United Kingdom babanks HSBC Holdings and Nationwide Building Society are banning cryptocurrency purchases via credit cards for retail customers. They join a growing list of banks in the country to tighten restrictions on digital assets. A Bloomberg report on March 2 claims the step back is a response to warnings by UK regulators and scandals surrounding the crypto industry. Nationwide is reportedly applying daily limits of £5,000 ($5,965) on debit-card purchases of crypto assets, while credit cards will no longer be available for crypto transactions. Customers of HSBC were barred from making crypto purchases with their credit cards last month. …

The United Kingdom is not ready to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) just yet as the Bank of England (BoE) doesn’t have enough expertise at the moment, according to a deputy governor. There is more than a 50% chance that the central bank of the United Kingdom would issue a CBDC, but the regulator doesn’t have the technical skills to issue a digital currency yet, BoE deputy governor Jon Cunliffe declared at the Treasury select committee hearing on Feb. 28. Cunliffe said that the BoE expects to get the necessary expertise to move forward with the CBDC development …

'Recycle to Earn' was the motto presented by Eric Vogel earlier this month while pitching his startup at the European Blockchain Convention, decades after he started recycling plastics and cans from his grandmother's house to earn extra money for a Game Boy. Vogel's love for video games and increasing interest in the impact of recycling in the world are behind his inspiration for Circularr, a London-based company seeking to connect recyclers, manufacturers, and brands throughout a decentralized recycling ecosystem. Proper recycling is a growing challenge.According to the Plastic Waste Makers Index, recycling across the world is not expanding fast enough …

The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)-operated golf startup, LinksDAO, may soon put in an offer to purchase the newly marketed Spey Bay Golf Club in Scotland worth about $900,000. LinksDAO — self-described as a “global group of golf enthusiasts” that is on a mission to build the “world’s greatest golf community” — officially opened the proposal vote on Feb. 20, which came after a few weeks of informal deliberation. It would be the DAO’s first ever golf course purchase. few things in life are more fun than doing what you said you were going to do, regardless of adversity i will …

Crypto scam revenue was slashed by almost half in 2022 due mainly to falling crypto asset prices, but two scam types managed to stay immune. Crypto scam revenue in 2022, which includes investment scams, NFT scams and romance scams, among others, amounted to $5.9 billion in the year — down 46% from 2021. The data came from a Feb. 16 crime report from Chainalysis, which attributed most of the decline in scam revenue to poor market conditions — as lower crypto prices generally result in lower scam performance. Chainalysis however pointed to two different scam types that managed to stay …

The U.K. Tax Reform Council has launched a campaign against the Bank of England's plan to introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The non-profit organization warns that such a move could seriously harm individual privacy and lead to intrusive changes to the taxation system. The freshly formed Tax Reform Council includes monetary economist John Chown, cofounder of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, on its advisory board. The Tax Reform Council believes implementing a CBDC would lead to increased government surveillance, greater intrusion from tax authorities and a heightened risk of cyber attacks on the nation's monetary system. We are …

The United Kingdom’s financial regulator, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is coming for unregistered cryptocurrency automated teller machines (ATMs). THe FCA and the cyber team at West Yorkshire Police have taken action against several sites in and around Leeds city suspected of hosting illegally operated crypto ATMs. Announcing the news on Feb. 14, the FCA emphasized that no crypto ATM operators in the United Kingdom currency have FCA registration. The authority stated that all crypto exchange providers — including crypto ATM operators — must be registered with the FCA and comply with the U.K. money laundering regulations. “Unregistered crypto ATMs operating …

The U.K. outline of the future financial services regulatory regime for crypto covers a broad range of topics, from the troubles of algorithmic stablecoins to nonfungible tokens and initial coin offerings. And it’s certainly good news for the industry, as the upcoming regulation doesn’t propose a ban on algorithmic stablecoins or excessive requirements on data sharing for digital asset operators. The Australian consultation paper on “token mapping” is a foundational step in the government’s multistage reform agenda to regulate the market. Based on the “functional” and technology-neutral method, the paper proposes several basic definitions for all things crypto. Its taxonomy …

The Bank of England (BoE) and Treasury believes the United Kingdom is likely to need to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by 2030, according to a Telegraph report on Feb. 4. The "digital pound" roadmap is set to be introduced next week, a government source told the newspaper. Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe is scheduled to give an update on the BoE's work on the CDBC on Feb. 7 "On the basis of our work to date, the Bank of England and HM Treasury judge that it is likely a digital pound will be needed in the future," noted …

His Majesty’s Treasury published a long-anticipated consultation paper for the United Kingdom's upcoming crypto regulation. The extensive 80-page document covers a broad range of topics, from the troubles of algorithmic stablecoins to nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and initial coin offerings (ICOs). As stated by the HM Treasury, the proposals seek to place the U.K.’s financial services sector at the forefront of crypto and thus avoid the hardline control measures, which have gained momentum globally amid the crypto winter. The Treasury announced that there won’t be a separate regulatory regime for crypto as it would fall under the framework of the U.K.’s …

The United Kingdom is host to at least 168 companies accused of running fraudulent crypto or foreign exchange (forex) scams according to an independent analysis. A Jan. 29 joint investigation by media firms the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Observer suggested organized crime groups are using the U.K. as their base due to its “lax regulation.” The actual number of U.K.-based crypto or forex companies involved in scams is likely far greater than 168 as the number was calculated by reviewing lists of suspected shell companies and cross-referencing them with reports of fraudulent activity on various websites. Around half …

A partnership between Poundtoken and BitcoinPoint will make the country's first 100% backed GBP stablecoin ($GBPT) accessible to retail consumers via a network of 18,000 ATMs across the United Kingdom. The move marks another step towards the U.K. becoming a "crypto hub" and is in line with the government's push to use stablecoins for wholesale settlements. Bitcoin Point is a Lightning Network-enabled Bitcoin (BTC), and cryptocurrency exchange, licensed and registered in the U.K. Poundtoken is the sole issuer of the GBPT ($GBPT) stablecoin. Poundtoken states that its stablecoin GBPT is fully backed in pound sterling at all times, with monthly …