On Monday, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, met with Andrew Griffith, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Minister for the City, to discuss regulation in the UK. Coinbase has published recommendations to make the country a Web3 hub.
Brian Armstrong visits England
This week, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, is visiting the UK for UK Fintech Week. On the sidelines of this event, he met Andrew Griffith, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Minister for the City. The two discussed the country’s regulatory policy:
Great meeting today with UK Economic Secretary and City Minister @griffitha
The UK is moving fast on sensible crypto regulation to both drive economic growth AND consumer protection. Excited to keep investing in the UK. pic.twitter.com/478PQSLmDe
– Brian Armstrong ️ (@brian_armstrong) April 17, 2023
Among the topics discussed, we can cite the case of some retail banks blocking access to the cryptocurrency ecosystem to the British. Earlier this year, HSBC was particularly notable in this regard, banning credit card payments to crypto companies, an approach that Brian Armstrong says may be illegal:
Some UK banks are blocking fiat payments to crypto companies, which is not acceptable. Good controls against fraud make sense, a blanket ban does not (and is probably not legal). More education and collaboration is needed. “
For Coinbase, the UK is of particular economic interest, as 22% of the country’s adult population owns cryptocurrency, and 28% is likely to buy or trade it in the coming year, according to the platform.
Coinbase’s recommendations to the UK government
As a result, Coinbase is making a number of recommendations to the UK to make the UK a powerhouse in the blockchain ecosystem. For example, the exchange calls for the City, where the London business district is located, to become a sandbox for digital innovation in the same way as it was in the 1980s with the technologies of the time.
Clear regulatory and fiscal frameworks are also called for. Coinbase also encourages local government to develop decentralised digital identity solutions (dID):
“This includes the development of a new digital identity system.
This includes research into how dIDs can bring benefits in areas such as health and financial services, making a real improvement to the public in their daily lives. “
Furthermore, Coinbase described the UK’s current work on these various topics as “incredibly encouraging”, a policy which therefore stands in contrast to the current climate in the US.
*** Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) ***
