By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 22nd, 2024
Royan Mint is expected to create and issue the NFT “by the summer”.
In a major decision coming on Monday, April 4, UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak announced some key measures to make Britain a global hub for crypto. As part of initiating a “forward-looking approach” to crypto tech, the UK will mint its own non-fungible token (NFT).
Royan Mint, the government-owned firm responsible for minting coins for the UK, will create and issue the NFT “by the summer”. Furthermore, the Exchequer touched upon a number of points including the handling of stablecoins, laws for use of blockchain technology and much more.
These measures will also help to legislate a ‘financial market infrastructure sandbox’ to help crypto firms innovate. The long-term goal is to make UK the global hub for crypto innovation and investment. Speaking on this matter, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak said:
“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”.
Interestingly, the U.K government is also planning to bring stablecoins under the regulatory framework. Stablecoins have been a matter of debate among government agencies worldwide. However, this move by the UK government will bridge the gap between crypto and the traditional financial system.
The Inclusion of DAOs and DeFi
Furthermore, the UK is willing to take progressive measures regarding the inclusion of DAOs and DeFi applications. The press release notes that the government will ask the Law Commission to consider the legal status of blockchain-based communities dubbed decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs.
It will also examine the tax treatment for decentralized finance (DeFi) loans and “staking”. Speaking at the Innovate Finance Global Summit on Monday, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen said that the government will potentially explore the transformative benefits of DLT in the UK financial markets.
The UK government also plans to initiate a research program to explore the feasibility and potential benefits of using DLT for sovereign debt instruments. Glen said:
“We shouldn’t be thinking of regulation as a static, rigid thing. Instead, we should be thinking in terms of regulatory ‘code’ — like computer code — which we refine and rewrite when we need to.”
Glen also said that the government is putting a close watch on the developments in Web 3.0.