The UK is planning to pass new laws to regulate stablecoins and crypto staking within the next six months.

Speaking during a cryptocurrency event in London on Monday, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Bim Afolami, stated the government was working towards the new legislation being passed before this year’s general election, Bloomberg reports.

“We’re very clear that we want to get these things done as soon as possible. And I think over the next six months, those things are doable,” he said.

However, when asked for more specific details regarding crypto regulation, Afolami commented: “Short answer is, I don’t know [...] There’s just a huge amount going on, so I don’t want to commit to that now,” he said.

In 2022, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed to make the country a “global crypto hub,” stressing the need for crypto companies to be permitted to “invest, innovate and scale up” in Britain.

Yet since then, little progress has been made on regulation in the UK, despite pressure from crypto firms operating in the country for more concise rules, Cointelegraph reports.

Furthermore, in July last year, the UK Law Commission unveiled four key recommendations to reform domestic laws in relation to crypto use and ownership.

The Commission pushed for a new “distinct” category of personal property to be established, to specifically address and safeguard the distinctive attributes presented by digital assets.

In tandem with this push, the government issued a recommendation to undertake a common law analysis of crypto assets, as well as set up a panel of technical experts, academics and legal practitioners specific to the industry to advise courts on cryptocurrency-related legal issues

Subsequently, at the end of October last year, the government announced plans to introduce more crypto-specific regulation in 2024, and the regulation of fiat-backed stablecoins was brought under the scope of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).