Britain is planning new legislation to regulate stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USDC and to exempt staking services, in a move to make the country more attractive for crypto investors. Earlier this week, crypto exchange Bitget relaunched its platform in the UK with 150 token options.
The British government wants to put into force crypto regulations by December this year and for that, the UK Treasury is amending the existing rules to exempt crypto staking from financial regulations and focus on stablecoins.
Staking is a process where crypto investors lock up tokens to earn rewards. Britain is looking to reclassify it to prevent it from getting tagged in the collective investment scheme which comes under heavy regulation.
This comes at a time when the US has elected Donald Trump as the new President and he is trying to position the country as a global crypto hub. Trump’s promise of creating a Bitcoin reserve and to make all future BTC mining happen in the US which can force crypto startups in Britain to relocate. Hence, the urgency in launching the new crypto laws.
As per the plan, Britain is trying to toe the line adopted by other jurisdictions and that’s why it wants to modify its stablecoin region. Other countries have already put forward regulatory proposals regarding this matter like the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation and the UK is simply catching up to it.
If Britain grants stablecoins like Tether and USDC e-money status then fintech companies looking to do transactions in these two regions have to compare the MiCA regulation of the EU and the UK’s crypto laws.
When the much-anticipated legislation comes into force, the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will get the authority to create stablecoin regulations.
The new legislation also seeks to redefine how crypto staking is regulated in the UK. It is likely to be taken out of the purview of traditional investment schemes to avoid examination.
The FCA is planning to launch a roadmap to outline its phase-wise approach towards stablecoin regulation and other crypto laws. However, the exact timeline of this isn’t clear.
Speaking about the matter, the UK Justice Minister Heidi Alexander said that owners need to be shielded from fraud and ownership disputes should be streamlined. Alexander made these remarks when she proposed that cryptocurrencies should be recognised as “personal property”.
Earlier, the Tory government led by the then UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak outlined the objectives of the new crypto regulations including the one on stablecoins, making the UK a global pioneer in the crypto world. However, under the new Labour government led by Keir Starmer crypto regulation has taken a back seat.