Crypto Trading Will Now be Considered a Regulated Financial Activity in the UK

Updated: 03 July 2023

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A newly passed law in the UK will now classify crypto trading as a regulated financial activity.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill was first introduced in the summer of 2022. It proposed to bring the financial market including cryptocurrency within the ambit of regulations.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill Receives The Royal Assent

This bill now has received the green signal from His Highness King Charles last week, on the 29th of June, giving it the final push to be recognised as the law.

The royal assent is a formality and is deemed an important procedure to help make any bill an enforceable law. The approval from King Charles in this case means that the nation now has a legal act which will recognise crypto trading as a regulated financial activity.

What’s the New UK Crypto Trading Law All About?

When the bill was initially debated in the British Parliament, some changes were proposed which lead to the inclusion of some amendments to treat all cryptocurrency and related transactions as financial assets, products, and investments.

BREAKING: 🇬🇧 UK passes bill recognising #Bitcoin and crypto as a regulated financial activity. pic.twitter.com/jZom0KcW5G

— Bitcoin Archive (@BTC_Archive) June 29, 2023

The bill puts forward the view that supervision of crypto promotions should be done to ensure that manipulation and foul play can be avoided in this space.

In addition to this, the bill also suggested including stablecoins such as Tether, in the confines of payment rules. According to a research paper available on the federal reserve.gov website, if this happens stablecoins can be used “to facilitate peer-to-peer and cross-border payments. They also hold the potential for new payment innovations, such as programmable money”.

After the necessary debates and amendments, the bill was approved by the upper chamber of Parliament on June 19th and then it moved on to the last procedure of awaiting the royal approval, last week.

The Act Puts More Power in Regulators

Since the bill has been approved now, it will become The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. The new act will put powers into the hands of financial regulators to supervise and make rules for cryptocurrency and stablecoins. This act will treat cryptocurrency and other digital assets at par with traditional financial assets, instruments, and investments.

The act recognises cryptocurrencies as “cryptographically secured digital representation of value or contractual rights”. The move to formally adopt cryptocurrencies is welcomed by the country’s higher officials.

11. Promotes the use of new technology in financial services, enabling the regulation of cryptoassets to support safe adoption, and establishing ‘sandboxes’ that can facilitate the use of new technologies such as blockchain in financial markets.

— Andrew Griffith MP (@griffitha) June 29, 2023

The Act is Deemed a “Rocket Boost” for the UK Economy

Financial Services Minister- Andrew Griffith stated that the regulation of digital assets will facilitate the safe adoption of cryptocurrencies in the UK. He said that after Brexit, this act will now pave the way to allow the UK to have and control its rulebooks of finance. He suggested that the new act is a catalyst which could “rocket boost” the country’s economy.

Positive Crypto News All Around

The passing of The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, became the latest addition to the inflow of positive crypto advancements happening around the world. Last week Australian Treasury has shown interest to bring forth positive financial support for digital assets in the country and sought guidance from 4 major banks in the country to provide rules to be made applicable to digital currency exchanges.

Then the US’s commitment to launch the first Bitcoin ETF has given a significant pump in the prices of many cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Solana etc.

UK- Crypto Hub of Europe?

Industry experts in the UK believe that implementation of the new Financial Act could make the UK “the crypto hub” of Europe, as previously envisioned by prime minister Rishi Sunak.

This move could throw open a lot of opportunities for the crypto industry and people will be able to put their trust into cryptocurrency trading. This new act may have just done the groundwork for a financial revolution in the UK.