UK Economic Secretary will discuss crypto firms’ access to banks

Jeremy Hunt, who serves as chancellor of the exchequer for the United Kingdom, said Economic Secretary Bim Afolami would be “more than happy to meet” and discuss issues related to digital assets in the country.

In a Dec. 19 session of the U.K. House of Commons, Hunt fielded a question from pro-crypto Member of Parliament Lisa Cameron, who asked whether the finance minister was willing to meet to discuss licensed crypto firms’ access to banking. Hunt said Afolami would be available to speak with the Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group.

“The U.K., and London in particular, has become the global crypto hub, but to make sure that the market really can take off in the way that was intended — in a responsible way — we need to regulate it, which is why we’ve introduced regulations for stablecoins, for promotion of crypto services,” said Hunt.

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Afolami joined the U.K. government as economic secretary in November, placing him in charge of many policies affecting the adoption of digital assets and central bank digital currencies in the country. Before his appointment, he met with representatives of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2022 to discuss the regulatory environment for digital assets.

Officials within the U.K. government have moved forward with pieces of legislation to regulate stablecoins, giving authorities the power to seize crypto uses for illicit transactions and establishing a digital securities sandbox for crypto firms. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also plans to make the U.K. a tech hub for artificial intelligence, investing roughly $130 million in computer chips.

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