The UK government has just rejected the proposal to regulate cryptocurrencies as gambling tools, the head of the Treasury Department, Andrew Griffith, has said.
The proposal was made by the departmental committee in May. According to it, the retail sale of digital assets is more akin to sports betting than investment. Even major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum "have no intrinsic value and no useful social purpose."
According to Griffith, the government "firmly disagrees" with such recommendations. Gambling-style regulation of the sector will not eliminate the risks investors faced with cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
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The document states:
"The Gambling Commission has a long history of protecting consumers and the general public [...]. However, oversight of financial risks, which are similar to those that exist in financial markets, is not within the Commission's purview."