Incoming UK Prime Minister Is Pro-crypto

The United Kingdom’s incoming prime minister may be a bullish indicator for the country’s crypto prowess. 

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is set to take the seat following the resignation of Liz Truss — who was in office for just 45 days.

Handpicked by fellow Conservative Party members on Monday, Sunak, the son of Indian immigrants, will be the first person of color to lead the country. The 42-year-old will also be the youngest prime minister in more than 200 years.

During his time in office under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Sunak made his interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology known. 

He has spearheaded plans to make the UK a hub for cryptoasset technology and investments and advocated for stablecoins’ recognition as a form of payment. 

“It’s my ambition to make the UK a global hub for cryptoasset technology, and the measures we’ve outlined today will help to ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country,” Sunak said in a statement. “This is part of our plan to ensure the UK financial services industry is always at the forefront of technology and innovation.”

Sunak has previously raised eyebrows in the British parliament after he asked the Royal Mint, the creator of British coins, to create NFTs as a way to demonstrate the UK’s commitment to devling into cryptocurrency technology. 

Although it is unclear how the UK Conservative Party will respond to Sunak’s pro-crypto leanings once he is in office, the newly elected prime minister tweeted that he plans to “fix our economy, unite our Party and deliver for our country.”

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Simon Jones, CEO of Voltz Labs — a novel DeFi primitive empowering novel interest rates swaps based in the UK — told Blockworks that based on his previous time in parliament, the newly elected prime minister seems to be “more inclined to put in favorable [crypto] policies.”

“To my knowledge, he is the politician in the UK who is most positive towards crypto, and he’s now the prime minister,” Jones said. “That is a positive thing for the sector.”

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