The US and UK are set to announce a new digital assets cooperation deal that will include crypto, according to sources close to the deal. The drive to build closer transatlantic co-ordination in digital assets and capital markets was discussed on Tuesday between Chancellor Rachel Reeves and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, sources tell the Financial Times.
Per the FT, the deal was reached in a last-minute discussion. Talks were arranged after crypto industry groups wrote to the UK government last Thursday, ahead of Trumpās state visit this week, urging Britain to include digital assets and blockchain in any new deal with the US. In addition, the deal is expected to also include stablecoins, a wave in crypto that the US has been riding throughout this year.
The United States has become largely pro-crypto in the past year since Trump returned to office. The US SEC and Federal Reserve have addressed how institutions handle digital assets, loosening rules and restrictions and providing further transparency on the rules of the industry. The UK has historically been hesitant on the industry, enforcing heavy MiCA rules. However, this new deal with the US could bring more crypto approval in the UK.
Another source told the FT that feeling was that there was a āhuge opportunity for the UK in digital assetsā and that the Trump administrationās embrace of the industry meant closer UK-US co-operation would be āvital to unlocking adoptionā in Britain. George Osborne, a former Conservative chancellor and now a member of Coinbaseās global advisory council, wrote in the Financial Times last month that Britain was falling far behind the US in its approach to cryptocurrency. āOn crypto and stablecoins, as on too many other things, the hard truth is this: weāre being completely left behind. Itās time to catch up.ā