The United Kingdom has shelved plans to launch a government-backed “UK NFT,” originally proposed by crypto-friendly Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
During his tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer's equivalent of Chief Exchequer, Sunak asked the Royal Mint in April 2022 to create a "British NFT" as part of the government's "ambition to make the UK a global hub for crypto assets" technology and investment. " The project was originally scheduled to start in summer 2022, but ultimately fell short of schedule.
Asked by the chair of the Treasury select committee whether the Royal Mint still had plans to issue non-fungible tokens on March 27, Andrew Griffiths, economics minister at the Treasury, noted: "After consultation with the HM Treasury, the Royal Mint will not proceed with the introduction of non-fungible tokens at this time, but will continue to review the proposal."
A BBC report on March 26 later quoted Harriet Baldwin, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, which raised the issue in Parliament: “We haven’t seen a lot of evidence that our voters should put their money into these speculative tokens unless they’re prepared to lose all of their money.”
"So maybe that's why the Royal Mint, together with the Treasury, made this decision," she added. The concept of NFTs in the UK ultimately seems to be rather vague, as the Royal Mint and the Treasury have yet to detail what and what NFTs are for.
When it was initially announced, it simply said more details would be revealed "soon", while opponents of the plan, such as Labor MP and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, also questioned Sunak's priorities, saying Its "hopeless". "The country is facing a serious cost of living crisis, and this prime minister's choices have made it worse. It's his priority right now. Desperate," she said.
