Final candidates for the next UK Prime Minister have made pro-crypto statements

by · July 28, 2022

Final candidates for the next UK Prime Minister have made pro-crypto statements

Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Liz Truss, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, two of the finalists to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, have both previously expressed pro-crypto views.

With Prime Minister Boris Johnson soon out of office, Sunak and Truss are competing to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and the country, with their views on digital assets likely to influence fiscal policy. Under Johnson, Sunak called for the country’s Royal Mint to create a non-functional token as part of an effort to turn the UK into a global crypto hub.

An MP who served as chancellor from 2020 until he resigned in July, Sunak previously said the UK government would prioritize financial technology, including central bank digital currencies and stablecoins, with the aim of keeping the country up with innovation. He has also been behind many proposed financial services reforms that promote the use of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

Truss, who has been Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs since 2021 and Minister for Women and Equality since 2019, serving under three prime ministers, called for an anti-regulatory approach to crypto in 2018 in a bid for Britain to embrace the technology. In his role as Secretary of State for International Trade, the MP launched a digital trade network in 2020 whose measures included promoting fintech firms that “enable[d] digitization and robustness in priority export markets.”

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Amid Johnson’s expected departure, policy decisions have continued to move forward in Britain. Nadhim Zahawi, who replaced Sunak as finance minister, introduced a law on financial services and markets on July 20, which contained a regulatory framework for stablecoins. The Treasury Committee of the House of Commons also opened an inquiry allowing UK residents to write in about the role of cryptoassets in the country.

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The Conservative Party is expected to decide between Sunak and Truss as the next leader by September 5, when Johnson will officially step down. On Tuesday, the two candidates participated in a televised debate that was interrupted after moderator Kate McCann fainted while on air.