The U.K. government published its final rules for the crypto ecosystem, saying it plans a phased introduction of regulation, with legislation for fiat-backed stablecoins being introduced early next year. Other crypto areas, such as algorithmic stablecoins, will follow as the government brings activities like lending and trading into the fold of conventional financial regulation, according to an update published Monday. These rules will bring relevant activities under the purview of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The plans are in line with an April 2022 policy set out by Rishi Sunak, then finance minister and now prime minister, to make the U.K. a crypto-asset hub and are likely to be welcomed by an industry that has complained the government has been dragging its feet. In a statement accompanying the document, Treasury Minister Andrew Griffith said he was “very pleased to present these final proposals for cryptoasset regulation in the U.K.” The finalized framework would mean “the U.K. is the obvious choice for starting and scaling a cryptoasset business.” The Treasury, the government’s finance arm, published a crypto consultation in February and the consultation closed in April. Parliament passed the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 in June, enabling crypto to be treated like a regulated activity. The government has already set out that it wants to bring crypto within the fold of traditional financial service regulation – but Griffith has now modified some of his proposals clarifying the treatment of cryptoassets it already considers traditional financial instruments as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). “The proposed regime does not intend to capture activities relating to cryptoassets which are specified investments that are already regulated,” such as traditional securities, the government document said, adding that unique NFTs that are akin to collectibles or artwork “should not be subject to financial services regulation.”
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