UK Treasury orders the Royal Mint to mint NFTs

To become a leader in digital asset technology, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has announced through a tweet that the Royal Mint will mint the nation’s first official NFT sometime this summer.

The UK’s treasury Minister has tasked the Royal Mint with creating a non-fungible token (NFT) as an emblem of Her Majesty’s Treasury’s forward-looking approach. Her Majesty’s Treasury also said it would take toward cryptocurrencies and blockchains. The initiative was announced in a speech by John Glen, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, who spoke at a summit that further details on the mint’s MFT would be coming soon.

The project comes as the British finance ministry announced its plans to prioritize stablecoin regulation in a report released on Monday. The ministry announced it would be releasing further regulatory guidelines this year to protect consumers.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has already been experimenting via a regulatory sandbox and plans its first in a series of policy “crypto-sprints” this May. The British government is also forming a Cryptoasset engagement Group that includes representatives from the Bank of England, FCA, and business, with at least eight meetings per year.

The UK’s official NFTs will not thrill critics who see the tokens creating artificial scarcity and increasing emissions. Nonetheless, the NFTs will signal the UK government’s willingness to court the crypto industry. The country is clearly early to replicate its reputation as a financial hub in the digital realm.