- The UK is falling behind, members of parliament say.
- This could put jobs and businesses at risk, they warn.
- A spate of rulemaking is expected to pick up in 2026.
After a year-long hiatus, a parliamentary group in the UK is working to bring cryptocurrency back to the forefront of the legislative process.
New co-chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Crypto and Digital Assets — Gurinder Singh Josan and Edward Vaizey — are urging lawmakers to establish clear rules of the road.
Or else.
Singh Josan, a Labour Party backbencher, warns that the government’s failure to pass meaningful legislation risks pushing businesses to more welcoming jurisdictions.
Worse, sluggish lawmakers could lead to more money in the hands of dodgy schemes, he warned
“That’s not just bad for jobs and investment, it also risks pushing UK consumers towards unregulated offshore providers,” Singh Josan told DL News.
Crypto goes to London
The call to action echoes that of the broader industry lobby.
Over the past few months, representatives from industry heavyhitters like Coinbase and Ripple have lamented that Britain is falling behind other regions.
The European Union has started to enforce its own crypto laws via its sweeping MiCA framework, and the US has approved a stablecoin bill and is eyeing a new market structure bill for this autumn.
‘The sector is growing fast, consumer adoption has doubled since 2021, and other countries are racing ahead with regulation.’
— Josan, co-chairs of All-Party Parliamentary Group for Crypto and Digital Assets
The UK, however, has no stablecoin legislation, lacks rules on who actually owns digital assets, and has no law regulating cryptoasset firms.
Instead, regulators, such as the Financial Conduct Authority, have interpreted existing rules far too strictly, industry members argue.
The FCA has, among other measures, introduced strict marketing rules that saw firms like Binance and PayPal suspend their UK crypto services.
The UK is also losing out on initial public offerings due to a general lack of liquidity that has seen the likes of fintech stalwart Revolut and crypto exchange Bitpanda snub London to list in New York instead.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and a slew of other cryptocurrencies have hit record highs, with market watchers expecting more to come.
Bitcoin has surged 32% this year, reaching an all-time high of $124,000 in August. The crypto market has risen to be worth over $4 trillion.
And UK residents increasingly want to trade with the digital dosh. About 12% of UK adults now own crypto, up from 4% in 2021, according to government estimates.
“Crypto isn’t coming, it’s already here,” Singh Josan said. “The sector is growing fast, consumer adoption has doubled since 2021, and other countries are racing ahead with regulation.”
Reforming the group
It is against that backdrop that the parliamentary group was reformed in July.
First launched in 2021, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Crypto and Digital Assets was put on the back burner after last year’s snap election.
The election also derailed the previous parliament’s push to transform Blighty into what former prime minister Rishi Sunak called “a global hub for crypto asset technology.”
In its first year in power, the new Labour government had other priorities than creating new crypto rules.
But with Wall Street scooping up cryptocurrencies and the Trump regime reigniting interest around digital assets, the tides are changing.
“Crypto is no longer fringe, it’s mainstream, and lawmakers need to understand both the opportunities and the risks,” Vaizey, a Conservative Party member of the House of Lords, told DL News.
New rules
Still, lobbyists in Britain may not have to push that hard.
Rachel Reeves, the country’s current chancellor of the exchequer, has announced draft legislation to regulate cryptoasset firms, crack down on bad actors and support the industry.
Vaizey stated that the minister has confirmed plans to introduce crypto legislation by the end of the year.
HMRC, the UK tax authority, has also introduced new rules. While they will force crypto firms to report users’ personal data to the authorities for every trade made, the industry lobby has welcomed them.
In July, MPs introduced a bill that aims to recognise crypto as personal property. By doing so, it will iron out question marks around what will happen if crypto is stolen or in the case of bankruptcy, for instance.
While the FCA has faced criticism from industry players for being too strict with its marketing rules and for only approving licences to a fraction of crypto firms, the regulator has also moved to clarify its regulations.
It has published a roadmap that aims to cover some of the missing pieces, such as stablecoins, custody and staking.
The roadmap is estimated to result in new regulations that will snap into place in 2026.
For Vaizey, it’s better late than never.
“We still have time to catch up, but the clock is ticking,” he told DL News.
Eric Johansson is DL News’ interim managing editor. Got a tip? Email at eric@dlnews.com.
