It seems vital to mention that the man who has been chosen as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to solve things is a certified Crypto BroTM who once asked that the Royal Mint issue an NFT as the country gets ready to welcome a new leader despite severe economic difficulties.
Following the departure of former prime minister Liz Truss, who held office for a record-breaking 44 days before leaving amid a storm of criticism for her disastrous fiscal policies, Rishi Sunak was elected into the position on Monday. Truss had maintained that by massively borrowing money to grant tax advantages to the super-rich, Britain might solve its inflation-related problems. Economic analysts said that scheme would not only fail, but also make inflation far worse. A botched attempt to push through this insane agenda is partly responsible for quickly ending Truss’s leadership position.
Thankfully, with Sunak in place, financial common sense can finally return, isn’t that right?
Sunak was in charge of developing a variety of crypto-related measures that aimed to mainstream digital currencies and incorporate them into the British economy during his time as finance minister under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He is reportedly the first crypto aficionado to hold the top position in the UK. In addition, he is the first person of colour and the youngest prime minister of Britain in the last 200 years at 42 years old.
To be fair, Sunak’s efforts to promote cryptocurrencies have at least tended toward taxation and regulation as opposed to complete laissez faire deregulation madness. Nevertheless, those efforts may ultimately serve only to normalise a phenomenon that some people find redundant at best and a privacy risk at worst.
A number of initiatives were unveiled in April by Sunak to establish the UK as a “global cryptoasset technology hub.” Stablecoins would be integrated into the country’s payment system as part of the measures outlined at the time, “paving the way for their usage in the UK as a recognised form of payment.” Governments have shown more interest in stablecoins than other types of cryptocurrencies since they are thought to be the least volatile, yet initiatives like Terra and Tether have illustrated the potential risk of placing an excessive amount of reliance in the stability of the assets.
Additionally, Sunak’s ideas called for the development of new rules that would have assisted in better integrating cryptocurrency into the UK’s economic and legal structure, encouraging more investment in the area. In a news release issued at the time, Sunak stated, “The actions we’ve announced today will help to ensure enterprises can invest, innovate, and build up in our country.
Sunak also championed the Financial Services and Markets Bill, a piece of legislation that would grant British local governments extensive latitude to regulate cryptocurrencies and further integrate them into the country’s economy. The measure is now being examined by Parliament but has not yet been passed.
Sunak recently supported a study that examined the possible advantages of developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), or “Britcoin,” as he called it. CBDC proponents contend that they would help spenders by making payments “faster, cheaper, and more secure,” to use the words of one opinion piece. However, given the trackable nature of cryptocurrencies and digital money, some contend that they are superfluous and could ultimately result in severe privacy issues.
Analysts have argued that it is doubtful Sunak will have time to focus much on any web3-related activities in the near future, despite his crypto track record. Any development on “Bitcoin” could have to be put on hold given the current state of Britain’s economy, which is in a dumpster fire.
It is unclear whether Sunak’s budget policies will be any better than Truss’s. Regardless of cryptocurrency, it’s hard to imagine that the incoming prime minister will be a great ally to regular people considering his position as one of the richest leaders in the western world. Sunak, who is currently wealthier than King Charles, attained his eminence after wedding an heiress to a technology fortune in 2009, making him one-half of a pair with a combined net worth of about $828 million. Prior to entering politics, he also amassed his own wealth while working for Goldman Sachs, a company infamous for having plenty of cash but little in the way of morality or common sense. In the past, he had also worked for a hedge firm. He’s not quite Bernie Sanders, to put it mildly.
