13th May 2026 > > UK politics, tokenisation, & stablecoins.

tl;dr

The CCC research team tries to not get involved, but politics does affect cryptos and we need to understand what might happen in the future. Another boost for tokenisation and stablecoins.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

Ouch!

These two positions are owned by just one trader, currently down $16mm. At the two respective liquidation prices, the total loss would be $56mm plus or minus funding costs.

Remember kids, never use leverage when trading cryptos.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – UK politics aka crapshoot for a decade or more now

The CCC remains, as always, fiercely apolitical. However, cryptos do not operate in a vacuum – political developments do affect us. Identifying countries or politicians that are supportive or antagonistic towards cryptos is important.

The UK has always fallen firmly into the latter category encouraged by the hapless and hopeless Andrew Bailey, current governor of the Bank of England, and the man who believes that handing out free cash is the solution to the world’s problems, ex-Chancellor and ex-PM Rishi Sunak, a frightening double act for which we all continue to pay the price. Both remain arch crypto-sceptics today.

Despite, or because of, the recent political shenanigans, an improvement in the UK’s attitude towards cryptos seems unlikely.

If we look at the runners and riders to replace the probably doomed Sir Keir Starmer, it is hard to discern appreciation from any of his putative replacements of the benefits that could accrue from a regulated adoption of blockchain technology.

That is terribly disappointing to everyone who simply wants a better, fairer, and more just world, especially for the poor and dispossessed, who will be the most positively impacted by the crypto revolution, for all the reasons we endlessly discuss in these CC missives. For our team here at CC Towers, this is only ever about the moral imperative that the crypto revolution demands of all of us.

Meanwhile, Starmer’s disappointment if he is forced out will be somewhat mitigated as he is the proud beneficiary of a tax law that specifically names him and him only as not being subject to the same pension tax arrangements as literally everyone else in the UK, thus giving his bank balance a significant boost once he has retired. Which seems more than a little unfair to me. 

…

But let’s have a look at what each of the probable list of replacement PMs have said about cryptos or perhaps assets in general.

Ed Miliband, who needs no introduction, has described BTC as “useless”. This world-view fits with his eco-enthusiasm for there continues to be a strong perception that BTC mining and its energy usage is bad for the planet, when in fact its ability to function as a stabilising force for good on the grid has untold and immense benefits as we move further towards a dependence on renewals.

Wes Streeting, currently Health Minister, appears not to have said anything publicly about cryptos, nor has the King of the North, Andy Burnham. Both are supporters of the recent introduction of wealth taxes in the form of increased council tax liabilities on properties worth over £2mm but have stayed quiet on the topic of taxing more mobile assets.

Angela Rayner, previously Deputy PM before being forced to resign for (alleged) tax evasion issues, has stated:

“We must double down on renters’ reform … (to show that this) … was just a first step for ending freehold for good”.

If a Rayner-led government intends to expropriate your home by forcing you to relinquish your freehold in exchange for an annual payment on a leasehold presumably controlled by the state, I am not entirely convinced your other assets won’t suffer the same fate. I guess in that situation the only safe place for your wealth is cryptos and maybe a plane ticket to somewhere else. Rayner could inadvertently become the trigger for an exodus of wealth from the UK in a stampede to buy cryptos boosting the value of our crypto bags, though I suspect she won’t frame it that way.

It is noteworthy that there has been a small softening recently in the UK’s stance with the approval of crypto-linked ETNs and some discussion of positive crypto regulation. From a purely crypto perspective, Starmer staying in his job is probably the best outcome we can hope for, though in some ways it seems the most unlikely.

A Rayner replacement administration – again purely from a crypto perspective before anyone starts to get angsty – would be equally or maybe even more damaging than a Miliband government, which takes some doing.

Streeting will find it difficult to convince Labour Party members that they should choose him, leaving us with Burnham as the second-best option after Starmer himself.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Tokenisation

Both BlackRock and J.P. Morgan have each filed in the last few days with the SEC to issue a blockchain-based money-market fund to invest in short-term US Treasuries, cash, and overnight repos collateralised with government bonds.

The underlying structure is routine, but two things stand out as being innovative.

Firstly, of course, this is more evidence of the tokenisation revolution picking up the pace, though to be fair we are merely approaching the foothills of what will be explosive growth:

https://app.rwa.xyz/

The second feature is even more intriguing – both funds are compliant with the requirements of the GENIUS Act for the issue of regulatory approved stablecoins. This makes the issuance of new USD stablecoins simple and administratively light in burden from a regulatory perspective. Handing over the responsibility for managing the collateral behind a GENIUS-approved stablecoin to two of the world’s largest and most sophisticated asset managers for mere bps of charge is surely a no-brainer.