England has been concerned, threatened and even scared of crypto. While the European Union and other countries of the region started to increase adoption, England did not yet take the leap.
To elaborate on England’s attitude towards crypto, research agency SEC Newgate UK investigated UK House of Commons’ records and members of the parliaments’ social media histories to discover the number of MPs who mentioned terms like “Bitcoin“, “blockchain”, “Ethereum“, “crypto” and “cryptocurrency” on their social media accounts.
Findings
The results showed that only 7% of all MPs or 1-in-14 had mentioned crypto-related terms across social media and the House of Commons. Furthermore, these terms were used only 37 times on Twitter and 57 times in Parliament.
The ruling Conservative Party stood out as the most vocal group across social media and within the Parliament. A total of 10 MPs used crypto-related terms on Twitter, and 18 MPs raised the issue 35 times during the parliamentary meetings.
On the other hand, only three of Labour Parties’ MPs mentioned related keywords on Twitter. The Labour Party was also silent within the Parliament compared to the Conservatives, with 14 mentions from nine MPs.
Phillip Davies, Steve Baker and former health secretary Matt Hancock were amongst the most prominent MPs from the Conservative Party. However, Scottish National Party’s MP Lisa Cameron, who currently is the chair of the newly formed Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group, is possibly the most influential individual within the Parliament regarding crypto-related issues.
Opinions on findings
Extreme silence on crypto and the Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group vice-chair Nikhil Rathi’s arguments claiming:
“Cryptocurrency companies should not be allowed to use words such as “invest” or “investment” since it legitimises them.”
Raising reactions within the crypto space in regards to the low awareness and lack of education on crypto assets.
Executive Director of CryptoUK Ian Taylor said:
“Education of policymakers remains a top priority for the crypto sector at this crucial time as global governments and regulators are looking at their own approaches to crypto.”
He further elaborated:
“Crypto has the power to transform traditional financial services and it is important that we help policymakers develop their understanding of the sector as well as the potential benefits of a well-regulated crypto sector and the opportunities for the UK post-Brexit in terms of jobs, economy and innovation.”
Similarly, a cryptocurrency specialist at SEC Newgate UK, Ian Silvera, expressed his worries by stating:
“Crypto has the power to transform traditional financial services and it is important that we help policymakers develop their understanding of the sector as well as the potential benefits of a well-regulated crypto sector and the opportunities for the UK post-Brexit in terms of jobs, economy and innovation.”
These concerns were only addressed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
According to their statements, they agreed with the concerns mentioned above and immediately urged to create a regulatory framework and turn the UK into a global center for all crypto-related transactions.
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