Cryptoassets
Blockchain and Digital Assets
Matt Green
April 2025
Writing in The Times, Director and Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets, Matt Green, argues that the UK government needs to adopt a clear big picture strategy on implementing blockchain technology if it is to maintain parity with competitors.
Matt’s article follows a recent letter he co-signed as chair of techUK’s Blockchain and Digital Assets working group, alongside a coalition of leading UK and global trade bodies in the crypto sector to the UK government urging them to advance its digital asset and blockchain policy.
Matt’s article was published in The Times, 24 April 2025, and can be found here.
Government must urgently delivery regulatory clarity for cryptoassets
It is roughly six months since the digital assets industry called on the Labour government to provide urgent “regulatory clarity” at the party’s annual conference. The then economic secretary to the Treasury, Tulip Siddiq, responded by confirming the government’s commitment to fostering innovation in financial services, but there is little meat on the bone.
It has also been three years since the previous government’s plan to make the UK a global cryptoasset technology hub. This ambiguity serves no one.
Helpfully, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has since published key dates in a ‘crypto roadmap’ that details the development of comprehensive regulatory framework for the UK. Draft legal provisions are expected soon, with a series of consultation papers examining how the future regime will work and its content – such as stronger regulation for capital, liquidity and risk management of cryptoassets – to come. The roadmap anticipates that the rules will take effect late next year.
While that is welcome, the UK needs clarity and momentum to boost investment, growth and jobs, and to avoid falling behind competitors such as Singapore, the UAE or the US in technology investment and innovation. If the government is serious about making crypto a strategic priority, it should mirror the US by appointing a crypto special envoy – President Trump has appointed David Sacks, the former senior executive at PayPal, to that role.
The UK desperately needs a comparable appointee who can drive policy alignment, assimilate industry innovation and ensure that regulation and legislation are formulated and drafted with the UK’s best interests.
Our government also needs a plan that will focus on identifying opportunities and attracting investment. These could include an incentivisation programme to attract businesses with significant potential, explore elements of public sector integration and create a competitive tax and investment landscape.
Recognising the symbiosis of blockchain, artificial intelligence and quantum computing and their potential value is vital, both for preparing future regulatory frameworks, and considering use in daily life. Ultimately, this will improve efficiency for a swathe of crucial public services. Consider how the Land Registry and Companies House could hold important documents on the blockchain to simplify and accelerate property and share transfers. Key government procurement contracts and transmission of NHS data could also be transformed.
According to the FCA, 12 per cent of UK adults – about 7 million people – owned cryptoassets last year. In contrast, according to the most recent data, only 8 per cent of global venture capital funding went into UK firms that specialise in that field, while the US dominates with 76%.
A clear direction, guided by a singular politically and sector agnostic driver, and with clear regulatory framework, could transform the UK economy for decades to come.
