The U.K. Will Not Follow the U.S. in Establishing a Bitcoin Reserve

Emma Reynolds MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury of the United Kingdom, has disclosed that the U.K. will not be following the U.S. in establishing a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve.

Reynolds made the disclosure during a fireside chat at the Financial Times Digital Asset Summit in London. On the topic of cryptocurrencies, the MP stated that stockpiling such assets is not a suitable strategy for the U.K. market.

Since President Donald Trump announced plans to create a crypto reserve in the U.S., there has been speculation about whether other nations will adopt the strategy.

As previously reported, Japan shot down the idea of holding Bitcoin as a treasury asset, noting that cryptocurrencies are not foreign currency reserves. The U.K. has now joined Japan in rejecting the strategy, and it seems the British government is not planning to adopt any of the EU’s crypto regulations either.

Close Relationship with the US on Digital Assets Regulation

Although the U.K. will not be mirroring the U.S. Bitcoin reserve model, Reynolds highlighted the importance of close collaboration between the countries on crypto regulation.

She pointed out the progress made in this transatlantic cooperation, mentioning the establishment of a senior-level working group on digital assets and the meeting between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the U.K.’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves.

According to Reynolds, the regulatory forum will be meeting next month to discuss further cooperation on digital assets.

She added that this cooperation is crucial considering the significant shift in the United States’s stance on digital assets under Trump.

Plans to Leverage DLT to Issue Sovereign Debts

Meanwhile, the Economic Secretary to the U.K.’s Treasury also shed light on the ongoing plans to utilize distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) in issuing sovereign debt.

According to her, the procurement process has already been launched, and the government aims to appoint a supplier by the end of the summer of 2025.

UK Won’t Copy EU's MiCA Framework

Furthermore, Reynolds disclosed that the U.K. is not planning to copy the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) framework. Instead, the goal is to ensure digital assets fall within the scope of the United Kingdom’s pre-existing financial services regulation.

Reynolds suggested that the existing financial regulations should apply to digital assets as they carry the same types of risks.

However, she acknowledged that some aspects of cryptos, particularly Bitcoin’s decentralized nature, might be beyond the scope of governments’ complete regulatory ability.

In her words:

"There are some aspects of crypto that governments can’t regulate. For example, people can choose to use any cryptocurrency they want, and the government can’t stop them. This is a major regulatory challenge. We can only do so much."