US, UK Joint Task-Force To Explore Crypto Regulatory Collaboration

Authored by Turner Wright via CoinTelegraph.com,

Treasury authorities in the US and UK have announced the formation of a transatlantic task force to explore “short-to-medium term collaboration on digital assets.”

In Monday notices, the US Treasury Department and HM Treasury said the cross-country effort, taking place through the already established UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group, would release a report with recommendations within 180 days.

The new task force, called the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future, will consider crypto laws and regulations as well as how the two countries can collaborate on “wholesale digital markets innovation.”

Source: UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves

The announcement follows a Financial Times report on a meeting last week between UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on how the two countries could work together on crypto regulation.

The discussion reportedly included representatives from several cryptocurrency companies. At the same time, the task force said on Monday that it should “seek input from leading industry experts to ensure that its recommendations are informed by what matters most to industry.”

The US Treasury did not explicitly state whether the task force formation was related to any crypto-related legislation in Congress, such as the law to establish a framework for payment stablecoins, the GENIUS Act. Under the bill, signed into law in July, the US Treasury Department is required to draft regulations with the Federal Reserve before implementation.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase shared the US-UK announcement on its blog on Monday, saying it was “proud” to support the partnership. Daniel Seifert, the exchange’s vice president and regional managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, was present in the discussions between Reeves and Bessent, according to a spokesperson for Coinbase.

Similar approaches to crypto regulation?

The US and UK have both taken steps to address regulatory issues affecting digital assets and companies handling them in 2025. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with US President Donald Trump last week, signing a memorandum of understanding to explore the development of technologies, including artificial intelligence, though the deal is not legally binding.

While the UK Treasury under Reeves said in April that it would focus on crypto rules to “support innovation while cracking down on fraudsters,” the US side under Bessent has pushed an approach that suggests scaling back on regulation.

The US Treasury Secretary said in August that the department would explore “budget-neutral pathways” to acquire Bitcoin as part of the US government’s crypto reserve plans.