Regulatory Round-Up: U.K. Chief Blockchain Officer, DLT Cohort in FCA Sandbox, Central Bank Calls Crypto ”Fallacy”

In recent regulatory news, U.K. minister, Eddie Hughes has published a report that advocates for the creation of a “Chief Blockchain Officer,” the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has announced that a number of distributed ledger (DLT) companies have been accepted into cohort 4 of its regulatory sandbox, and Finland’s Central Bank has published a report calling cryptocurrency a “fallacy.”

Also Read: China Round-Up: Permissive Regulations Advocated, 3 Million Chinese HODLers, Xiaolai Recording Leaks

U.K. Minister Calls for Creation of “Chief Blockchain Officer”

Tory MP, Eddie Hughes, has distributed a report to other ministers titled “Unlocking Blockchain,” which advocates for greater adoption of distributed ledger technology in the praxis of government, and calls for the creation of a new government position of “Chief Blockchain Officer.”

Mr. Hughes argues that the Chief Blockchain Officer “should be appointed from within the government’s existing task force to coordinate the U.K.’s strategy regarding the application of DLT to public services and data.” The report argues that the position should be expanded to cover emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence as such converge with distributed ledger technology.

The report also advocates the establishment of a long-term target of “making a 1 percent efficiency saving” through embracing distributed ledger technology.

DLT Companies Enter FCA Regulatory Sandbox

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released a list of the 29 businesses “that have been accepted into cohort 4 of the regulatory sandbox to test innovative products, services, business models and delivery mechanisms.” The businesses accepted were among 69 firms that applied for cohort 4 of the regulatory sandbox.

A number of the firms are involved in the distributed ledger technology industry, including Blockex – a “platform that facilitates the issuance and manages the lifecycle of regulated bonds using DLT,” and Fineqia – a “blockchain-based digital platform that enables companies to issue and administer debt and equity securities, including bonds backed by cryptoassets.”

Other companies operating in the DLT sector that have been accepted in cohort 4 include Capexmove, Community First Credit Union, Etherisc, Fractal, Globacap, Natwest, Tokenmarket, Tokencard, Universal Tokens, Word Reserve Trust, and 20|30.

Bank of Finland Calls Cryptocurrency a “Fallacy”

Finland’s central bank has published a paper titled “The Great Illusion of Digital Currencies” that seeks to provide “analysis of digital currencies, including cryptocurrencies, and their potential as monetary instruments,” and claims it shows that “the concept of a digital currency is a fallacy.”

The report claims that currency comprises “a physical representation of a monetary unit of account,” and that such “cannot be digitized, as this would inevitably mean creating a financial record keeping system based on accounts.” Cryptocurrencies, the report argues, “are not currencies at all but accounting systems for non-existent assets.”

Do you think that the U.K. (and other jurisdictions) will soon appoint government positions tasked with overseeing the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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