New Report on Crypto's Legal Status in UK Lays Out Regulation Options

Despite many prominent crypto-related companies basing themselves in the U.K., the country yet lacks any concrete crypto regulation compared to some of its Asian and European counterparts.

Although the publication of the report is an indicator that progress is being made behind the scenes in the U.K. regarding crypto regulation, it does not represent direct action or explicit support from the government itself.

"In legal terms, cryptoassets and smart contracts undoubtedly represent the future. I hope that the Legal Statement will go a long way towards providing much needed market confidence, legal certainty and predictability in areas that are of great importance to the technological and legal communities and to the global financial services industry."

While any statements on the regulation of cryptocurrency are welcome, readers of the report will note that the taskforce has been clear that it is not recommending a comprehensive account of all legal details regarding the technology: "Its purpose is to answer the questions we were asked and to state briefly our reasons in a form accessible to non-lawyers as well as lawyers."

The UK crypto industry comments on the potential impact.

While the report is unlikely to create waves in the U.K. crypto world on its own, several figures from the industry spoke to Cointelegraph about what prospects it could have for further development.

"The FCA has been progressive on its views on crypto for years; including monitoring and permitting trials of the technology in sandbox environments before regulatory licenses are needed. The UK generally sees itself as a Fintech leader, and the FCA sees part of its job as not getting in the way of innovation. This report was written with direct input from members of the FCA, and is overall a good indication of the direction the UK wants to head.".

For some crypto entrepreneurs, U.K. law is also better suited for the regulation of crypto than the legal systems of other countries, as stated in the LawTech Delivery Panel report.

"First of all, the UK was, is, and will be the leading financial center of the world. We believe that crypto assets and underlying technology bring dramatic changes to the architecture of the financial world, and the UK, whether we are talking about the City of London, Canary Wharf, or elsewhere, is in the best position to keep their high status, providing an attractive environment and creating a fertile ecosystem for future development."

"That's why we're calling for the regulation of cryptoassets in the UK, to provide greater certainty and adequately protect consumers. We are actively working alongside regulators and the Government to help deliver a proportionate and well-designed UK regulatory regime which matches the best of other jurisdictions across the world."