UK Treasury drops plans for Royal Mint NFT

by · March 27, 2023

The UK has scrapped plans to launch a government-backed “NFT for Britain”, originally proposed by crypto-friendly Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

While serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer, the equivalent of a Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sunak asked the Royal Mint in April 2022 to create an “NFT for Britain” as part of the government’s “ambition to make Britain a global hub for cryptoassets”. technology and investment.”

The project was intended to be launched in the summer of 2022, but ultimately failed to meet the deadline.

When asked by the chair of the Treasury Select Committee whether there was still a plan for the Royal Mint to issue a non-functional token on 27 March, Chancellor of the Exchequer Andrew Griffith noted that:

“In consultation with HM Treasury, the Royal Mint is not proceeding with the launch of a non-functional token at this time, but will keep this proposal under review.”

Harriet Baldwin, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee which asked the question in Parliament, was later quoted in a BBC report on 26 March as saying:

“We have yet to see much evidence that our voters should put their money into these speculative tokens unless they are prepared to lose all their money.”

“So maybe that’s why the Royal Mint has taken this decision together with the Treasury,” she added.

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The NFT for Britain concept ultimately appears to be quite vague, as the Royal Mint and Treasury have not elaborated on what the NFTs would do and how they would be used.

At the time of the initial announcement, it was simply stated that more details would be announced “soon”, while opponents of the plan, such as Labor MP and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, also questioned Sunak’s priorities, calling it “hopeless”.

“The country is facing a serious cost of living crisis which will be made worse by this chancellor’s choice. This is his priority right now. Hopeless, she said.

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