U.K. lawmakers have said they want to clamp down on the "Wild West" cryptocurrency market and prepare Britain as a legitimate home for the trading of digital currencies.

The Treasury Committee released a report on Wednesday that called for the government to address the issues of poor security from hackers, volatile price swings, and anonymity that can aid crime.

A cryptocurrency is a digital record designed to work as a medium of value exchange. It uses cryptography to record and secure financial transactions. The virtual tokens that consumers buy can themselves be used to make payments.

The paper claimed that the British government currently has an ambiguous stance to the industry which is opening the door to criminal activity as well as high risk for consumers.

"As the Government and regulators decide whether the current Wild West situation is allowed to continue, or whether they are going to introduce regulation, consumers remain unprotected," the report said.

The committee chair, Nicky Morgan MP, added that it was unsustainable for government and regulators to "bumble along, issuing feeble warnings to potential investors."