Where to next for crypto currency?
Those crypto currencies which have managed to hang on despite the recent market meltdown and lack of government support have demonstrated their resilience in a way that many banks might have struggled to do.
A healthy division of opinion remains as to whether they have a longstanding use case or if they are merely speculative investments, but underlying this is what could be a profound parting of ways between London and the EU. The City (and the Government) has decided that it cannot afford to miss an opportunity in a market which could cement its dominance in global currency trading. The EU seeks to crush the industry. In the UK, the FCA has been told by the Government to move swiftly to provide a proper framework for the market. In the EU, Christine Lagarde of the ECB has said “It is based on nothing” and the European Commission will apparently seek to ban stablecoins when transactions exceed 1 million per day. Meanwhile US policy makers seem ambivalent.
The stakes are clear and the next three years may well decide whether the UK’s innovation or the EU’s repression is the wiser policy.
Nigel Stone is a Senior Associate in the Commercial Real Estate team at Boodle Hatfield.
