Britain has set out a plan to reflect tokenisation and new forms of digital currency in core infrastructure for its future retail payments system. The UK Treasury published a revised national retail payments modernisation roadmap and pointed to building a “diverse multi-currency ecosystem”. The revision includes tokenisation and digital currencies as key elements and calls for infrastructure allowing interoperability with existing systems. The Financial Conduct Authority has also unveiled a crypto regulatory regime with a licensing timetable running into 2027.

UK retail investors can again hold cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs) in tax-free accounts. Startup Stratiphy has secured approval to run an Innovative Finance ISA and launched a service that lets individuals buy 21Shares crypto ETNs in a tax-free structure. The launch comes after changes by the Financial Conduct Authority and HM Revenue & Customs altered how such products can be held. 21Shares said its products have gained more than 40 percent of the market.