The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has seen a significant increase in its cryptocurrency workforce, with over 100 staff members dedicated to crypto assets. However, according to data obtained by Quant, the policy team remains understaffed with only 18 employees responsible for drafting and implementing market regulations. Most of the FCA’s crypto workforce is split between authorization and supervision, while the policy department lags behind.
Gilbert Verdian, Founder and CEO of Quant, believes that the unregulated crypto experiment has failed but sees potential in digital assets and tokenization. The new Labour government has pledged to streamline the regulatory rulebook, putting pressure on the government to provide clearer regulatory guidance for the crypto sector. Properly regulated crypto assets have the potential to transform the economy and financial services sector, but Quant argues that the UK could face a “crypto catastrophe” with only 18 employees responsible for creating cryptocurrency regulations.
The data highlights a resource gap in crypto asset wholesale policy, with only 9 employees in this crucial area. This shortage could pose challenges to Labour’s goal of embracing securities tokenization and a central bank digital currency. Verdian suggests the creation of a separate “Digital Finance Agency” dedicated entirely to digital assets to help the UK stay ahead in the future of finance.
Despite the resource gap in the policy department, the FCA emphasized that it employs specialists across the organization who work on crypto assets alongside other sectors. The UK government announced its intention to implement cryptocurrency regulations over the coming six months, with Economic Secretary Bim Afolami predicting that these regulations would be introduced by June or July. However, the industry is still awaiting their implementation following the passing of the Financial Services and Markets Act.
In conclusion, the FCA has significantly expanded its cryptocurrency workforce, but the policy team remains understaffed. Gilbert Verdian believes that properly regulated crypto assets can transform the economy and financial services sector, but the UK needs clearer regulatory guidance. The data highlights a resource gap in crypto asset wholesale policy, and a potential solution could be the creation of a dedicated “Digital Finance Agency.” Despite these challenges, the UK government is moving towards implementing cryptocurrency regulations in the near future.
