The United Kingdom government has rejected a proposal by the U.K. Treasury Committee to regulate crypto retail trading in the same manner as gambling, emphasizing its “strong disagreement” with the Committee’s position.
In a report issued on May 17 by a House of Commons Committee, British legislators called for the crypto market to be regulated similarly to gambling. The Treasury Committee stated that crypto-related investment activity follows the principle of “same risk, same regulatory outcome.”
In a July 20 response to the Committee, U.K. financial services minister Andrew Griffith rejected the proposal. He stated that the HM Treasury strongly disagrees with the “Committee’s recommendation to regulate retail trading and investment activity in unbacked crypto assets as a gambling activity rather than a financial service.”
In the United Kingdom, all forms of gambling are governed by the 2005 Gaming Act. Bingo halls, lotteries, betting stores, online bookmakers, and casinos are scrutinized to combat compulsive gambling and implement anti-money laundering measures.
According to the government’s response, such an approach has the potential to utterly contradict the internationally accepted recommendations of international organizations and standard-setters.
The British government believes the Committee’s recommendations could lead to ambiguous and overlapping responsibilities between the Financial Conduct Authority and the Gambling Commission.
The government added that it is already working on regulating the cryptocurrency market, and a proposed regulatory bill was introduced and debated in parliament last month. In discussing the establishment of standards for the crypto industry and crypto companies, the government noted:
“HM Treasury and the FCA will work with the industry to ensure crypto firms are made fully aware of the standards required for approval at the FSMA gateway. Further communications will be provided in due course to ensure standards for approval are clearly available to crypto firms operating in the UK. “
The government also stated that this legislation could go into effect by the end of 2023 and emphasized that the Committee’s recommendations were also considered.
