Reform UK leader Nigel Farage took to the stage at DAS London this morning and promised that, should his party enter government, it would oversee a process of deregulation in the country’s crypto space.
During his appearance, Farage touted his party’s “Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill,” unveiled in May and criticized the management of the UK financial service sector by the Conservative Party and Labour Party.
“It’s been completely neglected by both the last government and by this government, and I want to regenerate it. I want to make London back to being a great trading center and that includes [the crypto] space,” he told attendees.
Reform UK’s draft bill proposed cutting capital gains tax on crypto to 10%, establishing a bitcoin reserve at the Bank of England, and tightening rules against account closures based on lawful digital-asset activity.
“We have to get the tax burden right,” he said of Reform UK’s broader economic plans, decrying a “flight of capital, the flight of brains” to other countries.
Farage’s pledges come as the major UK political parties fight over the direction of the country’s economy, amid a period of slowing growth and deteriorating government finances. Recent polls, per Politico EU, show Reform performing above the other parties, including the governing Labour Party.
The comments also come amid shifts in the regulatory landscape for crypto in the UK. Late last month, UK and US officials announced the creation of a new collaborative task force intended, in part, to harmonize crypto rules.
Meanwhile, Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey has pushed for major stablecoins to be closely regulated in the country. According to Reuters, he remarked on Oct. 1 that “widely used UK stablecoins should have access to accounts at the BoE in order to reinforce their status as money.” Bailey has long argued that regulators must closely monitor and enforce rules around stablecoins.
This is a developing story.
This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor Michael McSweeney before publication.
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