The United Kingdom is falling behind within the digital asset market, significantly within the space of stablecoins, regardless of the expertise’s potential to assist the nation protect its main function in international monetary providers.
That was a central message in a latest Financial Times op-ed by George Osborne, the previous UK chancellor turned crypto lobbyist, who joined Coinbase as an adviser final 12 months.
“What I see makes me anxious. Far from being an early adopter, we now have allowed ourselves to be left behind,” Osborne wrote, referring to his native UK.
A key concern for Osborne is the sluggish progress on stablecoins — onchain representations of fiat currencies which can be serving to to cut back friction in transactions and cross-border remittances.
London’s place as a world monetary hub, he argued, stemmed from its willingness to embrace innovation — an perspective that it has all however deserted.
“On crypto and stablecoins, as on too many different issues, the onerous fact is that this: we’re being fully left behind. It’s time to catch up,” Osborne wrote.
While the United States advances laws just like the GENIUS Act to strengthen the greenback’s function because the dominant international reserve foreign money, Osborne warned that the UK authorities’s inaction “ensures the pound received’t even play a supporting function,” highlighting the buck’s overwhelming lead within the stablecoin market.
That’s a major setback, on condition that the pound sterling ranks among the many high 5 most traded currencies globally, in keeping with the Bank for International Settlements.
Osborne’s op-ed amounted to a scathing critique of present Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who, he famous, has did not comply with via on her promise to take daring steps on stablecoins.
Related: Boom in RWA tokenization anticipated after passing of GENIUS Act — Aptos exec
Coinbase’s satirical advert sparks controversy
Osborne’s op-ed adopted the discharge of a provocative musical advert by Coinbase, the corporate he advises, which criticized the UK for its financial mismanagement and ongoing cost-of-living disaster.
Titled “Everything Is Fine,” the advert satirizes the awful state of the nation, maybe as a technique to spotlight crypto’s potential as a wealth-generating different.
“If the whole lot is okay, then don’t change something in any respect. But when the monetary system isn’t working for thus many individuals within the UK, it must be up to date,” Coinbase wrote in a YouTube caption accompanying the advert.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong claimed final week that the advert was banned by main UK tv networks. However, CNBC mentioned it couldn’t independently confirm the declare as of Monday.
While troublesome to quantify exactly, Coinbase has been a serious participant in US crypto lobbying, particularly in 2024, when it poured tens of millions of {dollars} into efforts throughout a pivotal election 12 months, in keeping with OpenSecrets.
As Politico reported, the corporate started lobbying over a decade in the past and has since ramped up its efforts considerably. In truth, the publication famous that Coinbase has spent extra on lobbying than every other crypto agency.
Its newest advert marketing campaign and Osborne’s op-ed counsel the corporate is refocusing its consideration on the UK — a promote it first entered in 2015.
Related: UK regulator lifts ban on crypto ETNs for retail traders
