The United Kingdom’s Chancellor of the Exchequer and previous Chief Secretary to the Treasury has ordered the Royal Mint to create a government-backed NFT that could be traded online.
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, told the Royal Mint to issue the NFT (non-fungible token) by this summer in 2022. This comes as the British government examines whether it can borrow money using blockchain technology.
At a financial technology conference in London this week, Sunak’s deputy John Glenn made the announcement that Sunk asked for the NFT to be issued, and that it was an emblem of a forward-looking approach the U.K. government is taking.
Limited details are currently available, but Glenn said that more details would be revealed “very soon.” The announcement from the Treasury did not say what image or object the Royal Mint’s nFT would even confer ownership of, nor did it discuss whether more would be created, nor whether NFTs can be used to generate funds.
At the Innovate Global Finance Summit 2022, Glenn said that the British government will “prioritize” blockchain technology and could even potentially issue debt and borrow money using the technology.
He said that unlike the United States and the European Union, the U.K. has a small number of regulators. The central government sets the overall framework of regulations, and therefore has the bounds to take “decisive action.”
NFTs have become a hot topic over the past few years, but especially lately. NFTs use a unique blockchain value to confer ownership of something, whether that thing is tangible or even virtual. Digital art, photographs, music — all of these now can be purchased in an NFT. They are also host to many scams and hackers.
But the government’s choice to move forward with an NFT creation will likely raise eyebrows, especially considering that more than a million people are expected to fall into poverty this year after Sunak did extremely little to cushion society’s poorest from soaring costs of living.
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