The British Economic Secretary to Treasury Harriet Baldwin MP has delivered a speech in which, on behalf of the UK government, she expressed the commitment to support the development of blockchain, create attractive conditions for digital currency companies and invest into research in the field of distributed ledger technology.

She praised the technology, saying it has all the potential “to facilitate the fast, efficient, and secure transfer of ownership of digital assets — including bonds, shares, and other financial instruments, over the internet”. Ms Baldwin mentioned a number of useful features the protocol offers, such as “the function of digitally ‘signing’ and time-stamping digital assets helping maintain records of digital documents securely and efficiently”.