Lawmakers in the United Kingdom are reportedly in the final stages of drafting plans to regulate the crypto industry in the wake of FTX’s epic collapse.

The United Kingdom is inching closer towards its vision to become a blockchain and cryptocurrency hub post-Brexit. According to the Financial Times, the UK is in the final stages of drafting plans to regulate the crypto industry as part of the bigger picture of fulfilling Britain’s ambitions to become a hub for the sector and acting swiftly after the FTX’s collapse.

‘The UK is committed to creating a regulatory environment in which firms can innovate while crucially maintaining financial stability and regulatory standards so that people and businesses can use new technologies both reliably and safely,’ a Treasury spokesperson told the Financial Times.

Treasury to Launch a Consultation on the Proposed Regulations

The UK Treasury is reportedly about to launch a consultation on the new regulatory regime, including additional provisions highlighted by the FTX fiasco. The new provisions will include measures to deal with the collapse of crypto companies and exchanges such as FTX. They will also target advertising of products to limit their potential influence on investors.

Prime Minister Sunak Has Long Believed Britain Could Become a Global Crypto Hub

News of the UK intending to regulate the crypto industry and fulfil its plans of becoming a global crypto hub comes a little over a month after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was sworn into office. PM Sunak has long been known to be ‘crypto friendly’, unlike his predecessors.

In April of this year, when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer under ex-PM Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Sunak had floated the idea of making the UK a global crypto assets hub. He had even pushed for the Royal Mint to create a non-fungible token that would be an emblem of the UK’s ‘forward-looking approach’ towards the blockchain industry.

MP Matt Hancock Believes the UK Can Achieve its Goal of Becoming a Crypto Hub

Similarly, MP Matt Hancock believes the United Kingdom can accomplish the same mission of becoming a global blockchain and crypto hub. He sees crypto and blockchain as a fresh start for the UK amidst the current turbulent political climate within Britain and globally.

But the UK Government must first provide the crucial initial guidelines through regulations to get the ball rolling.

（By John P. Njui）