UK treasury cancels plans for Royal Mint NFT
The proposed “NFT for Britain” initiative, which was suggested by the crypto-friendly Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been put on hold by the United Kingdom. In April 2022, Sunak had requested the Royal Mint to develop this NFT as part of the government’s vision to establish the UK as a leading center for cryptocurrency technology and investment.
Despite being intended for launch in the summer of 2022, the project ultimately fell short of meeting the deadline.
When asked by the chair of the Treasury Select Committee about the potential issuance of a nonfungible token by the Royal Mint on March 27, Andrew Griffith, the Economic Secretary of the Treasury, acknowledged that:
“In consultation with HM Treasury, the Royal Mint is not proceeding with the launch of a Non-Fungible Token at this time but will keep this proposal under review.”
In a March 26 BBC report, Harriet Baldwin, who posed the question in Parliament, and is also the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, was quoted as saying:
“We have not yet seen a lot of evidence that our constituents should be putting their money in these speculative tokens unless they are prepared to lose all their money.”
“So perhaps that is why the Royal Mint has made this decision in conjunction with the Treasury,” she added.
The concept of NFT for Britain is unclear, as there has been no elaboration from the Royal Mint and Treasury on the functions and applications of the NFTs.
At the time of the initial announcement, it was said that additional information would be shared “soon.” However, critics of the proposal, including Rachel Reeves, a Labor MP and Shadow Chancellor, expressed doubt about Sunak’s priorities and described it as “hopeless.”
“The country is facing a severe cost of living crisis made worse by this chancellor’s choices. This is his priority right now. Hopeless,” she said.
