Listen to the Article: Yes, Minister - UK’s New PM and His Plan to Build A Global Crypto Center

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As Rishi Sunak took office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amidst dire economic headwinds on Oct 25, Liz Truss became the shortest-serving prime minister in history. With an Indian heritage, Sunak is now officially the first minority PM to enter No.10 Downing Street.

Who Are You, Minister?

​Born in the sixties, and to Indian parents who migrated to the UK in the sixties, Sunak first worked as an analyst for the investment bank Goldman Sachs between 2001 and 2004 after his graduation from Oxford. Later, he went into the hedge fund management business, and in 2009, he joined former colleagues in California at a new hedge fund firm known as Theleme Partners.

The New PM's Crypto Attitude

Sunak served as the Finance Minister, and championed a bill, the Financial Services and Markets Bill, that was introduced to the Parliament for discussion (the second reading took place in September 2022), which would give the UK regulators additional control over the crypto industry with stablecoins being put under the jurisdiction of payments.

Also, Sunak advocated for the development of new rules that would further the integration of cryptocurrencies into the economic and legal system in the United Kingdom, resulting in increased acceptance and investment.

Not only did he give he UK's coin manufacturer, the Royal Mint, the task of creating a non-fungible token (NFT) collection, which was earlier predicted to be ready by summer but hasn't yet entered the market, but he also outlined ambitions to turn the nation into a global crypto center.

Probably the Most Powerful Crypto Advocate

It goes without saying that, as the head of His Majesty's government, Sunak is now one of the most influential figures in the world to openly support the use of blockchain technology to alter financial markets.

It is noteworthy that he had previously spoken out in favor of Britcoin, the nation's central bank's digital currency, at the Bank of England in late October. Shortly after, he created a joint task group between the Treasury and central bank to explore the operation of CBDCs as a supplement to cash and bank deposits. He then claimed that CBDC might "give businesses and consumers new methods to pay."

However, many libertarian cryptocurrency supporters reject the notion of a digital form of legal cash and raise security issues with regard to financial monitoring. This has made a number of business analysts doubt the remarks made by the PM.