UK Appoints Bim Afolami as Economic Secretary to Oversee Crypto Regulation

cryptonews.com:

Bim Afolami has been appointed as the economic secretary to the Treasury of the United Kingdom, where he will have authority over policies that impact the adoption of digital assets and central bank digital currencies within the country.

According to a  recent announcement by the UK government , the appointment is part of a restructuring effort involving ministers and secretaries. 

Under the administration of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the former Economic Secretary Andrew Griffith advocated for policies to establish the UK as a prominent crypto hub, including the introduction of stablecoins. 

Griffith has now been appointed as the next minister of state in the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology.

CryptoUK, a self-regulatory trade association, has expressed its intention to brief Afolami on the potential contributions of cryptocurrencies to the UK economy, as well as the challenges faced by the sector. 

“We look forward to working with new EST Bim Afolami to help realise the government’s ambition to make the UK a global cryptoasset technology hub,” the group said in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter).

We look forward to working with new EST @BimAfolami to help realise the government's ambition to make the UK a global #cryptoasset #technology hub. We will brief Bim on our sector's contributions to the UK economy & ongoing challenges, including #financialpromotions & #debanking. pic.twitter.com/GyEWBgawZd

— CryptoUK (@CryptoUKAssoc) November 14, 2023

Afolami had previously met with senior representatives from Coinbase in June 2022, during which they discussed the regulatory environment. 

At the time, Afolami emphasized the importance of establishing an appropriate regulatory regime for certain