The UK government’s ‘Cryptoassets Task Force’ met for the first time on 21 May as part of the country’s plan to regulate the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, reported Crowdfund Insider.
One of the functions of the UK government’s task force will be to examine the risks of blockchain technology and mitigate these while examining the benefits of ledger technology in financial services. The Cryptoassets Task Force, consisting of the UK Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been set up for this purpose and is expected to report back in the summer with its findings in a roundtable scheduled for July, according to Bitcoin News.
The previously announced group involves the participation of the FCA, Bank of England (BoE), HM Treasury and other senior government officials. Some of the named participants include Katharine Braddick, director general of financial services at HM Treasury, Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the FCA, and Dave Ramsden, deputy governor of the BoE.
Bailey commented on the cryptocurrency status quo in the country saying that he was looking forward to working with both the BoE and the UK Treasury in order to develop policy.
Ramsden started on a positive note focussing on the what he saw as the potential benefits to the financial system on the UK economy:
“This task force will enable us to work closely with the Treasury and the FCA to explore how the opportunities posed by these technologies can be realized, while also tackling the risks arising from crypto assets.”
The task force’s analysis will not be limited to the central bank and regulatory bodies, but will welcome contributions from trade bodies, consumer groups and investors, in order to obtain a broad view of opinion from both government and public institutions.
The UK is known as a driving force in blockchain research and the spread of solutions is being utilized by numerous companies, as the country becomes one of the world’s most significant and dynamic fintech hubs. The government is keen to see further development of non-traditional innovation in the light of this recent progress.
BoE governor Mark Carney has moved over time from a position of claiming that cryptocurrency had “pretty much failed” as a form of money, to recent indications that he was not against innovation provided by cryptocurrencies, stating that regulation could potentially “serve the public better”.
British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Matt Hancock delivered a speech to the Law Society last month commenting that blockchain technology would have a “monumental impact” on people’s lives in the future.
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