The Treasury said its plan will protect retail investors, treating crypto institutions like traditional financial firms. But nothing will happen before a three-month public consultation.
Listen to the CoinMarketRecap podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts
The U.K. government has announced it will begin public consultations on "ambitious plans to protect consumers" on Wednesday.
The new regulations will bring cryptocurrency regulations in line with traditional financial institutions and markets, the government said.
The goal is to protect against the "the most significant risks" while also encouraging innovation and helping the U.K. garner the benefits of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
"We remain steadfast in our commitment to grow the economy and enable technological change and innovation — and this includes cryptoasset technology," said
Andrew Griffith, economic secretary to the Treasury. "But we must also protect consumers who are embracing this new technology — ensuring robust, transparent, and fair standards."
The public consultation will run through April 30. It will "seek views on improving market integrity and consumer protection by setting out a proposed crypto market abuse regime," the Treasury said in a release.
Among other things, the plan will make exchanges responsible for Know Your Customer checks — the "admission and disclosure documents" — while also strengthening controls around crypto custodians and financial intermediaries.
The goal, the Treasury said, is to create "fair and robust standards" for crypto exchanges.
The opposition was unimpressed, with Labour's shadow city minister, Tulip Siddiq, reiterating its calls for "a crackdown on the crypto wild-west for months."
Blaming government inaction on crypto regulations with putting "millions of British consumers' savings ... at risk by the collapse of cryptocurrencies while crypto-related scams have hit record levels." She added:
"All the Conservatives are promising is further consultations — we need action now."
