The UK Prime Minister and Finance Minister have supported crypto and blockchain in the past

New UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed Kwasi Kwarteng, former head of the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, as the new finance minister, tasking him with decisions that will impact UK markets and global cryptography.

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Fast facts

• Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak was a supporter of crypto asset technologies and announced his intention to make the country a “global hub for crypto asset technology” before his resignation in July. It’s unclear to what extent Kwarteng shares Sunak’s sentiment on digital assets.
• The new UK Prime Minister hasn’t said much about crypto, but in 2018 – when Chief Treasury Secretary – Truss tweeted: “We should welcome cryptocurrencies in a way that doesn’t limit their potential” .
• Kwarteng, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer and son of Ghanaian immigrants, will have his hands full with an economy hitting a 40-year high inflation rate and predicted a recession later this year by many experts.
• In a 2021 report by the former Kwarteng Department, blockchain solutions were identified as part of the technological innovation needed to transform the UK economy in the future.
• In July this year, Kwarteng’s business, energy and industrial strategy department announced a £53 million ($61.3 million) fund to support competitiveness through digital technology, including the use of blockchain technologies in supply chains.

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