If India claims that Bitcoin is not a legal currency in the country, Great Britain wants to regulate digital currencies, as soon as possible.
"Regulate Bitcoin at all costs! "
One of the members of the UK treasury committee, John Mann, announced the news to the world. The UK Ministry of Finance is in the process of launching regulatory measures on Bitcoin.
Without giving more details about these measures, Mr. Mann just explained that "these new forms of exchange are developing rapidly and we must be careful not to be left behind", adding that "this is particularly important in terms of money laundering, terrorism or pure theft. He also said that these regulations will be applied to limit the anonymity of traders in cryptocurrency.
Concerns about theft and money laundering
This initiative of the Ministry of Finance to want to regulate cryptocurrencies is mainly related to the fear of seeing money laundering and terrorism grow further across the Channel. The British Treasury Secretary Stephen Barclay is in fact on the subject, confessing a month ago that the government was studying amendments to combat money laundering.
On the other hand, Gordon Rayner and Robert Mendick confessed in turn that the Treasury had specific plans to regulate Bitcoin and digital currencies, including the requirement for traders to disclose their identities.
Date of implementation
This decision does not, however, unanimous, like the many critics who are fired from all sides on the internet. Some even go so far as to describe these measures taken by the ministry as a form of repression against Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies which, it is recalled, are constantly breaking records.
But anyway, the Ministry and the British Treasury intend to go all the way on the regulation of Bitcoin. The new regulations will have to be effective by the end of the year, or at the latest in early 2018.