UK Government Still Looking to Crypto Future

On Tuesday, Andrew Griffith, the economic secretary to the Treasury, told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee that the UK government is committed to becoming a world crypto hub, as previously indicated by UK PM Rishi Sunak. This involves the consideration of launching a national cryptocurrency or “digital pound“.

UK Aims to Be The World Crypto Hub

The economic secretary to the Treasury and Conservative MP, Andrew Griffith, on Tuesday outlined to the Treasury Committee of the UK government, the UK’s plans and developments regarding the crypto industry. The meeting saw financial experts and MPs deliberate on both the potential risks and benefits for consumers and businesses in the UK of permitting and indeed encouraging the development of the crypto asset industry in the UK. This is despite the latter 2022 collapse of the crypto exchange FTX and the collapse in cryptocurrency prices and asset values throughout 2022 during the Crypto Winter.

Andrew Griffith stated that, “It is right to look to seek to embrace potentially disruptive technologies, particularly when we have such a strong fintech and financial sector, “going to on to say that he wanted to afford the opportunity for this “potentially disruptive game-changing technology that can challenge but also turbocharge all of those industries.”

Digital Pound

During the meeting, Griffith also outlined plans for a “digital pound”, stating that the government was “a long way down the road… to establish a regime for the wholesale use, for payment purposes, of stablecoins“, adding “I want to see us establish a regime, and this is within the FSMB, for the wholesale use for payment purposes of stablecoins.” The FSMB is the Financial Services and Markets Bill and is currently being debated in Parliament.

Words of Warning and Moving Forward

But there were also words of warning, as the committee was keen to highlight the possible risks of government policy in the future. “The UK government's objective is to continue to seek for the UK to be the home of well regulated technologically advanced financial systems, and that there is absolutely room for this new technology within that,” Griffith stated, adding “Recent events since 2022 have highlighted vulnerabilities and educated people about some of those practices that were taking place by some of the early participants on the sector.”

Going forward Griffith stated, “the government will produce a consultation document about the regulation of the crypto asset sector in general and in conjunction with the Bank of England about a sovereign UK central bank digital currency (CBDC).” Although Griffith did not give a release date for the document, he said it would be “coming soon, in weeks not months.”