TO BE PUBLISHED May 2025
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Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF
This conference will examine the future of cryptocurrencies and digital assets within the UK, focusing on recent legislative developments and future strategies.
It will be an opportunity for key stakeholders and policymakers to discuss implications of the Property (Digital Assets etc.) Bill introduced in September 2024, and to assess next steps following the Law Commission's Digital Assets: Final Report published in June 2023. Delegates will consider the recognition of digital assets as personal property and the potential challenges this presents, such as enforcement difficulties and the need for technological advancements to ensure asset integrity.
Delegates will also assess priorities for implementation of proposals for the regulation of cryptoassets published by HM Treasury in 2023, with the FCA having set out their Crypto Roadmap in November 2024. Next steps for the design of trading platform and lending rules will also be discussed, as well as strategies for tackling market abuse, and the way forward for an industry-led admissions and disclosures regime.
Attendees will examine key considerations for businesses, investors, and users, if a sustainable and safe cryptoasset sector is to be achieved. It will be an opportunity to discuss the UK's regulatory position within the international crypto context, considering options for international harmonisation and assessing the effects of regulatory and policy divergence from the EU and US, with the White House announcing the establishment of a strategic bitcoin reserve in March 2025.
Further sessions will explore the future role of infrastructure providers in the crypto and wider digital scene, priorities for enhancing privacy and security architectures, and the risks to financial and digital inclusion in creating a central bank digital currency. We expect delegates to also look wider at what constitutes successful outcomes for the crypto sector, along with how they can best be achieved.
Latest thinking on stablecoins and the development of the proposed Digital Pound will also be discussed, including strategies for its design and potential adoption, and addressing privacy concerns highlighted in responses to the Digital Pound Consultation Paper in January 2024.
With the agenda currently in the drafting stage, overall areas for discussion include:
- policy: evaluating potential implications of the Property (Digital Assets etc.) Bill - issues for implementation - recognition of digital assets as personal property
- privacy: safeguarding personal data - developing privacy-focused architectures - anonymity and pseudonymity regulation and enforcement - mitigating risks to physical currency
- crypto infrastructure: assessing current capabilities - advancing development - defining future stakeholder roles and obligations across the value chain
- digital Pound: public engagement, acceptance and adoption - addressing financial and digital inclusion concerns - strategies for collaboration between private and public sectors
- stakeholders: understanding public and wider stakeholder needs - ensuring clarity of legislation for individuals and businesses - the role of courts in legal categorisation of crypto assets
- implementation: priorities for regulation - addressing enforcement challenges around jurisdictional issues and anonymity - balancing regulation with innovation - obligations of infrastructure providers
- compliance: reviewing firms’ adherence to crypto-asset promotion rules - consumer protection, cooling-off periods and risk warnings - improving due diligence and record-keeping practices
- international coordination: options for international harmonisation - positioning the UK in the global crypto market - assessing implications of regulatory divergence from the EU
