UK Gov’t Abandons Initial Plans To Launch NFTs, Fears Crypto Market Uncertainty

Updated: 29 March 2023

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The United Kingdom government, through its Treasury Select Committee, has abandoned initial plans to create non-fungible tokens. The United Kingdom government announced plans to create NFTs in April 2022.

UK Gov’t Abandons Plans To Launch NFTs

According to a BBC report published on March 28, the government has backtracked on creating NFTs following a lengthy consultation with the national treasury. But, the government has kept the proposal under review for further determination.

UK government is bullish on NFTS https://t.co/hFE6HzCGKg

— The Rose Knight Foundation NFT – TRKFNFT.ETH (@TRKFNFT) March 28, 2023

The United Kingdom announced plans to launch NFTs earlier last year, following the then-extended crypto market hype that attracted several firms, governments, businesses, and institutions. The plans were also backed by the then chancellor, Rishi Sunak, who has since become the UK prime minister.

Unfortunately, the non-fungible token market has since suffered following the recent market downturn, which has left many NFT projects shedding more than 70% of their value. While explaining the main reason for abandoning the idea of NFTs, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee remarked:

“We have not yet seen a lot of evidence that our constituents should be putting their money in these speculative tokens unless they are prepared to lose all their money.”

The NFT adoption was part of a series of initiatives to make the United Kingdom a global tech hub. The governments also hinted at setting a suitable regulatory framework for stablecoins and creating a financial infrastructure to help firms build around cryptos.

Other Nations That Have Adopted NFTs

In recent years, several nations have embraced the NFT and metaverse to build their economies. Last year, The Crown Prince of Dubai announced the creation of an NFT project, “Dubai Metaverse Strategy,” to boost the GDP contribution of the United Arabs Emirate.

In October 2022, Norway partnered with the Decentraland platform to create a tax office in the metaverse. The Norwegian government anticipated leveraging the metaverse functionality to reach its next generation of users.

Earlier this year, South Korea launched a replica of its capital city, “Metaverse Seoul.” The new metaverse aimed to improve the efficiency of public administration services, including citizenship, tax counseling, and youth mentoring.

Other countries that have adopted NFTs and the metaverse include Japan, which adopted NFTs to reward local authorities last year, Hong Kong, which allocated $6 million in its 2023 -2024 annual budget to fund its future metaverse plans and Saudi Arabia, which teamed up with Animoca Brands last month to launch an NFT project.