The UK may speed up the issuance of the state stablecoin due to the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange

Deputy Governor of the Bank of England John Cunliffe said that the consequences of the FTX exchange collapse may prompt the regulator to speed up the issuance of a state-owned stablecoin. During a forum dedicated to DeFi and cryptocurrencies, Cunliffe said: «The collapse of FTX demonstrates that we need to push harder and issue a digital pound quickly.»

Cunliffe assured that the Bank of England is actively advising UK lawmakers on the drafting of rules that will regulate the crypto space. The official said that the parliament is currently discussing a bill on financial services and markets, which will finally be able to classify cryptocurrencies as financial instruments. This will allow the Bank of England and other UK regulators to gain more control over the crypto industry.

The British government is scrutinizing every single case of cryptocurrency fraud to understand how it will affect the country’s economy. As a reminder, according to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), cryptocurrency fraud ranked first in terms of the number of complaints from affected investors in 2022. This is not surprising, as one in three Britons owns cryptocurrency.

It should be added that British officials are planning to expand the powers of the authorities to combat cryptocurrency crimes. Lawmakers have called on parliamentarians to consider a bill to address «privacy concerns» and give law enforcement agencies the power to «force businesses to hand over information that may be related to money laundering or terrorist financing using crypto assets.»