Ex-Chancellor: The UK Should Catch up With Crypto if it Wants to Lead

Philip Hammond – a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019 – urged the United Kingdom’s authorities to open their arms to the digital asset industry. Otherwise, other countries that have already hopped on the bandwagon will turn into global crypto leaders, while the UK will miss this opportunity.

The UK Should Not Waste its Chance

The Member of Parliament (MP) from 1997 to 2019 – Philip Hammond – criticized the British government for moving too slowly toward the cryptocurrency universe. In his view, the lawmakers should focus their efforts in that direction in the next couple of months in case they are willing to turn the UK into a cryptocurrency center.

“It isn’t too late for us to catch up and recover, but we are getting very close to the point where it will be too late.”

Hammond declared a similar position at the end of last year, saying bitcoin and the altcoins could secure London’s financial stability in times when the kingdom is struggling with Brexit consequences and record inflation.

He also described himself as an advocate of crypto’s backbone – blockchain technology – predicting it will underpin the future trading network. As such, domestic watchdogs should take it seriously and apply comprehensive rules in the sector:

“Regulators have been heavily distracted. We need to move pretty quickly to show that this technology is recognized and accepted by legislators and regulators in the UK.”

It is worth mentioning that Lord Philip Hammond is part of the cryptocurrency industry. Last year, he joined Copper (a digital asset custody firm based in London) as Senior Advisor.

“If we can bring together the best of Britain – entrepreneurs, industry, government, and regulators – to create and enable a blockchain-based ecosystem for financial services, we will secure the UK’s global leadership in this field for decades ahead,” he stated upon his appointment.

Tether’s Upcoming British Pound-Pegged Stablecoin

Earlier this week, the company behind the largest stablecoin by market capitalization – Tether – revealed its intentions to launch a new product focusing on the UK’s national currency. The stablecoin, called GBPT, is expected to go live next month as it will initially work on top of Ethereum.

It will be pegged 1:1 to the Pound and will become Tether’s fifth such product after USDT (attached to the dollar), the euro-pegged EURT, the offshore Chinese yuan-pegged CNHT, and the MXNT (a recently launched token pegged to Mexico’s peso).

Tether’s CTO – Paolo Ardoino – described the United Kingdom as “the next frontier for blockchain innovation.” He also said his company decided to explore the domestic market because of the authorities’ plan to transform the country into a global crypto hub – an ambition that the Digital Minister – Chris Philp – later confirmed.

Featured Image Courtesy of Politico