UK government meets Big Tech—including a16z crypto: ‘Unlike in the US, it’s not political’

Krishnan heads the U.K. office of a16z crypto, a venture capital firm with a portfolio that boasts Solana, Uniswap, EigenLayer and Worldcoin, to name a few. While the meeting centered around AI, a source told Fortune, on the condition of anonymity, that there was brief mention of how blockchain technology could grow the U.K. economy, contingent on the government passing the legislation set out by Labour’s predecessors. While in power, former prime minister Rishi Sunak announced: “It’s my ambition to make the U.K. a global hub for cryptoasset technology.”

And Labour has dropped hints about sharing this vision. “There are lots of reasons that we can be optimistic,” Laura Navaratnam, the Crypto Council for Innovation’s UK policy lead, told Fortune. “Unlike in the U.S., it’s not political—it’s technology,” added Ian Taylor, head of crypto and digital assets at KPMG U.K. and board advisor at lobbying group CryptoUK. As crypto becomes more politicized in the U.S., across the pond, it’s bridging the gap.

Our tech sector is vital for the economy & public services like the NHS.@PeterKyle & @RachelReevesMP joined leaders from tech companies including @MicrosoftUK @AmazonUK @Apple & @nvidia to discuss continuing to use the power of technology & AI to improve lives across the UK. pic.twitter.com/Cxw0EKNqNw

— Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (@SciTechgovuk) July 31, 2024

Softening on crypto

Buried within Labour’s 19-page provisional plan for financial services, published in January, is a pledge to make the U.K. a “global hub for securities tokenization,” which would involve “advancing work to clarify the law around tokenization, and working with regulators to establish a proportionate, outcomes-based regulatory regime.” And just two weeks before that plan was published, Reeves attended a breakfast hosted by Coinbase and a16z, posing beside Krishnan in an X post.

“She’s an avid listener. She had thoughtful questions, and then she delivered a message of very much wanting to make the U.K. a home for innovation. It’s going to be one of her priorities,” another crypto executive who has met with Reeves, told Fortune on the condition of anonymity.

The next Labour…