Ripple, the world’s third largest digital currency, has urged British regulators to follow in the footsteps of Japan and implement new rules to end the “Wild West” days of the cryptocurrency market.

Ryan Zagone, head of regulatory ­relations at the transactions innovator and digital currency, called on UK regulators to strike a balance between “capturing risk and enabling innovation”. He highlighted three “pillars” for lawmakers to target in regulation: consumer protection, anti-money laundering and financial stability.

“We’re at that time now where we need more clarity and rules and we need more certainty. It’s a good time to start revisiting that ‘wait and see’ ­approach taken by regulators,” said Mr Zagone, comparing the regulatory ­environment on cryptocurrencies to the early days of the internet.

Japan overhauled its rules on Bitcoin last year, introducing legislation to protect consumers and forcing ­cryptocurrency exchanges to comply with anti-money laundering regulation. But revamping rules to include new crypto-assets has been slower moving in the UK.