HM Treasury | Release | Feb 1, 2023

Ambitious plans to protect consumers and grow the economy by robustly regulating cryptoasset activities have been announced by the government.

Cryptoassets – commonly known as ‘crypto’ – are a relatively new, diverse and constantly evolving class of assets that have a range of potential benefits, as well as posing risks to the consumer.

As is common in emerging technology markets, the crypto sector continues to experience high levels of volatility and a number of recent failures have exposed the structural vulnerability of some business models in the sector.

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Our robust approach to regulation mitigates the most significant risks, while harnessing the advantages of crypto technologies. This enables a new and exciting sector to safely flourish and grow, boosting jobs and investment.

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Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Griffith said:

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to grow the economy and enable technological change and innovation – and this includes cryptoasset technology.  But we must also protect consumers who are embracing this new technology – ensuring robust, transparent, and fair standards.”

Under plans set out by the government today (1 February), it will seek to regulate a broad suite of cryptoasset activities, consistent with its approach to traditional finance.

These proposals will place responsibility on crypto trading venues for defining the detailed content requirements for admission and disclosure documents – ensuring crypto exchanges have fair and robust standards.