A Bitcoin (BTC) experiment on the Isle of Man involving the Lightning Network, 25 schoolchildren and the promise of a milkshake has yielded interesting results. At Willaston School on the Isle of Man (a British Crown Dependency nestled between the United Kingdom and Ireland), 25 6-year-old students, one teacher and one teaching assistant participated in the light-hearted Bitcoin study. MSW, a data analyst at CoinCorner, told Cointelegraph that he visited the school to discuss job opportunities and to inspire the kids, discussing his own career path, which spans nuclear reactor study, data analytics and now, Bitcoin. Inevitably, the talk delved …

Many officials responsible for regulating the United Kingdom’s financial system have resigned following allegations Prime Minister Boris Johnson exercised “poor judgement” in appointing a member of the government. In a letter to Johnson posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen said his decision to resign was prompted by “recent events concerning the handling of the appointment of the former deputy chief whip” as well as the Prime Minister’s “poor judgment” in addressing the incident. Glen added that “vital reforms" to the country’s financial services were ready to be presented to Parliament. With deep regret I …

An average crypto asset holder in Great Britain would be young, male and a hodler. And they would consider crypto to be a "fun investment." Such are the findings from the fresh research conducted by Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC) with the help of research agency Kantar UK and published on Tuesday. Taking a quantitative approach, the research sought to establish the prevalence of owning crypto assets, the types and amounts held, and the platforms individuals use to buy crypto assets. It consisted of a survey with a representative sample of 5,916 United Kingdom adults, including 713 crypto asset …

The Bank of England has called for “enhanced” regulations of crypto to address potential risk to the country’s financial stability amid the market capitalization dropping more than $2 billion. In the BoE’s Financial Policy Committee "Financial Stability Report — July 2022," the central bank said factors including the growth of the crypto market and climate change did not pose an “immediate threat” to the United Kingdom’s financial system but had the potential to do so in the future. The committee noted that recent events in the space including extreme price volatility among cryptocurrencies, "liquidity mismatches,” weakening investor confidence in stablecoins …

The government of the United Kingdom is asking the public for input on the taxation of crypto asset loans and staking in the context of decentralized finance (DeFi). DeFi is an umbrella term that refers to financial applications that are built on top of blockchain technology. This could include anything from lending to borrowing and staking platforms. In particular, the government is interested in gathering information on the taxation of crypto asset loans and staking. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) call for evidence paper, published on Tuesday, described its intention to study whether administrative hassles and costs may be …

Bitcoin (BTC) is for everyone: toddlers, kids, hard rockers and even racing pigs. At the "Bitcoin Adventure" held in Avon Valley, near Bristol, Bitcoiners and hobbyists shared their knowledge, quips and personal journeys down the Bitcoin rabbit hole despite the predictably wet United Kingdom weather. Better still, Bitcoin's "toxic maximalism" was MIA. pic.twitter.com/7IOtpYuSDh — The Bitcoin Adventure (@TheBTCAdventure) July 3, 2022 A world-first for a Bitcoin meetup, the “Adventure” took place at a wildlife park. So while some of the U.K.’s household name Bitcoiners headlined the main stage, the 250 attendees who bought tickets, (payment in BTC, naturally) could also …

The British Army’s official Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts were breached on Sunday for almost four hours, with scammers promoting rip-off nonfungible token (NFT) collections and cryptocurrency scams. Just after 2:00 pm EST on Sunday, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) Press Office tweeted it was aware the Army’s social media accounts were compromised and had begun an investigation. Nearly four hours later, close to 5:45 pm EST, the Office provided an update that the account breaches were resolved. The British Army's official Twitter account also apologized for the posts, saying it would conduct an investigation and “learn from …

A former Chancellor of the United Kingdom has raised concerns the country is slipping behind its rivals in the European Union when it comes to the cryptocurrency regulation. Philip Hammond, who served as the U.K.’s Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019, told Bloomberg that there has been a distinct lack of direction and cohesion when it comes to crypto policy: “Particularly in the area of digital asset trading, I feel that the UK has missed a trick [...] We are getting very close to the point where it will be too late. Other jurisdictions are racing ahead of …

Major stablecoin company Tether is expanding its stablecoin offering with a new cryptocurrency pegged to the British pound sterling (GBP). Tether officially announced on Wednesday that its upcoming GBP-pegged stablecoin, GBPT, will launch in early July and will initially be supported by the Ethereum blockchain. GBPT will be a stable digital currency pegged on the 1:1 ratio to the GBPT, aiming to provide a faster and cheaper option for asset transfers. GBPT joins a family of four other fiat currency-pegged Tether (USDT) tokens, including the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, USDT. Other stablecoins include the euro-pegged EURT, the offshore Chinese …

The government of the United Kingdom said it intends to modify a proposal that would have required crypto firms to collect personal data from individuals holding unhosted wallets that were the recipients of digital asset transfers. In its Amendments to the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds updated on Wene, HM Treasury said it will be scaling back its requirements for gathering data from both the senders and recipients of crypto sent to unhosted wallets, unless the transaction poses “an elevated risk of illicit finance.” The U.K. government added that unhosted wallets could be used for a variety …

Earlier this year, during the annual Queen’s Speech in the United Kingdom, Prince Charles informed the Parliament about two bills. One of them — the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill — would expand the government’s powers to seize and recover crypto assets. Meanwhile, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seized more than $3 billion worth of crypto in 2021. As digital currencies’ monetary stock grows and enforcers’ scrutiny over the maturing industry tightens, the amount of seized funds will inevitably increase. But where do these funds go, assuming they aren’t returned to the victims of scams and fraud? …

In April, the United Kingdom’s Economic and Finance Ministry, also known as Her Majesty’s Treasury, announced its intention to put the United Kingdom at the forefront of technology by bringing stablecoins under the country’s payments regulation — a bold move that looks especially intriguing in contrast to the recent shock, caused by TerraUSD’s (UST) depegging. Later, in May, during the annual Queen’s Speech, Prince Charles informed the Parliament about two bills that will support “the safe adoption of cryptocurrencies” and “create powers to more quickly and easily seize and recover crypto assets.” Taken together, these initiatives give an impression of …