Parliamentarians in the United Kingdom have approved a new law that would classify cryptocurrency as a regulated industry there. The Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSMB), which was approved on Monday by the House of Lords, the upper chamber of Parliament, now moves on to the legislative process.
The comprehensive measure, which is over 340 pages long, was unveiled in July in an effort to make the most of Brexit-related freedoms and give authorities more control over the British financial system. Although a proposal to regulate stablecoins within the nation’s payment regulations was included in the initial bill, revisions to treat all cryptocurrency as a regulated activity and provisions to oversee crypto advertising were introduced later as the bill moved through Parliament.
The Treasury, the government’s finance department, has been consulting on crypto regulations, and the U.K. wants the FSMB to grant regulators the authority they require to do so. According to Andrew Griffith, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, new specialized regulations for the cryptocurrency industry might be implemented within a year.
The European Union recently completed its Markets in Crypto Assets law, which mostly focuses on stablecoins, and the U.K. is attempting to catch up.
The FSMB will then be presented to the lower house of Parliament once more for approval of the final draft. The document will be delivered to the King for approval and passage into law when it has been accepted by both houses. The measure may be circulated between the Houses of Parliament repeatedly until an agreement is obtained.