A committee of the House of Commons has recently approved new policies that seek to restrict crypto promotions and ban unregistered crypto businesses from providing their services in the UK.
The new policies were formally added to the Financial Services and Markets Bill on Thursday, 3rd November, in addition to those decided upon by the Bill committee last week.
Recall that earlier last month, Member of Parliament and Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Griffith, had presented an amendment proposal to the Bill, outlining measures that would give him the power to extend regulatory oversight beyond stablecoins to include other crypto assets.
The first draft of the Bill was mainly directed towards the use of stablecoins, cryptocurrencies that seek to maintain their values against the British pound or the US dollar, in the country.
Last week, the authorities agreed on the new rules for stablecoin regulation. UK lawmakers noted that the instability of some of these assets poses significant risks to the public, hence, the government's desire to regulate them and other digital assets that utilize the blockchain.
Griffith said, "We wish to tentatively seize those opportunities … not fall behind other markets, but also proceeded in a cautious way. The government's position is to start with those most stable, least volatile coins likely to be used by intermediaries as a settlement currency and then we will go forward and consult from there."
This newly approved policy aims to extend the existing rules, which prohibit the provision of cryptocurrency products and services by unauthorized firms and restrict the approval of crypto ads in the country.
The new law will now include the regulation of all digital asset products and services that utilize distributed ledger technology (DLT). Voting on this part of the amendment proposal was delayed until this week due to reasons of legislative procedure.
Earlier in April, the country's then-finance minister and now-prime minister, Rishi Sunak, expressed his desire to make the UK a crypto-forward country. The latest moves by the UK government to regulate the crypto industry come as part of the plans to make the UK a crypto hub.
Griffith told the committee last week that a consultation on how to use the power to regulate crypto assets will come out before Christmas. The country's financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is currently making plans on how to restrict crypto ads.
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