It’s been a few days since the London Blockchain Conference wrapped up, where thought leaders and innovators gathered for two days of in-depth discussions on digitalisation, blockchain, AI, and other emerging technologies.
Both days of the tech conference wrapped up with a special fireside chat hosted by BBC News reporter Mark Lobel. On Day 1, Lobel sat down with Jane Moore, Head of Department at the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). On Day 2, he was joined by Siim Sikkut, Estonian founder of Digital Nation, who urged government officials to accelerate data digitalisation. With the glow of a digital fireplace setting the scene, Moore and Sikkut engaged in lively conversations about blockchain, innovation, and the future of tech.
Ready to dive in? Here are the top 10 questions they tackled!
1. What is One Myth About the Digital Asset Regulations?
“That regulation isn’t easy, we’re not trying to stifle ideas, we’re trying to make them better and safer.” – Jane Moore
Moore and Lobel explored how the FCA approaches digital currencies such as crypto. Moore emphasised that regulators aren’t the villains in this story—their goal is to collaborate with digital asset firms. By aligning proven practices from traditional finance with crypto’s unique characteristics, she said the FCA aims to strike the right balance between innovation and safeguards like transparency, risk management, and consumer protection.
2. What Role Does Regulation Play in Building a Competitive Crypto Industry?
“[Regulation] is key to making sure that consumer protection is in place, that there’s market integrity, that firms operate at the right standard.” – Jane Moore
As Moore repeatedly said, regulation is a foundation for long-term growth. It ensures crypto firms operate responsibly, builds public trust, and attracts responsible investment, which ultimately helps the sector become sustainable and globally competitive.
3. Why Does the FCA Regulate Digital Assets Cautiously?
“There are high standards that we expect of firms, there are all sorts of requirements that we do expect firms to meet, and it’s worth being aware of the breadth of the regulatory requirements.” – Jane Moore
The FCA’s primary mandate is to protect consumers and maintain financial stability. Given the risks tied to crypto, such as fraud, volatility, and manipulation, Moore reiterated that careful regulation safeguards market integrity, prevents harm to users and investors, and still allows innovation to thrive.
4. How Does the FCA Support Innovation in the Digital Asset Space?
“I think crypto is here, it’s here to stay, and I hope regulation helps that.” – Jane Moore
Moore highlighted that innovation is thriving and that the FCA is supporting it through three regulatory sandboxes and ongoing engagement with the industry. These initiatives allow firms to test new products early, gather feedback, and understand compliance requirements before launching to the public.
5. What Direction is U.K. digital asset policy heading next?
“There’s so much potential for stablecoins in the future as they develop.” – Jane Moore
The FCA has long been known for taking a tough but transparent stance on crypto, from cracking down on Bitcoin ATMs to tightening disclosure rules. At the London Blockchain Conference 2025, Moore took a forward-looking approach, calling for faster progress on stablecoin regulation, greater clarity through the FCA’s crypto roadmap, and stronger international collaboration, such as the proposed Transatlantic Taskforce, to avoid fragmented global crypto rules.
While Day 1 focused on how regulation can foster innovation, Day 2 turned the spotlight on digital governance. This time, Lobel sat down with Siim Sikkut, the Estonian founder of Digital Nation. Recognised as one of the world’s top 20 most influential figures in digital government and a former Estonian CIO, Sikkut shared valuable insights drawn from his years of public-sector leadership and his book Digital Government Excellence: Lessons from Effective Digital Leaders.
Together, Lobel and Sikkut discussed how blockchain can help governments build smarter, more transparent systems. Here are the next five questions from their fireside chat.
6. How Can Blockchain Improve Government Infrastructure?
“We have a [blockchain] technology that might work. We need somebody to try it on.’ There was no money exchange, there was no tendering. [The] government had a need, we joined forces. So, there was open innovation.” – Siim Sikkut
Blockchain, Sikkut explained, provides a verifiable record of who can access data. Beyond offering security, transparency, and accountability, it helps track who views or edits people’s information. Since every action is timestamped, misuse becomes easy to detect, which builds public trust in digital government systems.
7. Why Should Governments Digitise Their Services and Data?
“Health, banking, starting a company, changing documents, simple things like changing your address, even. The whole thing has been, ‘let’s take the bureaucracy of getting things done with government, the red tape, and make that invisible.” – Siim Sikkut
For Sikkut, digitisation streamlines government operations and boosts national productivity. It improves public services, reduces costs, and eliminates bureaucratic delays. He shared that Estonia’s complete transition to digital documentation saved the country 2% of its GDP—proof that efficiency pays off.
8. Why is Digital Identity the Cornerstone of Government Digitisation?
“[It’s] about time… there’s no way to build up a full digital government without having some form of strong identity…We publish the log about your data to you, so you get to see what’s happening to your data. I mean, you own it.” – Siim Sikkut
Sikkut stressed that without a strong and secure digital ID, citizens cannot safely access online services. Digital identity enables voting, accessing healthcare, filing taxes, and even starting a business online. It is the foundation upon which every other digital service is built.
9. What Enables Successful Digital Innovation in Government?
“Everything I need to do with the government, there’s a digital option.” – Siim Sikkut
Sikkut emphasised that innovation requires a culture of experimentation, acceptance, and failure. Governments must be willing to pilot, test, and then scale what works. In Estonia, projects like e-Residency and X-Road began as experiments before becoming national infrastructure. The key, he said, is moving from endless debate to practical trials.
10. Where are the Biggest Future Breakthroughs Expected—Especially Around Tokenisation?
“I’ll put my money into the Middle East. I think now, the most ambitious strategy I’ve seen is in Abu Dhabi. They’ve pulled together a strategy saying, ‘let’s make a test bed for these things,’ on tokenisation, how to bring digital currencies into government, benefit payments, how to do proper smart contracting in government, AI agent registries in government, possibly.” – Siim Sikkut
Sikkut pointed to the Middle East as a global leader in blockchain experimentation. Governments there are exploring the tokenisation of public assets, using smart contracts for government services, and adopting digital currencies for benefit payments. These initiatives, he said, are creating meaningful use cases for technology instead of relying on hype.
This Blockchain Event is More Than Hype
There’s so much more that went down at the London Blockchain Conference, from bold debates to groundbreaking ideas. Catch all the highlights in our Day 1 and Day 2 recaps, and don’t miss our blogs for the latest on blockchain and emerging tech.
You can also watch the on-demand videos to relive every panel discussion and keynote sessions on the Visionaries Stage.
If you’re eager to learn more about digital asset regulation and tokenised finance, you may register your interest for the upcoming London Blockchain Finance Summit 2.
