The Treasury has confirmed that plans for the Royal Mint to create non-fungible tokens (NFT) have been scrapped and that Britain will not be launching its own digital token. The Economic Secretary Andrew Griffith confirmed this decision in a written response to a question from Tory MP Harriett Baldwin, which was subsequently supported by the Treasury.
The Reason for this Move
As we all know, NFTs provide digital ownership of collectible assets, such as images, although there have been numerous reports of fraud, fees, disputes over ownership, and environmental issues. According to experts, this is a relatively new concept and should be treated with caution.
The Treasury Select Committee chairman, Ms. Baldwin, noted that there is currently insufficient evidence to recommend their constituents to invest in these types of speculative tokens, due to the risk of complete capital loss. As such, the Royal Mint and Treasury have decided not to move forward with the launch of the Royal Mint NFTs.
The Origin of Royal Mint NFT
Last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed The Royal Mint to develop an “NFT for Britain” that could be traded online.
In 2021, there was a surge of interest in NFTs; however, in May of the same year, due to the collapse of digital currencies and the subsequent failure of FTX, a well-known NFT trading platform, prices dropped significantly.
Furthermore, The Bored Ape Yacht Club – an esteemed NFT minter, got a lot of attention. Many of its artworks have even fetched hundreds of thousands of dollars prior to the recent decline of the NFT market.
