UK Treasury drops NFT plans
The UK Treasury has shelved plans to develop a government-backed non-fungible token (NFT) that aims to turn the country into a hub for digital assets.
The country’s economic secretary, Andrew Griffith, revealed in a statement this week that the official maker of the country’s coins, the Royal Mint, is not going through with the NFT plan.
“In consultation with HM Treasury, the Royal Mint is not proceeding with the launch of a non-fungible token at this time, but will keep this proposal under consideration,” Griffith stated in response to an inquiry from West Midlands legislator Harriet Baldwin, who also chairs Treasury Select Committee.
The project dates back to April 2022 when Rishi Sunak, who was the then Finance Minister, led the Royal Mint to develop the NFT. It was called “an emblem of the forward-looking approach” the country was determined to take to become a global hub for digital assets.
Almost immediately after, opposition lawmakers criticized the project and called on the government to reveal how much the scheme would cost taxpayers.
In the one year since, Rishi Sunak has ascended to the Prime Minister’s post and played down his fervent push for digital asset adoption. The Royal Mint has made no move towards creating the NFT, and this week’s statement is seen as the final nail in the NFT project’s coffin.
Treasury’s decision to wind down the NFT project drew bipartisan praise, with Baldwin saying the project failed to garner any interest.
“We have yet to see much evidence that our constituents should put their money into these speculative tokens unless they are prepared to lose all their money. So perhaps that is why the Royal Mint has made this decision in partnership with the Treasury,” she said .
Tulip Siddiq, a London lawmaker who has opposed the project since it was announced, welcomed the decision, claiming it was a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Like I’m saying here, Rishi Sunak should never have wasted money on this gimmick in the first place.
Under the Tories, millions of people’s savings have been put at risk by the collapse of cryptocurrencies and the rise of fraud. We need a new approach.
— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) March 28, 2023
“I’m glad the Royal Mint has finally made the Conservatives see sense, but we’ve been asking the Chancellor to drop this crypto gimmick for months. This out-of-date government should focus on the cost of living crisis, not waste time and taxpayers’ money on an NFT vanity project promoting dubious stablecoins, she said.
See: Buzzmint: Elevating NFTs
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