Crypto trading should be regulated like gambling, say MPs

[ad_1]

The Treasury Committee has called for consumer cryptocurrency trading to be regulated in the same way as gambling.

In a report released today, the cross-party committee of MPs says cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value and serve no useful social purpose while consuming large amounts of energy and being used by criminals in scams, fraud and money laundering.

The report adds that crypto poses significant risks to consumers, given their price volatility and risk of losses.

MPs have expressed concern that regulating consumer cryptocurrency trading as a financial service, as the government is proposing, will create a halo effect, leading consumers to believe the activity is protected while that she is not.

MP Harriett Baldwin, Chair of the Treasury Committee, said: Events in 2022 have highlighted the risks posed to consumers by the crypto asset industry, much of which remains a wild west. Effective regulation is clearly needed to protect consumers from harm, as well as to support productive innovation in the UK financial services sector.

However, in the absence of intrinsic value, enormous price volatility, and no discernible social good, the consumer trade of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is more like gambling than a financial service, and should be regulated as such. When betting on these unsecured tokens, consumers should be aware that all of their money could be lost.

Conflicting Crypto Positions

The position of key MPs is at odds with previous positions taken by the government, such as the Treasury exploring the creation of a digital ledger based on stablecoin technology.

The government has been planning to implement stablecoins in the UK economy for some time now, after Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks served as chancellor then. The stated goal was to make the UK a major hub for the crypto asset world in April last year.

But after government plans to produce a Royal Mint NFT were scrapped in March, just under a year after the project was first announced, it appears the government is split over the role of crypto assets in the game. United Kingdom.

[ad_2]