UK Financial Services Minister Proposes Cryptoasset Regulation

A new wave of cryptocurrency regulation may be coming for British investors, as U.K. Financial Services Minister Andrew Griffith on Thursday (Oct. 27) put forth an amendment to a financial services bill that would increase regulations for cryptoassets.

Before the proposed amendment, the Financial Services and Markets Bill gave the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) the power to only regulate stablecoins.

However, Griffith’s proposed revision expands the regulation requirements to cover promotions for all types of cryptoassets.

According to the Thursday (Oct. 27) amendment, “This new clause amends the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to clarify that the powers relating to financial promotion and regulated activities can be relied on to regulate cryptoassets and activities relating to cryptoassets.”

A PYMNTS research report, “Shopping with Cryptocurrency: Tech-Driven Consumers Drive Market Acceptance,” found that while 42% of tech-driven consumers buy crypto for investment purposes, there are also 33% of consumers that buy crypto to use it for eCommerce shopping.

Because this amendment was put forward by a high-raking government official, it increases the likelihood that the bill would be passed into law by the House of Commons.

A Reuters report states that this amendment would also put Britain at the same level as the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation, which is seen as the world’s first comprehensive set of rules to regulate the emerging crypto sector.

Read more: Crypto Fans Pin Hopes on New UK PM and Regulations

The U.K.’s crypto traders have a lot to look forward to with its new prime minister, Rishi Sunak, as he has proven to be a digital currency supporter. Sunak is a vocal proponent of the U.K. FinTech sector and rolled out a number of initiatives in his time as chancellor to champion innovation in that space.

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