Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has been made of the risks to the UK economy of the potential failure of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.

The independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC), established by the Government, aims to ensure the UK financial system is resilient to, and prepared for, the wide range of risks it could face — so that the system could support the real economy, even in difficult conditions.

The Bank of England continues to monitor developments, and provided its latest assessment of the risks to financial stability in the Financial Stability Report, published in November 2017.

In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has stated that it will continue to monitor distributed ledger technology (DLT)-related market developments, working collaboratively with industry, HM Treasury, the Bank of England, the Information Commissioner’s Office, and other UK bodies to ensure a coordinated approach towards DLT in the UK.