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New UK prime minister pushes CBDC – Big chance for Bitcoin?

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25
Oct

Source: cryptostock- Pixabay

  • As the British Chancellor, Rishi Sunak pushed the need for having a CBDC to foster innovation in Britain’s financial landscape.
  • In the past, Sunak showed a willingness to make the UK, the hub for crypto assets technology.

On Monday, October 24, Rishi Sunak was appointed as the leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister of Britain. This happened after former Prime Minister Lizz Truss submitted her resignation last week after just seven weeks in office.

The appointment of Rishi Sunak brings great cheer to the crypto community as the newly appointed UK PM is known for his pro-crypto stand in the past. Sunak served as Britain’s finance minister as part of the Boris Johnson government.

Under the UK’s presidency of the G7, the economic group launched a set of public policies for the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). As we know, CBDCs are digital versions of money of the respective countries operating on a blockchain platform.

As per Sunak’s proposed plan of having a CBDC, it would be issued directly by the Bank of England (BoE). In the past, the newly elected British PM has praised CBDCs for being safe, secure, and energy efficient. Sunak believes that CBDCs will help in reshaping UK’s economy and financial systems. In one of his recent tweets, Rishi Sunak said that his first job as the British PM would be to fix the country’s ailing economy. He noted:

The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis. That’s why I am standing to be Leader of the Conservative Party and your next Prime Minister. I want to fix our economy, unite our Party and deliver for our country.

As a result, CBDC could get serious attention under Sunak’s administration. Earlier this year, he also announced a joint task force between the Treasury and the Bank of England (BoE) to look into a potential CBDC.

Making the UK the Hub for Crypto Assets Technology

As the former Finance Minister of Britain, Sunak had also proposed a few measures to improve UK’s crypto landscape. He also showed a willingness to attract more investments to UK’s crypto industry.

Thus, Sunak spoke about a ‘financial market infrastructure sandbox’ encouraging innovation in the crypto sector. He said:

It’s my ambition to make the UK a global hub for cryptoasset technology, and the measures we’ve outlined today will help to ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country. We want to see the businesses of tomorrow – and the jobs they create – here in the UK, and by regulating effectively we can give them the confidence they need to think and invest long-term.

Besides, Sunak also spoke of recognizing stablecoins as a valid form of payment. But what about public cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin? Interestingly, Sunak spoke about supporting a basket of digital assets and not just Bitcoin in one of his interviews.

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