Technology professionals in the UK reject government plans for cryptocurrency hubs • The Register

British IT professionals have rejected plans by former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak to make the island nation a “global crypo-asset hub”.

Whether the plan survives this particularly turbulent period in British political history – which has led Sunak to resign to be replaced by Nadhim Zahawi, whose term of office may be short-lived given Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation – is another matter.

Nevertheless, 58 percent of IT specialists said they felt the profession should not support the Treasury’s plan to make the UK a global hub of crypto-asset technology and investment, including stack coins and NFTs, according to a British Computer poll Society, Chartered Institute for IT.

Only 29 percent said working technologists should be behind the crypto project, while 13 percent were neutral.

Meanwhile, only 14 percent of technical experts surveyed said the former chancellor was right to ask the Royal Mint to launch an NFT this summer.

The vast majority of IT professionals in the UK – around 77 per cent – were not sure that the intention to recognize and regulate stack coins would “ensure financial stability and provide wider payment options for consumers.” Stablecoins are a form of cryptocurrency that is usually linked to another asset or currency such as Sterling.

Despite claims to the contrary, the stablecoin concept has proven to be anything but stable once faced with the economic reality. Stablecoins have played a key role in the collapse of cryptocurrencies in general. “The high-profile collapse of TerraUSD was like fuel for a fire. The total market value of cryptocurrencies has halved since May, falling from around $ 1.7 trillion to around $ 900 billion at the end of June,” according to Forbes.

At the same time, it may not be the panacea Treasury techbros are hoping to secure a blockchain-enabled token. Sterling reached a two-year low against the dollar during the turmoil that led to the prime minister’s resignation.

Back to the BCS survey, 69 per cent of technology professionals in the UK believe that the public cannot have the same level of confidence in stack coins as in commercial bank money, while the Bank of England should not guarantee a stack coin to cover possible risk.

The former chancellor has also asked the Royal Mint to launch its own non-fungible token (NFT). 68 percent of technical specialists said it was a bad idea. ®