A former Tory member of Parliament (MP) and Chair of the Crypto Parliamentary Group, Dr. Lisa Cameron, has warned about the dangers of political parties ignoring cryptocurrency. According to her, any party ignoring the crypto sector is making a huge mistake.
Speaking to crypto media platform Decrypt at the Zebu Live Web3 Conference in London, Cameron said crypto has to be one of the top concerns of political players.
“I think for all parties, it’s something that is going to become more vital in this next election. I think any party that doesn’t have any mention of that in the next election will be doing local constituencies a disservice,” she said.
Focusing on cryptocurrency could help political parties win over more potential voters. As crypto’s usage grows worldwide, enthusiasts will likely favor parties and government stakeholders that create policies supporting the widespread adoption of digital assets. In addition to popular crypto uses for remittances and online payments, supportive laws and regulations could see crypto use cases in other sectors including entertainment, and across online gambling platforms like Mega Dice. Using crypto, patrons of these platforms can enjoy enhanced security, greater transparency, and near-instant transaction processing largely unavailable with traditional options.
While there may be several reasons for the omission of crypto among party talking points, Cameron believes that in addition to a lack of education, people in power tend to be older. She said there is quite a divide between older and younger people, recalling a time when the Youth Parliament asked members of both Houses if they understood what “Web3” meant. While all of the Youth Parliament did, only a small number of MPs could relate to the term. Interestingly, none of the Lords could.
To solve this problem, Cameron proposes using common language more often to discuss cryptocurrencies so that leaders and older people are not confused. She believes that more complex phrases, such as zero-knowledge proofs, should be replaced by proper explanations.
“The industry [should talk about] the use cases and how communities can benefit from the development of technology. [Explain] the jobs of the future and how it’s giving people opportunities in this new technological world. That’s important to all MPs,” Cameron said.
Months ago, the two major political parties in the UK released documents containing details of their plans for when they get into office. Unfortunately, across the more than 200 pages that made up both their manifestos, there was no mention of blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, or central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Wider scrutiny of the three largest alternative parties resulted in one instance – Reform UK’s plan to kick against the establishment of CBDCs.
Last month, a new bill was introduced in Parliament to clarify the legal status of cryptocurrencies. The Property (Digital Assets, etc) Bill seeks to allow digital holdings, such as cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to be considered as personal property under the law. Before, digital belongings were not covered under English and Welsh property law, which posed a problem for cases where legal protection is necessary, including divorce proceedings.
The UK is generally considered to be lagging in terms of crypto adoption and regulation. While crypto is a strong talking point in the run-up to the upcoming United States Presidential elections, the EU has introduced its own crypto law, the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation. Nonetheless, Cameron believes the UK is not too far behind and can catch up.