Share this article
UK’s Truss Picks Kwasi Kwarteng to Be Finance Minister
Since 2021, Kwarteng has overseen the government’s business, energy and industrial strategy department, which has supported blockchain innovation.
Updated May 11, 2023, 3:35 p.m. Published Sep 6, 2022, 6:09 p.m.
U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss named Kwasi Kwarteng as the country's next finance minister.
The governing Conservative Party picked Truss as leader of the party and the country’s prime minister on Monday. Johnson was pushed to resign after his government turned against him earlier this year. One of Truss’ first duties is to select her cabinet.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Kwarteng supported Truss’ campaign and is currently the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy. As the new Treasury department head, Kwarteng will have to tackle high inflation and a recession.
Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak had plans to turn the country into a crypto hub before he resigned from the government in July. It is unclear to what extent Kwarteng supports Sunak’s crypto vision for the country.
However, in a report from June 2021, Kwarteng’s department identified blockchain systems as one of the “seven technology families that will transform our economy in the future.” In July, his previous department announced a 53 million British pound (US$61.3 million) fund for supporting technological innovation, including the use of blockchain in supply chains.
Read more: UK Crypto Industry Welcomes New Stablecoin Rules, Awaits Guidance
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
A few Republicans have crypto's destiny in their hands at the SEC, CFTC
After holiday leadership shifts, the two U.S. markets regulators — the SEC and CFTC — are now run only by pro-crypto Republicans, with Congress still debating.
What to know:
- The crypto industry finally has two permanent, crypto-friendly chairmen at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and they have no Democratic pushback.
- The lack of fully stocked commissions at the market regulators is a big problem in the eyes of Senate Democrats negotiating the crypto market structure bill.
- The lone remaining Democrat, Caroline Crenshaw, left the SEC last week.
Top Stories
