Crypto is intended to be hard to regulate, but at least the Treasury wants to have a go | John Naughton

The government's consultation document on cryptocurrency highlights the challenges that must be faced in the regulatory process

For my sins, I have been reading Future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets, 82 pages of prime Whitehall verbiage that was published recently, setting out HM Treasury's plans to govern the clouds and hold back the tides.

It opens with the statutory ringing endorsement by Andrew Griffith, economic secretary to the Treasury. He reminds readers that the government's firm ambition is for the UK to be home to the most open, well-regulated and technologically advanced capital markets in the world" - which means taking proactive steps to harness the opportunities of new financial technologies". He further believes that crypto technologies" can have a profound impact across financial services and that by capitalising on the potential benefits offered by crypto we can strengthen our position as a world leader in fintech, unlock growth and boost innovation". Cont'd p94, as they say in Private Eye.