The UK could establish digital asset regulation within 12 months, a British lawmaker has claimed, saying the country wants to capitalize on the benefits that blockchain can bring to the private sector and the economy.
In an April 17 CNBC interview, Andrew Griffith, the UK Treasury’s economic secretary, said the long-term vision is to “enable businesses to take full advantage of the opportunities in crypto assets” with strong crypto regulation.
For the first time in “decades,” Griffith claimed that the UK government is now well-positioned to regulate cryptocurrency in a “pragmatic” and “proportionate” way and appeared to reference the UK’s exit from the European Union:
“I think the next 12 months or so is the window. We have this great asset in the UK, we’re in control of a rule book, something the UK hasn’t had for decades, so we have the ability to move in a nimble and proportionate way.”
It led the legislator to say that the UK now has a ‘growth’ mindset to maximize the economic efforts generated by technological innovation in the private sector.
Griffith explained that the cryptocurrency regulatory framework would combine existing financial asset laws with new cryptocurrency-specific rules.
“Whenever possible, we want to see the same asset regulated in the same way, but there are some additional opportunities in the crypto asset or distributed ledger space and we want to take advantage of that.”
He cited liquidation using fiat-backed cryptocurrencies as an example that was included in the financial services bill. “So that will come even before the broader regulatory framework,” he added.
Related: Digital Pound Could Coexist With Private Stablecoins – UK Central Bank
Griffith said a possible launch of the UK’s proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC), dubbed “Britcoin” by the public, has a much longer “lead time” and therefore will not be seen within of the next year.
Griffith added that he wants to see a policy debate regarding privacy and digital pound technology “discussed” to ensure all concerns are addressed:
“If you’re going to have a sovereign digital currency, you need to have the highest level of resilience and infrastructure, so that’s not going to happen overnight.”
Brian Armstrong, the head of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, met with Griffith earlier this week while he was in London to give a speech on how the UK could “jump-start” its cryptocurrency sector and ultimately become a “Innovation Center for the Web3 Economy”.
Great meeting today with the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Minister for the City @griffitha.
The UK is moving quickly on sensible regulation of cryptocurrencies to boost economic growth and consumer protection. Excited to continue investing in the UK. pic.twitter.com/478PQSLmDe
—Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) April 17, 2023
Coinbase’s crypto hub for Britain’s aspirations are in line with the views of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who explained last year, while serving as finance minister, that he would like the UK to become a crypto hub.
Dubai, Singapore, and recently Hong Kong are some regions that have made efforts to become crypto hubs.
The United States, on the other hand, has significantly intensified cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions since Gary Gensler took over as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in April 2021.
Magazine: Crypto Regulation: Does SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Have the Final Say? – Cointelegraph Magazine
This post UK may have crypto regulation within a year, says chief minister
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