UK Parliamentary Committee Pulls Crypto Into Focus

The British government, keen to balance regulation without limiting innovation and jeopardizing businesses, is nervously greeting the digital technology, weighing up both the risks and benefits it brings.

"Striking the right balance between regulating digital currencies to provide adequate protection for consumers and businesses, whilst not stifling innovation, is crucial," Nicky Morgan, MP and chair of the treasury committee said.

The UK inquiry will look at the potential impact blockchain will have on banks and the wider financial infrastructure and the role unregulated cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin has in Britain.

"We will also examine the potential benefits of cryptocurrencies and the technology underpinning them, how they can create innovative opportunities, and to what extent they could disrupt the economy and replace traditional means of payment," Nicky Morgan, added in a statement.

'Time Whitehall & Westminster Understood Cyrptocurrency'

Member of the committee, Alison McGovern MP, said it time Whitehall and Westminster "understood cryptocurrency better, and thought more clearly about the policy environment for blockchain technology."

Bitcoin is a peer to peer electronic version of cash, developed by Satoshi Nakamoto, to send payments directly from one party to another without needing a bank. 

Put simply, Blockchain is a chain of blocks each filled with data that links to the next block and the data that block holds thus creating a relation between the blocks and connecting information. Each block is anonymous but the data inside is totally transparent.

READ MORE: UK Could Introduce National Cryptocurrency in 2018

According to Extra Credit Whitepaper, published by BitcoinHomework: "Blockchain technology is advancing towards being one of the most secure ways to store data…the decentralized nature of blockchain technology makes it almost impossible to hack."

"Cryptocurrencies are a legitimate method of storing wealth. That is why Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other successful cryptocurrencies keep appreciating in value."

BitcoinHomework predicts six industries will adopt and integrate blockchain technologies to store information; "Banking, Cybersecurity, election management, supply chain management, logistics and the Internet of Things [and] public archival."

Blockchain and Bitcoin are being scrutinized after Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, predicted money laundering operations valuing US$5.5 billion were using unregulated digital currencies.

​READ MORE: European Criminals Laundering Billions With Bitcoin — Europol Head