UK votes to recognise cryptos as regulated financial instruments
The UK House of Commons has voted to recognise cryptos as regulated financial instruments as part of the line-by-line reading of a parliamentary Bill.
Andrew Griffith, Financial Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, introduced an amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill, reported CoinDesk.
Griffith’s amendment was to include crypto assets in the scope of regulated financial services in the UK. The amendment to the Bill, which covers the UK’s post-Brexit economic strategy, received the support of MPs who voted in favour of it.
“The substance here is to treat them [crypto] like other forms of financial assets and not to prefer them, but also to bring them within the scope of regulation for the first time,” said Griffith. He added:
The amendment could lead to the regulation of crypto companies that are legally authorised to operate in the UK. However, the Bill and its provisions have yet to be passed as UK law.
The Bill had already included provisions for extending existing regulation to payment-focused stablecoins. The amendment comes after Rishi Sunak, who advocated for the UK to become a global crypto asset hub when he was chancellor, rose to the position of Prime Minister this week.
Boost to the crypto market
Following the debate and vote on 25 October, the two leading cryptos have experienced a notable increase in price as of today (26 October).
Bitcoin (BTC) has risen back above the $20,000 mark and was trading earlier at $20,822 after seeing an increase in price of 6.90% over the past 24 hours according to CoinMarketCap following this news.
BTC to USD
Before the amendment to the Bill was passed, BTC was sitting at around $19,000 level.
Ethereum (ETH) has also risen above the $1,500 mark to $1,570 for the first time since The Merge took place.
The Merge marked the transition of ETH from a proof-of-work (PoW) crypto to a proof-of-stake (PoS) coin.
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