UK Lawmakers Form Crypto and Digital Assets Group to Ensure Regulation Supports Innovation

U.K. lawmakers have formed the Crypto and Digital Assets Group to ensure that new rules for the crypto industry support innovation. “We are at a crucial time for the sector as global policymakers are also now reviewing their approach to crypto and how it should be regulated,” said the British parliament member who will chair the group.

British Lawmakers Form Crypto and Digital Assets Group

U.K. parliament members and members of the House of Lords have formed the Crypto and Digital Assets Group, the Financial Times reported Friday.

Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Lisa Cameron, who will chair the cross-party group of lawmakers, explained that the group will work to ensure that new rules for the crypto industry “support innovation.” She detailed:

We are at a crucial time for the sector as global policymakers are also now reviewing their approach to crypto and how it should be regulated.

The new crypto group officially registered with parliament last week. Its members include former Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey and Tory MP Harriett Baldwin, a former JPMorgan executive.

Cryptouk, a trade association for digital assets, will serve as the parliamentary group’s secretariat. The association has been lobbying lawmakers for a year for positive crypto regulation in the U.K.

Crypto advocates have warned that the U.K. government has been too slow to establish rules for digital asset businesses, which risks driving them offshore. The U.K. financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has banned crypto derivatives for retail investors and opposed crypto funds.

Regulators have repeatedly warned about the risks from crypto scams and unregulated companies. According to blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis, scams involving cryptocurrencies cost investors $7.8 billion globally this year.