United Kingdom
Huobi wins license in the British Virgin Islands, no timeline for the UK yet
Major cryptocurrency exchange Huobi continues to expand its global footprint by entering the British Virgin Islands, a British Overseas Territory. Huobi officially announced on Friday that it secured an investment business license from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the British Virgin Islands. The approval allows Huobi to operate a virtual asset exchange under the subsidiary Brtuomi Worldwide Limited (BWL). According to the announcement, BWL plans to offer a range of crypto trading services, including spot trading of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) as well as derivatives trading. The company positions itself as the first digital asset trading platform operator in the British Virgin Islands licensed to run an institutional-grade crypto trading platform for bo...
UK economic secretary commits to make country a crypto hub under new PM
Richard Fuller, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said the government wants the United Kingdom to be the “dominant global hub for crypto technologies.” In a parliamentary debate on crypto asset regulation in the U.K. on Wednesday, Fuller spoke in favor of “powerful” use cases for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, including using distributed ledger technology for customs and international trade and storing medical records on the blockchain. Alexander Stafford, the parliamentary private secretary to newly elected PM Liz Truss, added the prime minister “reaffirmed” her commitment to providing internet connectivity for U.K. residents, which could allow access to buying, selling, and mining crypto. “As crypto technologies grow in significance, the U.K. Government are seeking ways ...
UK advertising watchdog cites 2 former reality stars for crypto ads on Instagram stories
The United Kingdom’s independent advertising regulator has upheld a complaint involving former reality show Love Island contestants Eve and Jessica Gale for “triviali[zing] investment in cryptocurrency.” In a Wednesday notice, the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority, or ASA, said the reality stars promoted crypto in an Instagram story in June at the request of an influencer named Elizabeth O’Donell and upheld claims the ad was “misleading” and “irresponsible.” According to the regulator, O’Donell was not only providing trading crypto advice — as the Gales’ stories claimed — but promoting investing in cryptocurrencies without illustrating the possible risks. “We therefore considered the ads were addressed to a general audience who were unlikely to have any specialist knowledge ...
New finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng leaves crypto policy in the UK unclear
Recently elected Conservative Party Leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Liz Truss has appointed Kwasi Kwarteng as the country’s newest chancellor of the exchequer, or chief financial minister. In a Tuesday announcement, Truss’ office named Kwarteng as the next U.K. finance minister, replacing Nadhim Zahawi, who served as chancellor of the exchequer for three months following Rishi Sunak’s resignation in July. Kwarteng was most recently the U.K. government’s secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy in addition to being a Member of Parliament since 2010. The Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP @KwasiKwarteng has been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer @HMTreasury.#Reshuffle pic.twitter.com/6YQy0YuQPs — UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) September 6, 2022 Queen El...
The Real Deal? Peter McCormack’s Bedford Bitcoin Bet scores more than goals
The Bitcoin Standard has many formations. For some, selling all possessions and living off magic internet money is key; for others, it’s about sweeping every spare penny into Satoshis. For popular podcaster Peter McCormack–an avid football fan–it meant buying his local club and signing Bitcoin (BTC) onto the team sheet. Bitcoin advocate McCormack acquired his hometown football club in December 2021. He renamed and rebranded the club to Real Bedford, and at the ground, Bitcoin qualifies as payment for shirts, drinks and tickets. But with the price of Bitcoin wallowing in the $20,000s, can the ethos behind a falling currency transform a football club’s future? And more importantly, why has this lower league club caught the attention of Bitcoin advocates around the world? Pitchside, Coi...
Final candidates for next UK prime minister have made pro-crypto statements
Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor of the Exchequer, and Liz Truss, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, two of the final candidates to become the next prime minister for the United Kingdom, have both previously expressed pro-crypto views. With Prime Minister Boris Johnson soon to be out of office, Sunak and Truss are competing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and the country, with their views on digital assets likely to influence financial policy. Under Johnson, Sunak requested that the country’s Royal Mint create a nonfungible token as part of an effort to make the United Kingdom a global crypto hub. A member of Parliament who served as chancellor from 2020 until resigning in July, Sunak previously said the U.K. government would prioritize ...
Crypto user who lost $163M in Bitcoin wants to deploy robot search party — Report
James Howells, a British man who mistakenly discarded a hard drive containing roughly 7,500 Bitcoin (BTC) in 2013, has reportedly started looking at having robots and humans work together to retrieve his crypto from a local landfill. According to a Sunday report from Business Insider, Howells has pitched an $11-million idea to locate and recover the lost hard drive, which may be surrounded by up to roughly 110,000 tons of garbage. Backed by a few venture capitalists, the proposal involved people, robot dogs and other machines picking up and sorting through the landfill’s trash for up to three years until the lost Bitcoin is found, while another version of Howells’ plan would cost $6 million and take 18 months. Many crypto users recognize Howells’ actions as a telltale story of the importan...
UK Treasury Committee opens inquiry into crypto industry
The Treasury Committee of the United Kingdom’s House of Commons has called on the public to submit evidence related to the role of crypto’s risks and opportunities. In a Tuesday notice, the committee said it had opened an inquiry allowing people to write in about the role of crypto assets in the United Kingdom. The Treasury Committee said it would be exploring how the U.K. government, the Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, and the Bank of England could balance regulation “to provide adequate protection for consumers and businesses without stifling innovation” as well how cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology could impact individuals, businesses and financial institutions. The British public has until Sept. 12 to submit evidence, which the committee may use in its report to P...
The UK ‘Bitcoin Adventure’ shows BTC is a family affair
Bitcoin (BTC) is for everyone: toddlers, kids, hard rockers and even racing pigs. At the “Bitcoin Adventure” held in Avon Valley, near Bristol, Bitcoiners and hobbyists shared their knowledge, quips and personal journeys down the Bitcoin rabbit hole despite the predictably wet United Kingdom weather. Better still, Bitcoin’s “toxic maximalism” was MIA. pic.twitter.com/7IOtpYuSDh — The Bitcoin Adventure (@TheBTCAdventure) July 3, 2022 A world-first for a Bitcoin meetup, the “Adventure” took place at a wildlife park. So while some of the U.K.’s household name Bitcoiners headlined the main stage, the 250 attendees who bought tickets, (payment in BTC, naturally) could also play with the park’s furry Bitcoiner mascots: petting goats, cuddling rabbits and specta...
The UK ‘Bitcoin Adventure’ shows BTC is a family affair
Bitcoin (BTC) is for everyone: toddlers, kids, hard rockers and even racing pigs. At the “Bitcoin Adventure” held in Avon Valley, near Bristol, Bitcoiners and hobbyists shared their knowledge, quips and personal journeys down the Bitcoin rabbit hole despite the predictably wet United Kingdom weather. Better still, Bitcoin’s “toxic maximalism” was MIA. pic.twitter.com/7IOtpYuSDh — The Bitcoin Adventure (@TheBTCAdventure) July 3, 2022 A world-first for a Bitcoin meetup, the “Adventure” took place at a wildlife park. So while some of the U.K.’s household name Bitcoiners headlined the main stage, the 250 attendees who bought tickets, (payment in BTC, naturally) could also play with the park’s furry Bitcoiner mascots: petting goats, cuddling rabbits and specta...
British Army’s social media accounts hacked by crypto scammers
The British Army’s official Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts were breached on Sunday for almost four hours, with scammers promoting rip-off nonfungible token (NFT) collections and cryptocurrency scams. Just after 2:00 pm EST on Sunday, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) Press Office tweeted it was aware the Army’s social media accounts were compromised and had begun an investigation. Nearly four hours later, close to 5:45 pm EST, the Office provided an update that the account breaches were resolved. The British Army’s official Twitter account also apologized for the posts, saying it would conduct an investigation and “learn from this incident.” The breach of the Army’s Twitter and YouTube accounts that occurred earlier today has been resolved and an investigation is u...
HM Treasury changes course on collecting data around unhosted crypto wallets
The government of the United Kingdom said it intends to modify a proposal that would have required crypto firms to collect personal data from individuals holding unhosted wallets that were the recipients of digital asset transfers. In its Amendments to the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds updated on Wene, HM Treasury said it will be scaling back its requirements for gathering data from both the senders and recipients of crypto sent to unhosted wallets, unless the transaction poses “an elevated risk of illicit finance.” The U.K. government added that unhosted wallets could be used for a variety of legitimate purposes, including asan additional layer of protection as is sometimes the case for cold wallets. “There is not good evidence that unhosted wallets present a...
