UK Government Could Pass Stablecoin and Staking Laws within Six Months

TL;DR

• The UK government is working to pass some specific crypto laws over the next few months.

• The government is looking to regulate the activities of stablecoins and staking protocols.

UK Could Rollout Specific Crypto Laws Soon

The United Kingdom intends to pass new laws regulating stablecoins and staking within the next six months. This is according to a Bloomberg report on Monday, February 19th.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury Bim Afolami mentioned this while speaking at a Coinbase-hosted crypto event in London on Monday. Afolami added that the government was working hard to ensure the new legislation was passed ahead of this year’s general election. Afolami said,

“We’re very clear that we want to get these things done as soon as possible. And I think over the next six months, those things are doable.”

However, the economic secretary didn’t provide more details when asked about the long-awaited crypto regulation. 

“Short answer is, I don’t know [...] There’s just a huge amount going on, so I don’t want to commit to that now,” he added. 

In October 2023, the Treasury reassured the public of its commitment to provide more clarity on specific areas of crypto by some point in 2024. The commitment came following the passing of the Financial Services and Markets Act last summer and consultation regarding fiat-backed stablecoins. 

In 2022, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also pledged to establish the country as a global crypto hub. At the time, he highlighted the need for crypto firms to be able to invest, innovate and scale up in the U.K.

However, there has been little progress regarding crypto regulation in the country despite rising demand for more concise rules from crypto firms operating in the country.