UK Rules Out Bitcoin Reserve, Emphasizes Transatlantic Crypto Regulation

The United Kingdom has no plans to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, according to Emma Reynolds MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. This decision was announced during a fireside chat at the Digital Asset Summit held in London. Reynolds emphasized that accumulating cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is not a suitable strategy for the U.K. market.

This stance comes amid ongoing debates about whether other nations will follow the U.S. in establishing a crypto reserve, a strategy announced by President Donald Trump. Japan has already dismissed the idea of holding Bitcoin as a treasury asset, and the U.K. has now followed suit, asserting that stockpiling assets like Bitcoin is not an appropriate strategy for its market.

Despite the U.K.'s decision not to mirror the U.S. Bitcoin reserve model, Reynolds underscored the importance of collaboration between the two countries on crypto regulation. She highlighted key progress in this transatlantic cooperation, including the creation of a senior-level working group on digital assets and a meeting between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the U.K.’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves.

Reynolds also revealed that the regulatory forum will meet next month to discuss further cooperation on digital assets. This cooperation is seen as crucial given the significant shift in the United States’ stance on digital assets under Trump.

In addition to regulatory cooperation, the U.K. is exploring the use of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) to issue sovereign debt. The procurement process for this initiative has already begun, with the government aiming to appoint a supplier by the end of the summer of 2025.

Reynolds also addressed the U.K.'s approach to digital asset regulation, stating that the country is not considering adopting the EU’s MiCA framework. Instead, the U.K. aims to ensure that digital assets operate within its existing financial services regulation. Reynolds suggested that existing financial regulations should also apply to digital assets since they carry the same risks.

However, Reynolds acknowledged that some aspects of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin’s decentralized nature, pose significant regulatory challenges. She conceded that the government can only do so much to regulate these decentralized systems.