Cryptocurrency and FinTech executives say Great Britain has become an unwelcoming place for their businesses.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s according to a\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0Wednesday (April 30) by CNBC, citing interviews with industry leaders who say the United Kingdom risks losing companies to other tech hubs if it can\u2019t solve regulatory and funding issues.<\/p>\n Jaidev Janardana<\/a>, CEO of British digital bank\u00a0Zopa<\/a>, told the financial news network that the U.K. was, a decade ago, at \u201cthe forefront in terms of promoting competitiveness and innovation,\u201d but is now more concerned about \u201cprioritizing safety and soundness\u201d at the expense of growth.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I look at the speed of innovation, I do feel that the U.S. is ahead \u2014 although they have their own challenges. But look at Singapore, Hong Kong \u2014 again, you see much more rapid innovation,\u201d Janardana said. \u201cI think we are still ahead of the EU, but we can\u2019t remain complacent with that.\u201d<\/p>\n The report notes that the U.K. has a robust FinTech sector, with companies like Revolut and Monzo vying to challenge traditional banks. Observers in the industry say these firms have succeeded in part because of pro-innovation rules that made it easier for tech startups to get banking and electronic money service licenses.<\/p>\n However, crypto companies say they are frustrated that their own industry hasn\u2019t enjoyed the same pace of progress, CNBC added.<\/p>\n \u201cOther jurisdictions have started to seize the opportunity,\u201d said Cassie Craddock, U.K. and Europe managing director at blockchain company Ripple.<\/p>\n Among those jurisdictions is the U.S., which has taken on a much\u00a0more pro-crypto position<\/a>\u00a0since President Donald Trump took office. Trump has pledged to make the U.S. the world\u2019s crypto capital while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has\u00a0withdrawn or paused<\/a>\u00a0several high-profile legal cases against crypto businesses.<\/p>\n The EU, meanwhile, has paved the way for\u00a0establishing clear rules<\/a>\u00a0for the crypto sector with its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. is driving global tailwinds for the industry,\u201d Craddock said. \u201cMiCA came into force in the EU at the end of last year, while Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE are moving full steam ahead with pro-industry reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n The report came one day after the British government\u00a0released draft proposals<\/a>\u00a0for regulating crypto firms. But, CNBC points out, industry insiders say there\u2019s still work to be done in addressing more complicated technical issues, like reserve requirements for stablecoins.<\/p>\n See More In: crypto regulation<\/a>, Cryptocurrency<\/a>, Digital Banking<\/a>, digital banks<\/a>, FinTech<\/a>, News<\/a>, PYMNTS News<\/a>, regulations<\/a>, Technology<\/a>, U.K.<\/a>, United Kingdom<\/a>, What’s Hot<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cryptocurrency and FinTech executives say Great Britain has become an unwelcoming place for their businesses. That\u2019s according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63684,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,32778,31212,31898,32779,393,3672,4884,12,1144,3279,8948,712,53,15689,16,15,1764,3281],"class_list":{"0":"post-63683","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-crypto-regulation","11":"tag-cryptocurrency","12":"tag-digital-banking","13":"tag-digital-banks","14":"tag-england","15":"tag-fintech","16":"tag-great-britain","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-northern-ireland","19":"tag-pymnts-news","20":"tag-regulations","21":"tag-scotland","22":"tag-technology","23":"tag-u-k","24":"tag-uk","25":"tag-united-kingdom","26":"tag-wales","27":"tag-whats-hot"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114428494790644808","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}