Chris Woolard has released a speech outlining conclusions reached by the FCA’s crypto-asset taskforce. It’s big news given the early activity and interest shown by the agency in terms of regulating the sector. The report is here, but some of the conclusions include:
- Cryptoassets have changed significantly in the last 10 years – we’ve gone from the original Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008 to a world populated by over 2000 different cryptoassets today.
- The Cryptoassets Taskforce brought together the FCA, HM Treasury and the Bank of England to explore the impact of cryptoassets and distributed ledger technology (DLT) in financial services. The taskforce’s final report was published at the end of October.
- There are examples of cryptoassets and other applications of DLT delivering beneficial innovation in financial services. However, the taskforce has also identified 3 major harms: to consumers, to market integrity and the risk of financial crime.
- The FCA, HM Treasury and the Bank of England are each taking a number of steps over the coming months to address these harms and to encourage future beneficial innovation.