BREAKING: UK Law Now Officially Recognises Digital Assets 🇬🇧 The UK has today taken an important step forward in recognising the role of digital assets in the modern economy. A new law has come into effect confirming that qualifying digital assets — including crypto-tokens, stablecoins and NFTs — can be treated as property under UK law. This change provides greater clarity and protection for consumers and investors by ensuring that digital assets can be clearly owned, recovered in cases of theft or fraud, and included within insolvency and estate processes. It marks a meaningful shift towards giving everyday holders the same confidence and certainty they expect with other forms of property. Crucially, this development also strengthens the foundations for future innovation across the UK’s digital asset and tokenisation landscape. By providing a clear legal basis for ownership and transfer, the UK is now better positioned to support the growth of new financial products, tokenised real-world assets, and more secure digital markets. These legal protections help create the certainty businesses need to build responsibly and invest in long-term, consumer-focused innovation. CryptoUK has consistently advocated for a clear and robust legal framework for digital assets, and we are pleased to see this important progress. We look forward to continuing our work with policymakers and industry to support the development of a competitive, responsible and future-ready UK market.

Former Chancellor @George_Osborne has warned that the UK risks being “completely left behind” in the global race for crypto leadership. Writing in the @FT, Osborne compared the digital asset revolution to Nigel Lawson’s Big Bang in the 1980s and urged the Government to introduce a clear legislative framework for crypto and stablecoins. He argued that Britain has become “too risk averse,” with policymakers and regulators adopting a cautious stance that has slowed progress. Osborne criticised the lack of clear legislation — contrasting this with the US Congress, which has passed the GENIUS Act — and warned that other jurisdictions, including the EU, Singapore, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi, are “stealing a march” on Britain. He also highlighted that the Bank of England’s restrictive approach to pound-backed stablecoins risks making them commercially unattractive, leaving the UK on the sidelines of a $250bn global market dominated by US dollar-pegged tokens. Against this backdrop, however, there are some significant signs of movement. In Parliament, Treasury Minister @SpenceLivermore confirmed that final legislation to establish a UK regulatory regime for cryptoassets — including pound-backed stablecoins — will be introduced this year. He emphasised that the Government views stablecoins as a driver of growth and competitiveness, positioning the UK to collaborate internationally on shaping digital asset markets. @TheFCA is also strengthening its expertise, appointing Anurag Bajaj as senior adviser for payments and digital assets. Bajaj brings two decades of experience in payments, cross-border banking and fintech, reflecting a growing focus on building regulatory capacity. At CryptoUK, we welcome these developments as positive steps towards establishing a clear and competitive regulatory framework. However, we echo the view that the UK must act with greater urgency. The global race to set the rules for digital assets is accelerating, and the UK has a unique opportunity to lead — but only if progress on legislation and regulatory clarity keeps pace. One important forum helping to drive this agenda forward is the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Crypto and Digital Assets (@cryptoappg), which has recently been relaunched. Jointly chaired by Labour MP Gurinder Josan CBE (@gsjosan) and Lord Vaizey of Didcot (@edvaizey), the APPG brings together MPs, Lords, policymakers, and industry leaders to scrutinise the UK’s regulatory approach and make recommendations on how to build a world-leading framework for digital assets. Supported by CryptoUK as secretariat, the APPG plays a vital role in shaping discussions on key issues such as fostering innovation, tackling fraud, improving access to banking services, and ensuring robust consumer protections. With other jurisdictions moving quickly, its work will be critical to ensuring the UK keeps pace and remains competitive. Find out more about the APPG and its work here 👉 cryptouk.io/appg/