The UK government has dropped its plan to issue a non-fungible token (NFT), which was first proposed in April 2022 and scheduled to be issued in June 2022.
UK Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Griffith, said the Royal Mint had canceled plans to launch a government-backed token.
Griffith’s statement was in response to a question from Harriet Baldwin, chairwoman of the Treasury Select Committee, who asked if there was still a plan for the Royal Mint to issue an NFT.
“In consultation with HM Treasury, the Royal Mint is not proceeding with the launch of a non-fungible token at this time, but will keep this proposal under review.”
Andrew Griffith, UK Economic Secretary to the Treasury
In April 2022, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, the current British Prime Minister, asked the Royal Mint to create an NFT which would be distributed by summer 2022. The proposed creation of NFT made part of Sunak’s plans to make Britain a hub for crypto innovation and development.
Read more: Cryptoverse sees Rishi Sunak’s plans to make UK a crypto hub a ‘late call’
During this time, a statement by Baldwin in response to Griffith’s response, quoted in a BBC report, said:
“We haven’t seen much evidence yet that our constituents should put their money into these speculative tokens unless they’re ready to lose all their money. It is perhaps for this reason that the Royal Mint took this decision in collaboration with the Treasury.
The UK has recently raised concerns about the NFT sector, with lawmakers noting the lack of a regulatory framework for NFTs. In November 2022, lawmakers launched an investigation into the benefits and risks of non-fungible tokens.
Additionally, UK advertising regulator the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned an NFT ad from Crypto.com and Turtle United in December 2022, claiming the promotions were misleading.
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