Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed Kwasi Kwarteng, former head of the U.K.’s department for business, energy, and industrial strategy, as the new finance minister, charging him with decisions that will impact British and global crypto markets.
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Fast facts
- Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak had been a proponent of crypto asset technologies and had stated plans to foster the country as a “global hub for crypto asset technology” before his resignation in July. It remains unclear to what extent Kwarteng shares Sunak’s sentiment on the digital assets.
- The U.K.’s new prime minister hasn’t said much about crypto, but back in 2018 — when chief secretary to the Treasury — Truss tweeted: “We should welcome cryptocurrencies in a way that doesn’t constrain their potential.”
- Kwarteng, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer and son of Ghanaian immigrants, will have his hands full with an economy hitting 40-year-high inflation and predicted to hit recession later this year by many experts.
- In a 2021 report from Kwarteng’s previous department, blockchain solutions were identified as part of the technological innovation needed to transform the British economy in the future.
- In July this year, the department for business, energy, and industrial strategy under Kwarteng announced a 53 million British pound (US$61.3 million) fund for supporting competitiveness through digital tech, including the use of blockchain technologies in supply chains.
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