UK: UK to propose clearer crypto regulations by July

The U.K.’s economic secretary to the Treasury, Bim Afolami, said the government’s priority is improving the payments landscape and providing regulatory clarity for digital assets and blockchain.

The United Kingdom Treasury intends to present a regulatory framework for crypto assets and stablecoins by July, with the aim of encouraging local innovation in digital assets and blockchain technology.

The U.K.’s economic secretary to the Treasury, Bim Afolami, revealed the government’s ongoing drive to lay the groundwork for revamping the country’s payments landscape while speaking at the Innovate Finance Global Summit (IFGS) 2024.

Alongside the U.K.’s focus on fiat payment innovation, Afolami highlighted the importance of crypto regulations to remain globally competitive:

“Speaking of true change, I know that the cornerstone of our position as a world leader in fintech is the delivery of our regulatory regime for crypto assets and stablecoins.”

Afolami further highlighted the British government’s perspective on regulations, which aims to find the right balance between allowing firms to innovate while protecting the consumers.

The U.K. Treasury is working on the final proposals that “deal with stablecoin and (crypto) staking” and plans to deliver them by June or July. The minister added:

“Once it goes live, a whole host of crypto asset activities, including operating in exchange, taking custody of customer assets and other things, will come within the regulator perimeter for the first time.”
Afolami also announced the formation of an open finance task force during the conference.

“The task force will craft a clear set of recommendations, pinpointing the data sets of commercial incentives necessary to drive forward CFIT’s SME lending use case for open finance,” he explained.

From April 26, U.K. authorities will be able to retrieve crypto assets directly from exchanges and custodian wallet providers.

The law comes into effect after amendments were made to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which expands the power of the National Crime Agency to confiscate and seize crypto assets the agency suspects are linked to suspicious illicit activities without needing to go through extensive legal procedures.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. Source: U.K. Parliament
While it didn’t outline its process, the most common way to destroy a crypto token is by burning it, transferring the tokens to a burn wallet address and taking them out of circulation.