The state of the United Kingdom’s economy has been worsening. Right from inflationary concerns to the energy crisis, citizens have been battling a host of problems—all at the same time. Amid all this, Prime Minister Liz Truss said towards the end of last week that she was stepping down.
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Truss, on her part, seemed to be quite a supporter of emerging technologies. Notably, in 2020, when Brexit was being finalized, Truss served as Trade Minister for the UK. During her tenure as Trade Minister, she stated that the UK could “create great opportunities in areas such as blockchain.” Prior to that, in 2018, Truss had taken social media to state that the UK should welcome cryptos.
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A day back it was announced that Indian-origin Rishi Sunak was to succeed Truss as the Prime Minister. Sunak already acknowledged that the UK is facing a “profound economic challenge” and contended that “stability and unity” was the need of the hour.
Rishi Sunak and his school of thought w.r.t. crypto
As far as the minister’s crypto inclination is concerned, Sunak seems to be more towards the pro side of the spectrum. Before this, Sunak was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and during his tenure, he had been quite vocal about crypto. Earlier this year, he 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… This is part of our plan to ensure the UK financial services industry is always at the forefront of technology and innovation.“
Alongside, Sunak has also spoken positively about central bank digital currencies. It is worth recalling that the G7 published a set of Public Policy Principles for Retail CBDCs last year under the presidency of the UK. Expressing his views on the same at that time, Sunak said,
“We’re excited to be taking an important role with G7 nations in publishing this exploratory work, bringing money and finance into the 21st century. “
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Furthermore, the United Kingdom government Treasury said in April that it had asked the Royal Mint to create one NFT to be issued by summer, depicting the “forward-looking” approach adopted by the UK w.r.t. crypto. The same was, notably, ordered by Rishi Sunak.
Keeping in mind the said exhibits and the minister’s positive stance, crypto can be expected to be a part of the center stage in the UK going forward.