turning personal devices into surveillance tools.
Critics call it a move toward “digital feudalism,” where privacy becomes a privilege, not a right.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently urged users to think twice before sharing sensitive data with AI models — a rare moment of transparency in a tech world obsessed with scale.
His message resonated with policymakers: the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is already studying how AI intersects with privacy and data protection.

Altman’s reminder isn’t just about ChatGPT — it’s about trust in the digital age.
In a world increasingly mediated by software agents, trust is no longer human-to-human, but human-to-code — and encryption is the glue holding that trust together.

Silver (XAGT) – A cheaper, highly liquid alternative to gold.

Platinum (XPTT) – Industrial demand adds value stability.

Palladium (XPdT) – Rare and widely used in automotive catalysts.

Rhodium (XRHT) – Extremely rare, high-value asset.

Each token corresponds to a specific amount of a physical metal stored securely in a vault. Blockchain technology ensures ownership transparency, instant transferability, and verifiable custody, allowing crypto investors to hold metals digitally without taking physical delivery.

The tokenized silver market is heating up as SilverToken (XAGT) sees increased adoption among crypto investors. Each XAGT token is backed by one ounce of physical silver stored in insured vaults, allowing investors to hold and trade silver digitally without worrying about storage or security.

Analysts note that this trend reflects growing demand for diversified, tangible assets in crypto portfolios. “Investors are looking for safe-haven alternatives beyond Bitcoin, and tokenized metals like silver offer instant liquidity and transparency,” said blockchain analyst Jenna Rho.

Trading volume for XAGT has surged by 32% in the past week, signaling that crypto-linked metals are becoming mainstream options for hedging against inflation and market volatility.

Despite a brief 5% pullback last week, gold’s decline was largely mechanical, triggered by ETF algorithmic volatility. Chinese ETFs even added exposure during the dip.

Financial experts emphasize: if the institutions that control fiat currency are stacking gold, investors may want to rethink their own reserves.

This shift could reshape global finance for the decade ahead, with hard assets—and potentially digital gold—taking center stage.

Macro researcher Sunil Reddy notes that gold’s surge tracks the collapse of the Fed’s reverse-repo balances, showing capital is seeking hard assets that cannot default.

Gold is no longer just an inflation hedge—it’s becoming pristine collateral and the ultimate store of trust.

Meanwhile, digital assets are eyeing their chance: Bitcoin rose 3% last week, hinting at a potential rotation from gold to crypto.

For the first time since the mid-1990s, foreign central banks now hold more gold than US Treasuries, signaling a major shift in global trust and liquidity preferences.

Central banks purchased 19 tonnes of gold in August 2025 alone, continuing a 16-year buying streak—the longest on record.

Analysts say this move reflects growing skepticism toward paper assets amid rising US debt and political gridlock.