Today the UK’s cross-party parliamentary Treasury Committee published a report recommending that the government regulate crypto-assets as gambling rather than financial services. It is concerned that government plans to regulate cryptocurrency activities as a financial service will give the sector a halo effect. Hence consumers might believe that it is a safe and protected activity.
“With no intrinsic value, huge price volatility and no discernible social good, consumer trading of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin more closely resembles gambling than a financial service, and should be regulated as such,” said Harriet Baldwin, Chair of the Treasury Committee in a statement. “By betting on these unbacked ‘tokens’, consumers should be aware that all their money could be lost.”
The position is in marked contrast to the government’s stance, with the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak proposing that the UK become a global hub for cryptoasset technology during his stint as the UK’s Chancellor in April 2022. Given the importance of financial services to the UK…