The UK Treasury will support a crypto task force made up of the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority, in collaboration with Australia.
The Treasury of the UK has announced the launch of a cryptocurrency task force made up of the Bank of England (BOE) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that will both regulate and support crypto technologies, CNBC reports today, March 22.
The FCA had just released a global regulatory fintech sandbox on March 19 as a way to promote innovative fintech development without requiring a strict regulatory process for testing.
Philip Hammond, Finance Minister of the UK, said in a statement that the new crypto task force will work on creating industry standards for facilitating fintech and bank collaborations, as well as supporting innovation throughout the fintech industry:
“I am committed to helping the sector grow and flourish, and our ambitious sector strategy sets out how we will ensure the U.K. remains at the cutting edge of the digital revolution […] As part of that, a new task force will help the U.K. to manage the risks around crypto assets, as well as harnessing the potential benefits of the underlying technology.”
At the beginning of March, BOE governor Mark Carney said that cryptocurrencies should be regulated–rather than banned–and held to the same standards as the traditional financial system.
Also today, the UK will sign a “fintech bridge” agreement with Australia, allowing British products to enter the Australian fintech markets and creating space for an open discourse between Britain and Australia’s two fintech industry regulators, Innovate Finance and Fintech Australia.
Australia has often been at the forefront of cryptocurrency and crypto technology innovation–the Australian Stock Exchange began implementing Blockchain technologies in December of last year, Brisbane will soon host the world’s first crypto-friendly airport terminal, and Australians can purchase crypto at newsstands across the country since March 1.
