Royal Mint Minister Rishi Sunak has asked Her Majesty’s Treasury to set up the country’s first official NFT sometime this summer.
The move was announced via the Treasury’s Twitter account and was confirmed by the Treasury’s Economic Secretary John Glenn.
Explaining the move further at the Innovative Finance conference in London, Glenn said, “This is a real opportunity to use our strengths in fintech to capture the capitalism that has made UK financial services a reality. energy and use it to unlock the potential of crypto .”
The Treasury itself noted that the issuance of NFTs demonstrates “… our determination to take a forward-looking approach to crypto-actives in the UK.”
NFTs are still a controversial topic. While some see them as the future of digital object ownership, others see them as a breeding ground for scammers trying to make hay before the latest digital bubble bursts.
For its part, the Royal Mint seems to see them as a digital extension of its regular practice of issuing commemorative coin sets and as part of a larger push by the UK government for cryptocurrency-based assets and technologies.
Like several other countries around the world, the UK seems intent on making its shores a hospitable place for cryptocurrency companies. At the same event, Glenn added that cryptocurrency could help the UK “attract investment, create wave after wave of new jobs, and create a wave of innovative new products and services.”
While not yet involved in NFTs like the Royal Mint, the U.S. federal government has also recently taken its first steps to formally address the country’s future in cryptocurrencies, including possibly exploring a digital dollar.
