Share this article
British Isle’s Plan to Mint Physical Bitcoins Loses Key Support
The UK's Royal Mint has reportedly discontinued talks with Alderney about minting physical bitcoins.
By Pete Rizzo
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 10:42 a.m. Published Apr 25, 2014, 8:20 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
The British Island of Alderney made headlines in the bitcoin world last November when it revealed detailed plans to use bitcoin as part of its financial infrastructure, stating that it would seek to mint physical bitcoins and launch financial service centres devoted to digital currency.
However, those plans are facing new setbacks according to a 25th April report from The Financial Times, which indicates that the UK's Royal Mint, a state-backed body that mints coins in the country, has discontinued discussions related to the project.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Alderney's finance committee chair Robert McDowall told FT that he was disappointed about the withdrawal, given that the decision came just ahead of when plans were scheduled to be finalized.
The island had planned to mint a commemorative bitcoin worth roughly £500 and to release the offering within the next few months.
The news notably follows the Isle of Man's plans to potentially open its doors to digital currency exchanges. The UK dependency is aiming to make only small changes to its statutory instruments to achieve regulation over such businesses.
The Royal Mint did not provide comment to the FT report.
Regulatory hurdles
The decision by Royal Mint to drop out of the discussions reportedly followed another issue with Alderney's larger neighbor Guernsey.
According to the report, Guernsey has told Alderney that it would not approve of Alderney's association with digital currencies due to fear of reputational risk.
The media outlet indicates that Alderney requires Guernsey's approval for such actions, potentially putting the plan in jeopardy.
Hopes remain
Still, while the prospect of Alderney minting physical bitcoins may be dwindling, McDowall is optimistic that digital currencies can become a part of the island's future.
McDowall told FT it is hopeful it will be able to launch an index to track the value of digital currencies, as well as a fund for such projects.
"It would be wonderful to have such an index established in Alderney, however, the index could be sited in another jurisdiction that is more welcoming of financial innovation."
For more information, read the full FT report.
Alderney sunset via Shutterstock
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
HYPE token's 50% surge is a story of crypto-traditional market convergence, treasury firm says
HYPE has surged 50%, outperforming bitcoin, ether and the CoinDesk 20 index by a big margin.
What to know:
- Hyperliquid's HYPE token has surged more than 50% to $34.57 this week, far outpacing bitcoin, ether and the broader crypto market, as trading activity on the platform accelerates.
- The token rally represents the merging of traditional assets with the crypto world, according to Hyperion DeFi, which is a HYPE treasury company.
- Originally a crypto perpetuals exchange, Hyperliquid has expanded into tokenized trading of equity indices, individual stocks, commodities and major fiat pairs via its HIP-3 upgrade.
Top Stories
