The U.K. has released a detailed plan to regulate stablecoins as payments along with an intention to create a blockchain sandbox to mark Her Majesty’s entry into the “crypto hub” race.
See related article: UK regulator may cancel Eqonex’s registration over Binance, Bifinity ties
Fast facts
- The government plans to amend the Banking Act 2009 and the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 to bring certain stablecoin payments into its regulatory purview.
- Economic Secretary John Glen said the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority will launch a regulatory sandbox to test distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the financial market and explore issuance of sovereign debts such as British government bonds.
- Glen added that they will also start a consultation later this year on expanding regulating scope to further crypto assets such as Bitcoin, while taking into account the energy consumption of the industry.
- The Royal Mint has been tasked with creating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) this summer, but details have not been made public.
- Gemini’s latest report shows that about one in five (18%) U.K. adults own cryptocurrencies, with nearly half (45%) of them turning investors in the asset class last year.
- See related article: Crypto.com, Bybit book tickets to Dubai to set up UAE bases
