Political "procrastination" has left the UK behind the EU and the US in crypto regulation, according to experts
A new blog from OMFIF warns that the UK is losing its initial advantage in the regulation of digital assets as the EU implements MiCA and the United States moves forward with the Genius Act.
Political "procrastination" has left the UK behind the EU and the US in crypto regulation, according to experts
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The UK's unclear regulatory stance regarding digital assets is drawing harsh criticism from market participants, with some citing "political procrastination" as one of the key reasons why the country is falling behind both the European Union and the United States in the race to define digital finance.
In a post published on Friday, John Orchard, chairman, and Lewis McLellan, editor of the Digital Monetary Institute of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), an independent think tank, argued that the UK has squandered its advantage as a pioneer in distributed ledger finance.
The post, titled "The UK is still missing the DLT finance train," states that the UK, which was once expected to set a gold standard for cryptocurrency regulation after Brexit, continues to "speak vaguely about regulation in the future."
"As things stand, there is a conspicuous absence of a date in the 'Launch of the regime' section of the Financial Conduct Authority's 'Crypto roadmap,' although it suggests that it will be sometime after 2026," wrote Orchard and McLellan.
The EU and US introduce regulations on cryptocurrencies
The European Union's framework on crypto-assets markets (MiCA) is already in effect, while the US Senate recently passed the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins),