Oh, Rishi. What a pity! Where did those simpler times go, where you were content to just sit there looking all dishy in your hoodie, perfecting your P-Diddy-style celebrity autograph? Why must you insist on being so fishy? It feels like you are starting to take the Royal mickey!
Yes, we are referring to Monday’s news that the Right Honourable Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, is following in the right honourable footsteps of the “world’s coolest dictator”, El Salvador’s bitcoin-bro president Nayib Bukele, by commissioning the Royal Mint to issue an NFT in a bid to turn Great Britain into the world’s number 1 crypto nation.
Why is the Treasury doing this at such a time of trouble? This must be somehow connected to Britain’s cost-of-living crisis or something equally serious, right? Almost. The NFT will serve as an “an emblem of the forward-looking approach the UK is determined to take”. So a blockchain-based digital receipt for a JPEG that you don’t actually own is emblematic of Britain’s future. Just marvellous.
From our Rishi on Monday:
We’re working to make the UK a global cryptoassets hub. We want to see the businesses of tomorrow, and the jobs they create, here in the UK.
Today @JohnGlenUK set out how we are going to encourage crypto investment and technology in UK markets. 👇https://t.co/MdZ5IOLZtH
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) April 4, 2022
In the speech Sunak is referring to (the whole thing is worth reading in full but please make sure you have not just eaten), economic secretary John Glen sets out which side the Treasury is on when it comes to the debate around crypto. Here’s an excerpt (with our emphasis):
If there is one message I want you to leave here today with, it is that the UK is open for business — open for crypto businesses.
We’re still right on the cusp of this technology breaking through. But there isn’t even consensus on what the implications of crypto are . . . when or whether we’re going to reach some kind of steady state . . . or even whether crypto itself is a good thing.
There’s a massive debate between the sceptics and the evangelists, and there are a wide range of views in between.
Some people worry deeply about crypto . . . and about how it’s going to harm consumers . . . or provide a platform for illicit activity free from government oversight . . . or drive-up carbon emissions.
Others say it’s the best thing ever. They argue that crypto could do things like revolutionise global finance . . . by making financial exchanges more transparent, efficient and democratic, and placing currency in the hands of people not nations.
That leaves us here in the UK with a big question to answer: How are we going to respond?
Our answer is this:
If crypto-technologies are going to be a big part of the future, then we — the UK — want to be in, and in on the ground floor.
We’re not sure about you, but to us it rather feels like the Treasury is choosing to ignore all that boring stuff about illicit activity and carbon emissions, and instead to embrace the side that thinks crypto is “the best thing ever”. The side that thinks it will make financial exchanges “more transparent, efficient and democratic” (groan) and who believe in “placing currency in the hands of people not nations” (bigger groan).
After some fluff about how the UK will ensure that “regulators have the right tools to manage the associated risks” and how the government would be “looking closely at energy usage associated with certain crypto-technologies” (that should do it), the crypto-evangelism intensifies:
We see enormous potential in crypto . . . and we want to give ourselves every chance to take maximum advantage. We aren’t going to lower our standards, but we are going to maintain our technologically neutral approach. Having robust and effective regulation won’t hinder innovation, it’ll actually boost it — by giving people and businesses the confidence they need to think and invest for the long-term . . .
We have a detailed plan . . . we are, I am, determined to learn quickly . . . and the government will lead the way in harnessing the potential of blockchain and supporting the development of a world-best crypto ecosystem . . .
There’s a genuine opportunity to build on our strengths in fintech, seize the capitalist energy which has already made UK financial services what it is . . . and use it to unleash the potential of crypto-technologies.
That’s right, lads, seize that capitalist energy! Unleash the potential of crypto — the UK is wide open for business! WAGMI!
It’s almost as if the government hasn’t learned that they should be a little more careful about who and what Britain gets in bed with, isn’t it? We guess that, having lost a few bed partners lately, we’re in need of some fresh meat under the sheets. What could possibly go wrong? Rule, Bit-tannia!
Related links:
What’s the story, blockchain Tory? — FT Alphaville
Rishi Sunak’s fishy foray into chat-show hosting — FT Alphaville
Grant Shapps resigns from blockchain positions after FTAV discovers secret pay deal — FT Alphaville