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Hot Sunak summer: Rishi Sunak, the U.K.'s high-flying finance minister who's a former Goldman Sachs banker and married to the daughter of the billionaire founder of India tech giant Infosys, has asked 1,136-year-old Royal Mint—the government-owned company responsible for minting coins for the U.K. —to create a non-fungible token (NFT) "by the summer" as part of a push toward making the U.K. a "world leader" in the cryptocurrency space.
By royal appointment: "This decision shows the forward-looking approach we are determined to take towards crypto-assets in the U.K.," the British Treasury posted to Twitter alongside a picture of the royal coat of arms on a blue background and promising more details will be outlined "soon."
Welcome to the world of tomorrow: "We want to see the businesses of tomorrow—and the jobs they create—here in the UK, and by regulating effectively we can give them the confidence they need to think and invest long term," said Sunak, adding it was his ambition to make the U.K. a global hub for crypto technology through close oversight of the emerging sector.
Unimpressed: The decision "seems to be nothing more than a strategic PR-play," Mauricio Magaldi, global strategy director for crypto at the fintech consultancy 11:FS, told CNBC. But "talk of the U.K. becoming a ‘crypto hub’ seems to hold much more promise," he added.
Crypto city: "We see enormous potential in crypto," City minister John Glen said in a speech on Monday, adding the government was determined to show "the U.K. is open for business" and open for crypto businesses specifically. "We aren’t going to lower our standards, but we are going to sustain our technological neutral approach."
But but but... In what could be seen as mixed signals, the government's NFT plans come as the U.K.'s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), shuns large swarths of the crypto companies applying to be registered with the watchdog, warning it’s worried too many “financial crime red flags” are going unnoticed. Last week, the FCA extended a deadline for some crypto businesses to obtain full authorization, including neobank Revolut and Copper, a crypto custody and trading company that counts former U.K. finance minister Philip Hammond among its advisors.
Lobby: Ian Taylor, executive director of industry group CryptoUK, which has stepped up its lobbying of legislators in recent months, praised the "change of tone from the government," the Financial Times reported.
Elsewhere... Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey warned on Monday that cryptocurrencies were the new "front line" in criminal scams, adding that the technology had created an “opportunity for the downright criminal."
What is it good for? The U.K.'s announcement comes after Ukraine was flooded with crypto donations to fund its defence against Russia's invasion and launched the first-ever sale of NFTs by a national government as a form of war bond.
- War bonds, NFTs and crypto—How Ukraine is funding its defense
Meanwhile, across the pond... In further evidence U.S. and U.K. crypto regulation is diverging, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering regulating cryptocurrency trading platforms and exchanges by hiving off some of their operations, such as digital asset custody, according to a speech made by SEC chair Gary Gensler yesterday. The Financial Times has a write-up.
Now read this: Blockchain and financial markets—will computers push out brokers?
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