Amidst a huge squeeze on living standards, a mini-budget that plunged him to the depths of unpopularity among Tory members, and awkward silence about his wife’s investments, Rishi’s dug deep, worked hard and come up with the policy announcement Britain’s been waiting for: an official HMT Non-Fungible Token. If you’re not already familiar the concept Guido doesn’t plan on explaining it here; keep an eye out for Guido’s own NFT coming soon…
The announcement comes as part of HMT’s strategy to “make the UK a global cryptoasset technology hub”, and comes alongside plans for “Stablecoins” to be recognised as a form of payment, an announcement of various measures to make the UK a global hub for cryptoasset investment, and measures legislating for a “financial market infrastructure sandbox”, which the Treasury says will be “an emblem of the forward-looking approach the UK is determined to take”. Good luck to whoever at the Royal Mint has to explain all this to Her Majesty…
Goldman Sachs may have breathed credibility into the digital crypto-currency Bitcoin after it co-lead a $50 million financing round in Circle Internet Financial, a Bitcoin wallet company. Despite widespread exposure, helped in no small part by its integral role in the online drug market SilkRoad, Bitcoin has failed to capture the public imagination. Not to mention the currency’s reputation for wild volatility..
Before Bitcoin’s rabid army of fans get too excited, it’s not the first time that Bitcoin companies have attracted venture capital. Earlier this year DFJ Growth led a $100m investment in Coinbase, another Bitcoin wallet. And we’re still paying for fags with bits of paper…