The UK’s National Liberal Party now wants to put in place policies to regulate cryptocurrencies better. Finally, an organized political initiative to regulate properly cryptocurrency; however, the big question is whether or not someone will actually embrace it?
In the UK, citizens have been victims of cryptocurrency frauds and con jobs for years now, losing millions in the process. Currently there is no government policy defined for organized crimes involving these digital assets, although there are some plans in discussion.
The current policy by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) states that “Unregulated cryptoassets (e.g. Bitcoin, Ether, XRP etc.) are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and consumers do not have recourse to the Financial Ombudsman Service.”
Even though the Conservative Party believes that there should be some regulations for digital currency, the lack of policy by the FCA proves otherwise. The Labour Party, on the other hand, calls cryptocurrency a Ponzi scheme and wants to regulate it out of business.
The National Liberal Party has come up with a more levelheaded approach towards cryptocurrencies because it believes that digital currency is here for the long run, so it should have some regulations.
In a statement released by the NLP, it states that the party is not dismissive of the growing impact of cryptocurrency and “seeks a responsible regime where victims have recourse and a strong self-regulatory scheme that will make the UK a center of legitimate cryptocurrency finance and not the center for crypto crimes that it is today.”
It proposes the following changes:
- Use of cryptocurrencies in crimes should be punished and treated the same as money laundering;
- FCA’s policy of no-policy should be changed and victims should be prioritized;
- A fund should be established by cryptocurrencies and UK-based crypto exchanges for the victims of cryptocurrency crimes. If this fund cannot be established, a transactional fund should be imposed;
- There should be an investigation of use of Companies House and Top-level Domain .io in crypto crimes to make sure that Crown is not enabling these crimes;
- The UK should come up with initiatives that promote self-regulation and a responsible use of cryptocurrency.
According to the NLP, it aims for a future in finance that is safe and proportionate. Cryptocurrency can provide huge financial benefits to the economy of the country if it is regulated properly and efficiently without hindering further innovation.
Necessary Cryptocurrency Policy, But from a Small Party
One of the first things anyone can learn when they do a quick search on Google about crypto is that how lawless digital currencies are. It’s not as easy to hold people responsible when they conduct illicit activities with cryptocurrencies as opposed to traditional currencies, which are far simpler to track and monitor. Therefore, cryptocurrencies have gained popularity amongst criminals.
This is why the National Liberal Party’s policy regarding crypto is so necessary and vital. Unfortunately, though, the NLP is still considered a small marginal political party, and therefore it’s not clear if this proposed cryptocurrency policy will take any hold.
