UK House of Lords Passes Amendment Mandating Digital Asset Strategy

The UK House of Lords has passed an amendment requiring the government to create a digital asset strategy. The amendment, which was approved by 194 votes to 138, mandates that the UK Treasury formulate and publish a strategy within 12 months of the Financial Services and Markets Act taking effect.

The strategy must cover crypto assets, stablecoins, and tokenized securities, while addressing innovation, consumer protection, and related companies' access to banking, payments, and settlement services. The UK Cryptoasset Business Council welcomed the vote, saying that the key issue in future discussions will be whether the UK limits itself to regulating digital assets or actively nurtures the industry.

The Labour government opposed the amendment, arguing that a legal mandate would be difficult to reconcile with the speed of change in digital asset markets and the need for consistency in the regulatory framework. Treasury minister Lord Livermore previously stated that the government was already developing and implementing a digital asset strategy.