UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak asks the Royal Mint to issue an NFT by the summer, as the Treasury plans a “forward-looking approach” towards crypto assets

Lily Russell-Jones / City A.M. : Source: @hmtreasury .

City A.M. 2022-04-05 Lily Russell-Jones

Context & Ripple Effects

The Royal Mint request puts a public-facing deliverable atop the UK’s earlier Cryptoassets Task Force, which joined the Treasury, Bank of England and FCA to examine crypto’s risks and benefits. It turns a policy posture into a visible signal from a state institution.

The later cancellation of the NFT plan shows the initiative’s limits as a durable crypto-hub instrument; subsequent coverage instead centers Treasury legislation on stablecoins and staking.

First-order effects

The Royal Mint is tasked with producing an NFT by summer, while the Treasury publicly associates its crypto-assets approach with a concrete government-backed project.
Crypto businesses receive an immediate signal that Sunak and the Treasury want the UK seen as receptive to crypto assets, even though the announcement does not set regulatory rules.

Second-order effects

The NFT project raises the stakes for the Treasury, Bank of England and FCA’s policy coordination: a promotional gesture now sits alongside the risk-focused work begun by the Cryptoassets Task Force.
Market attention is likely to shift from the Mint’s collectible to whether the Treasury follows its stated approach with rules that affect crypto firms’ operations.

Third-order effects

The subsequent withdrawal of the NFT plan and later focus on stablecoins and staking point to a broader division between symbolic crypto-hub branding and the harder work of building a regulatory framework.
If that pattern persists, UK crypto policy will be judged less by flagship digital-asset launches than by whether Treasury and FCA measures provide usable rules for specific activities.

The trend: UK crypto policy is moving from broad innovation signaling toward activity-specific regulation, with stablecoins and staking becoming more consequential than NFT promotion.

Discussion

@hmtreasury @hmtreasury on x
Chancellor @RishiSunak has asked @RoyalMintUK to create an NFT to be issued by the summer. This decision shows the the forward-looking approach we are determined to take towards cryptoassets in the UK. https://twitter.com/...
@lhm1 Lucy HM on x
If you were wondering why the chancellor is suddenly rolling out his crypto policies, this is who he was meeting in December 👀 https://twitter.com/...
@jamesrbuk James Ball on x
2010, Treasury: “I'm afraid there is no money.” 2022, Treasury: https://twitter.com/...
@alexhern Alex Hern on x
what else is like crypto stuff where it looks generically cool and whizzy to people from the outside and deeply culture-war-split once you get below the surface?
@rishisunak @rishisunak on x
We're working to make the UK a global cryptoassets hub. We want to see the businesses of tomorrow, and the jobs they create, here in the UK. Today @JohnGlenUK set out how we are going to encourage crypto investment and technology in UK markets. 👇 https://www.gov.uk/...
@haveigotnews @haveigotnews on x
BREAKING: Cost-of-living crisis solved. https://twitter.com/...
@rishisunak @rishisunak on x
We have set out new legislation to see stablecoins recognised as a valid form of payment in the UK. By recognising the potential of this technology and regulating it, we can ensure financial stability and provide wider consumer payment choice. https://www.gov.uk/... https://twitt…
@vickerysec Chris Vickery on x
If you have to put the word “stable” in its name, it's not stable and you're pulling a con. https://twitter.com/...
@paulbernaluk Prof Paul Bernal on x
The Home Office wants to ban encryption and the Treasury wants to issue NFTs. 😀
@seamusblackley Seamus Blackley on x
Well, the United Kingdom was amazing while it lasted. https://twitter.com/...
@seanchuckle Sean Biggerstaff on x
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is a man so stupid he thinks you can make something stable by putting “stable” in the title. He's one of those guys who was told as a teenager by someone impressive sounding that “money's all about confidence, you see” and from that moment on has h…
@jonashworth Jonathan Ashworth on x
Read the room, pal https://twitter.com/...
@thegrugq @thegrugq on x
This is going to be the best rug pull! https://twitter.com/...
@mattkamen Matt Kamen on x
OH FUUUUCK OFFFF 😭 NFTs are, at best, a scam, and that's before you get to the environmental impact. Can we just fucking not?! https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@domschiener Dominik Schiener on x
This is the way 👏 @Europarl_EN @EU_EBSI @EU_Commission it's time to become leaders. Web3 has offered us the opportunity of a lifetime to empower citizens all around, modernize our industries and government, and create value and prosperity for everyone https://www.gov.uk/...
@effinbirds @effinbirds on x
what kind of animal will it be and how many different hats can it wear https://twitter.com/...
@grady_booch Grady Booch on x
Oh FFS. https://twitter.com/...
@davidgura David Gura on x
“The decision to launch an NFT is likely to raise eyebrows at a time when more than a million people in Britain are expected to fall into poverty this year...” https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@canokar Can Okar on x
Ah yes, a state-backed Ponzi scheme requested by an out-of-touch billionaire. That'll solve the cost-of-living crisis. https://twitter.com/...
@tulipsiddiq Tulip Siddiq on x
Rishi Sunak is totally out of touch. He should be urgently addressing the cost of living crisis, not coming up with gimmicks like this! https://twitter.com/...
@johnmcternan John McTernan on x
“Since we're getting away with Partygate, we thought we'd launch a Ponzi scheme...” https://twitter.com/...
@ogdfarmer @ogdfarmer on x
While Europe litterally shoots itself in the foot ( for good probably if it passes? ) with the most backward crypto regulation I've seen in a long time, brexited UK strives to become the next crypto Hub. Timing of it all is not random either. Well done. https://twitter.com/...
@mutablejoe Joe on x
what about an NFT but instead it's a picture of princess diana and instead of being digital it's printed on a set of plates and you can buy it from readers digest for five installments of twenty pounds
@uglygame Martin Calladine on x
It goes a long way to explaining the state the UK is in that half the country will be allowed to freeze or starve because Sunak is ideologically opposed to government helping people, while resources are allocated to a fraud-ridden con trick to show a commitment to ‘innovation.’ h…
@adambienkov Adam Bienkov on x
You've got to respect the ratio. https://twitter.com/...
@brandyljensen Brandy Jensen on x
will it be an ape of the queen do you think https://twitter.com/...
@markdistef Mark Di Stefano on x
I'm sure everyone who can't afford to keep their heating on in the Uk will love this news!! https://twitter.com/...
@jimmfelton James Felton on x
We're going to long for the days of pissing money away on substandard PPE when he announces he invested all our money in a jpg of a monkey https://twitter.com/...
@emmakennedy Emma Kennedy💙 on x
So the billionaire Chancellor has had the Treasury create an NFT so he can encourage insane amounts of energy wastage during a Cost of Living Crisis. I mean there's tone deaf and then there's TONE DEAF.
@jamestitcomb James Titcomb on x
Uuurrgggghgghh https://twitter.com/...
@joonian Wong Joon Ian on x
The.... What? https://twitter.com/...
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
It's going to be some sort of royal jubilee cash-in isn't it. NFT of a stamp with the Queen's head on etc etc etc. https://twitter.com/...
@punk6529 @punk6529 on x
SEIZE THE ROYAL MINT! https://twitter.com/...
@cobie @cobie on x
Is this actually not an April Fools lmao? https://www.gov.uk/... https://twitter.com/...
@punk6529 @punk6529 on x
If it has one of these and a gold fur rare trait, I am in https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@rhysmorgan Rhys Morgan on x
I don't think I'm ever going to read anything stupider. What the god damn fuck is wrong with this sick country, and its stupid fucking political class? https://twitter.com/...
@direthoughts Henry Dyer on x
I'm going to become the joker https://www.gov.uk/... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@s8mb @s8mb on x
Cringe https://twitter.com/...
@cobie @cobie on x
UST is only like 15% backed by Bitcoin whereas the Great British Pound is 100% backed by nothing
@cobie @cobie on x
@hmtreasury ... Rishi, I am literally british, give me the powers of the royal mint, I'll hook u up, NFT collection sells out instantly. 50,000 ETH trust me bro. I can save the budget. Make me the royal minter bro
@cobie @cobie on x
@hmtreasury ... Aiyo i'll do it for you right now it takes like 30 seconds, why u saying it will be like 4 months to do a single NFT??? does Royal Mint need to learn how to use a computer first or something
@punk6529 @punk6529 on x
good - but needs lots of work! https://twitter.com/...
@cobie @cobie on x
Two things: 1) what the fuck????? 2) im buying it https://twitter.com/...
@aljwhite Alan White on x
Looking forward to the select committee hearing later this year in which Rishi Sunak has to explain how someone stole all his apes https://twitter.com/...
@jamesrbuk James Ball on x
Issuing a vanity asset beset by fraud and scams six months or so after nerd interest has peaked? It certainly shows a lot about the UK approach here, but I'm not sure it shows what they might hope. https://twitter.com/...
@jimmfelton James Felton on x
Government finally transitioning into its final phase: That ratiod guy on the internet moaning that somebody stole his monkeys https://twitter.com/...
@babble____ @babble____ on x
National energy crisis? Let's make something that needlessly burns energy. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@ankaman616 Carl Anka on x
Who are these for please? https://twitter.com/...
@zsk Zoe Kleinman on x
Well. This is an interesting move to say the least https://twitter.com/...
@tompeck Tom Peck on x
“Chancellor what action are you taking to help millions of desperate of families with the cost of li- https://twitter.com/...
@technicallyron @technicallyron on x
Just in case you wondered if the government was run by out of touch elitist scammers https://twitter.com/...
@mrnishkumar Nish Kumar on x
This is a deeply unserious country https://twitter.com/...
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
hmm April Fool's Day was last week... https://twitter.com/...

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