Michael Abetz Last updated: 
The Her Majesty’s Treasury Twitter account @hmtreasury tweeted this week that plans are in the works to create the first ever Royal Mint NFT.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has asked the Royal Mint – who mint legal tender coins for circulation in the United Kingdom, while the Bank of England prints banknotes – to create a non-fungible token (NFT) by the summer of 2022.
The UK government minting its own NFT is intended to ‘show the forward-looking approach we are determined to take towards cryptoassets in the UK’. Read the tweet and replies here.
UK Cryptoasset Hub
In a follow-up tweet the account posted more about the plans to make the UK a global hub for cryptoassets, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency investment in general.
Read the gov.uk press release here. The plan includes:
- Regulation of stablecoins
- Recognising stablecoins as a valid form of payment
- Legislating for a ‘financial market infrastructure sandbox’ to help firms innovate
- An FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) led ‘CryptoSprint’ event over two days in May, part of which is the Royal Mint creating an NFT
- Establishing a Cryptoasset Engagement Group to work more closely with the crypto industry
- Enhancing the competitiveness of the UK tax system on crypto taxation
Many UK and worldwide investors have been earning interest on stablecoins in recent years as they offer a higher interest rate than traditional bank savings accounts.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak added:
It’s my ambition to make the UK a global hub for cryptoasset technology, and the measures we’ve outlined today will help to ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country. 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. This is part of our plan to ensure the UK financial services industry is always at the forefront of technology and innovation.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen also gave a speech outlining the plans at the Innovate Finance Global Summit this week.
He announced that the UK will explore using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in the UK financial markets, and look into the legal status of decentralized autonomous organisations (DAOs). Read that keynote speech here.
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