UK will adopt a law on stablecoins and staking in the next six months

Politician Bim Afolami has said the government is “pushing very hard” for a law to be passed

20.02.2024 - 10:17

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What’s new? UK authorities plan to approve new rules governing stablecoins and crypto asset staking services within the next six months, Bloomberg reports. Economic Secretary to the Treasury Bim Afolami, speaking at an event organized by the Coinbase exchange, said that the government is “pushing very hard” for a law to be passed. According to him, this is feasible in the next six months.

Material by Bloomberg

What else is known? Experts of the analytics company Elliptic said that fiat stablecoins and their issuers will be regulated in accordance with existing payment laws. This will give the UK financial regulator the ability to dictate what types of assets can support stablecoins, the experts added.

Tom Duff Gordon, vice president for international policy at Coinbase, believes that staking will get a new classification so that this activity will not fall under the concept of collective investment.

Asked about the timeline for broader regulation of the cryptocurrency sphere in the UK, Afolami did not give a definite answer.

In 2023, the FCA approved only 4 out of 28 applications from companies for authorization to provide crypto services. Broker Interactive Brokers, crypto exchange Bitstamp, crypto custodian Komainu, and payment company PayPal received licenses. And in 2024, fintech company Banxa was the first to receive a crypto license in the UK.

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