Ex-FCA policy insider explains the ‘great divide’ in the UK’s crypto ambition
Former FCA policymaker and Hedera Global Policy VP, Isadora Arredondo says there is a gap between the U.K.’s crypto ambitions and how policy is carried out in practice.
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Summary
- Isadora Arredondo, a former U.K. Financial Conduct Authority official now at Hedera, says Britain’s crypto hub ambitions have been slowed less by hostility to the sector than by competing regulatory priorities and a gap between policy design and execution.
- She argues the U.K. has taken a split approach, moving quickly and proactively on institutional and wholesale crypto while subjecting startups and retail-focused firms to lengthy, complex authorization under legacy rules rather than a dedicated framework like the EU’s MiCA.
- Arredondo believes the next phase of digital money will hinge on interoperability and common standards across blockchains, stablecoins and CBDCs, and she sees the growing role of major financial institutions in crypto as proof that core crypto ideas are being absorbed into mainstream finance rather than abandoned.
