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Rishi Sunak's win as UK prime minister, a triumph for crypto

Sunak stated his intentions to prioritising financial technology

Shashank Bhardwaj
Published: Nov 1, 2022 10:46:58 AM IST
Updated: Nov 1, 2022 12:01:11 PM IST

Rishi Sunak's win as UK prime minister, a triumph for cryptoImage: Shutterstock

Rishi Sunak is a former investment banker and savvy politician who has had an incredibly prolific career in just a short period. Rishi Sunak has accomplished a lot in his 42 years, including serving as a member of Parliament, chief secretary to the treasury, and chancellor of the exchequer. Now, he is starting his tenure as prime minister. 

At just 42 years old, Rishi Sunak is the youngest prime minister to take office in the United Kingdom in over 200 years. He also has something else in common with his millennial peers: He's a crypto enthusiast. A recent Bank of America survey found that younger investors allocate significantly more of their portfolios to crypto assets than older investors.

This trend indicates that crypto is here to stay and will only become more popular in the future. According to the survey, people aged 21-42 are likelier to believe that crypto offers the greatest growth opportunities. They also tend to allocate a higher percentage of their portfolios to crypto investments, averaging 15 percent compared to the 2 percent invested by people over 42.

Sunak is unlike many of his peers who keep their soft spot for crypto assets to themselves. He has the ability to propel the industry forward in entirely new ways. He can introduce legislation, issue regulations and push through new ideas. He can lay the foundation for the migration from Web2 to Web3 — which will be mainly constructed using technologies like crypto assets but will also include nonfungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain, artificial intelligence and the metaverse, to name a few — and potentially turn the U.K. into a leading Web3 hub in a short amount of time.

Sunak, as chancellor of the exchequer, stated, “It’s my ambition to make the U.K. a global hub for crypto-asset technology.” He further added that he would “ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country.”

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak was a champion for crypto during his time in office, pushing through several initiatives to normalise and advance the ecosystem in the United Kingdom. A Stanford graduate, Sunak was a key figure in Boris Johnson's government and helped make the UK a leader in space.

Sunak announced his intention to prioritise financial technology in 2020, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins. This move would allow the UK to keep up with the times and ensure that its financial services industry is always at the forefront of technology and innovation.

As the UK's new Prime Minister, Sunak, wants to create a business environment conducive to long-term investment. He believes one way to do this is through effective regulation of crypto assets.

Shashank is founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist.

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