The Royal Mint, a government-owned mint that issues coins for the UK, will issue its own non-fungible token (NFT) this summer, said John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, during his speech at the Innovate Finance Global Summit. Glen added it was Chancellor of the Exchequer Richi Sunak's request to mint the token. Other details are yet to be disclosed.
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"[...] today that the Chancellor has asked the Royal Mint to create a non-fungible token – an NFT… to be issued by the Summer, an emblem of the forward-looking approach we are determined to take… and there will be more details available very soon."
Glen added that there is a "genuine opportunity" for the UK to build on its strengths in fintech, seize the capitalist energy which has already made UK financial services "what it is." He also noted that the modernization will not going to happen overnight, but the country "will get there" as quickly as it reasonably can.
The move comes after Blockchain.com CEO, Peter Smith, said that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) failed to foster cryptocurrency innovation and to work with the industry as the UK fell behind over the last two or three years. The financial watchdog — according to Smith — had taken a "risk-management first approach" which came "at the expense of innovation."
Meanwhile, the notorious Mt.Gox cryptocurrency exchange plans to airdrop NFTs between its former customers that were affected by the hack back in 2014. Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of Mt.Gox, said that he is launching a new project called Mt.Gox NFT, which will grant the exchange's customers a lifetime of free access to the new website.
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