UK Government Rejects Treasury’s Call to Treat Crypto as Gambling

The UK government rejected a recent House of Commons Treasury Committee proposal, which suggested that retail crypto trading be regulated like gambling instruments.

The UK’s HM Treasury officially rejected the House of Commons Treasury Committee’s recent recommendation to regulate crypto trading not as financial assets but as gambling instruments. 

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The UK government rejected lawmakers’ proposal to treat crypto trading and related investment assets as it does gambling instruments.

The House of Commons Treasury Committee argued that unbacked, mainstream crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) should be held to the same standards as gambling. In its report, the Committee said:

With no intrinsic value, huge price volatility and no discernible social good, consumer trading of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin more closely resembles gambling than a financial service, and should be regulated as such.

Andrew Griffith, the UK Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said it “firmly disagrees” with the “Committee’s recommendation to regulate retail trading and investment activity in unbacked cryptoassets as gambling rather than as a financial service.”

In its response to the Committee’s concerns, Griffith stated that such an approach to regulation would defy the globally agreed-upon standards and potentially drive crypto activity offshore.

The government also opined that such a law would fail to address certain risks associated with crypto trading, such as market manipulation.

The government further stated it is already working on crypto asset regulation, and proposed rules were put before parliament and debated last month. In its response, the government said:

HM Treasury and the FCA [Financial Conduct Authority] will work with the industry to ensure crypto firms are made fully aware of the standards required for approval at the FSMA gateway.

Further communications will be provided in due course to ensure standards for approval are clearly available to crypto firms operating in the UK.

Regulators in the UK have made strides in crypto regulation to address global concerns over the industry’s risks.

The House of Lords recently passed the Financial Services and Markets Bill, which aims to regulate Bitcoin and crypto in the country.

Deemed a “Rocket Boost for the UK economy,” the bill seeks to make a “technologically advanced financial services sector” that is “open” and will “grow the economy.”

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.