UK well placed to become a leader in the crypto economy

A report by the Big Innovation Centre, DAG Global and Deep Knowledge Analytics suggests that the UK is in prime position to emerge as a leader in blockchain technologies and the crypto economy. The report claims that Britain has all the required resources, as well as industrial and governmental will, to become a global hub by 2022.

“The UK is a major global financial hub and in recent years has become a fintech leader as well,” said Sean Kiernan, chief executive of DAG Global, in an interview with The Guardian. “At the same time, it is starting to demonstrate significant potential to become a leader in blockchain technologies and the crypto economy. The gap between the two worlds of traditional finance and crypto economy remains, but in the coming years we can expect this to lessen and eventually disappear.”

Since 2017, over £500m worth of investment has been poured into UK blockchain companies. This, combined with the UKs existing leadership in fintech and a number of other factors, led to the reports conclusion that the UK has the potential to become a world leader in the digital and crypto economy ecosystem within the next few years.

“Blockchain has been recognised by the UK parliament as a very important and disruptive technology, and it has shown commitment to support the acclerated development of the digital economy via a variety of government initiatives,” said Birgitte Andersen, chief executive of the Big Innovation Centre. “We are still at the early stages of the blockchain industrys development and the huge impact it undoubtedly will have in Britain and globally.”

Blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies, is increasingly being used for applications beyond finance, with recently announced projects including blockchain-powered loyalty programs, a blockchain advertising solution involving IBM and even efforts to see the technology integrated into Facebook.