What did the NFT for Britain cost?

To refresh your memory, this was the short-lived project punted by then-chancellor Rishi Sunak as part of a UK government plan to launch some unspecified token of Britishness to show other crypto hubs who’s boss.

After 11 months of radio silence, those plans were quietly canned in March. We have been patiently asking for how much the government sank on the project ever since.

In response to Freedom of Information Act requests, we’ve received a variety of dodges. That it wasn’t actually a question for the Treasury, and we’d have to ask the Royal Mint. That they couldn’t divulge the information while things were ongoing.

Finally, last week, an actual answer came. Sort of.

“No taxpayer money has been directly used to fund the project,” the Treasury said. “Any cost associated with developing the project was met entirely out of the Royal Mint’s own revenues.”

Which, of course, begs the question as to how much of those revenues were required. And why, as our latest FOI request also revealed, just two months into the project, were officials told they needed to delay.

New Strix

The crypto sector is facing a host of regulatory headwinds. Now it has to add new rules targeting hedge funds to its list of concerns, according to the boss of Strix Leviathan. Sadie Raney, who runs the US-based crypto hedge fund, said new Securities and Exchange Commission rules on fee disclosure will have an even bigger impact on crypto hedge funds than traditional ones.

“There are a limited number of qualified auditors who understand the nuances of crypto funds, so the costs of audits can be extremely high, even prohibitive in some cases,” she said.

The result? Far more money spent on compliance, and fewer new crypto fund launches.

Bloomberg gets bigger

The Competition and Markets Authority has a tough job on its hands. Not only is it having to wade through mega-deals like Microsoft’s bid for Activision, but also has to decide whether exchanges and data providers’ apparently incessant push to broaden their businesses should go ahead.

Having given the green light to the London Stock Exchange’s purchase of post-trade firms Quantile and Acadia, last week it was time for Bloomberg’s takeover of Broadway Technology — a fixed income software and platform provider — to get approval from the regulator too.

Bloomberg hopes the deal will cement its position as the undisputed heavyweight champion of market data. LSEG is confident it can compete though. It announced a rebrand last week that would pull the Refinitiv data business it acquired in 2021 closer into the group, branding everything under the LSEG banner.

Essentially it is banking on a new image that the London Stock Exchange isn’t just a home for UK equities; it is a global data company. See evidence from just outside FN’s HQ below of what to expect:

Give me a break

The FN 100 Most Influential Women in Finance list is just a month away. We’re holding our cards close to our chest for now, but chances are that a few fintech names might well grace our listing.

Whoever makes the final cut, we thought it would be a good idea to go talk to some leading women in the City ahead of time and get their top tips for success, in a series we’re calling My Big Break.

As chair of the Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group, Lisa Cameron has a front-row seat as the government decides on the sector’s future. Here’s why she thinks women in finance shouldn’t let anyone else define them, and why she wants to help celebrate diversity in fintech.

The FN 100 Most Influential Women list is published on 16 October. To make sure you’re first to hear about it, sign up to our newsletters here.

Okay, we’ll give you a break

Speaking of crypto regulation, a quick word on the Financial Conduct Authority’s incoming crypto promotions rules to close out this week. Because the sector wasn’t ready to implement some of the watchdog’s mandates come 8 October — including a cooling-off period forcing firms to wait 24 hours from when a new customer makes a purchase to send them any offers — they will get a three-month grace period before they have to comply.

That might sound like the FCA is easing off the gas. But, as Lucy Castledine, director of consumer investments at the watchdog stressed, firms still have to apply for leniency, and much of the package will still take effect just as planned. Happy hunting.

Recommended reading

The downside of the digital natives (The New European)

EU exchanges join forces for data bid (Financial News)

Zopa hits 1 million customers, raises £75m ahead of IPO plans (AltFi)

Nomura crypto chief warns market rout may delay unit’s profit (Bloomberg)

To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email Justin Cash