The United Kingdom House of Lords, home of the upper house of UK Parliament, played host to the third edition of the London Blockchain in Government Summit on 1st July. The exclusive, invite-only event saw a panel of industry experts discuss how blockchain technology is driving UK public sector efficiency.
Key talking points from the event included blockchain regulation being the missing ingredient to blockchain innovation, how education and better publicity are crucial to governments backing the sector, and what lessons can be learned from some notable use cases.
The summit was the third and final in a series focused on innovative tech’s present and future role in government and public services, with the House of Lords serving as the fitting venue for the exploration of how leaders from government, emerging tech, and finance can unite to make the most of blockchain in public services across the UK.
The first summit covered the practical challenges of delivering public sector reform and in which public sector departments and processes emerging could provide most value; while the second focused more on how blockchain and artificial intelligence can cut red tape, eliminate inefficiencies, and transform public services.
Tuesday’s event aimed to delve into the pressing issues of blockchain governance, blockchain regulation, and how government policy is adapting to fast-paced technological change.
The series leads into the London Blockchain Conference, a two-day event focused on all things blockchain and Web3, which will take place on 22-23 October at Evolution London.
The Backdrop
As governments across the world race to catch up with tech innovation and attempt to navigate digital transformation, blockchain is increasingly being identified as a tool that can enable transparent, secure, and accountable public sector operations.
From identity verification and supply chain traceability to land registry reform and auditability of public funds, blockchain is being explored as a tool to solve the myriad issues of ailing public services around the world.
In the UK, where Tuesday’s summit took place, the government is actively exploring how to harness blockchain to restore public trust, drive efficiency, and create a more resilient governance framework.
Under the previous Government, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made clear his ambitions for the UK to become a tech hub. The new Labour government has thrown out many of its predecessor’s goals and policies, but one that it has carried out is committing to making the UK a hospitable environment for tech.
In a speech to London Tech Week 2025 earlier in June, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his government was “committing an extra £1 billion of funding to scale up our compute power by a factor of 20.” He went on to praise how innovative tech can be utilised in Government and public services to the benefit of both corporate and public interest.
Starmer concluded by doubling down on his tech ambitions, setting an even more lofty goal: “By the end of this Parliament, we should be able to look every parent the eye, in every region in Britain and say – look what technology can deliver for you.”
The UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves appeared to confirm the government’s commitment when – later in June – she announced £86 billion to fund everything from new drug treatments and longer lasting batteries to new AI breakthroughs, as part of a plan to generate billions for the UK economy.
This injection of funding, according to Reeves, will include boosting research and innovation with a bumper funding package worth more than £22.5 billion a year in 2029/2030.
The UK’s support for tech innovation, such as AI and blockchain, is almost certainly influenced by the direction the United States has taken since the election of President Donald Trump for a second time last November.
After taking office in January, Trump has followed through on his pre-election promise to wage war on government inefficiency, with the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the organisation originally spearheaded by Elon Musk and whose stated goal is to cut excess regulation and spending whilst maximising productivity.
Another of DOGE’s aims is to modernise government information technology, which is also in keeping with an unprecedented embracing of the blockchain space in the Trump 2.0 era.
It’s into this landscape and atmosphere of lofty goals and tech investment that the never-more-timely Blockchain in Government Summit touched down in the House of Lords, and some of these topics were up for discussion at the event.
Expert Panel
In the spirit of all good public policy, the House of Lords event was led by politicians but driven by experts.
The panel was moderated by Rt Hon. Alun Cairns, former Member of the Parliament and Secretary of State of Wales, who was also previously part of an ‘All-Party Parliamentary Group’ – an informal, cross-party group formed by MPs and Members of the House of Lords who share a common interest in a particular policy area – that seeks to examine the “potential of Blockchain, Crypto-assets, and Web3 technologies in driving economic growth, and to promote the evidence-based adoption of these innovations across the United Kingdom.”
Cairns played host and set the stage for the blockchain and tech experts, amongst whom was Jennifer Ewing, Business Development for digital asset finance company Blockchain.com. Ewing provided expertise in blockchain as well as traditional finance, having previously worked in investment banks such as ING, Dresdner Kleinwort, and Wood & Company.
Also on the panel was Nikhil Vadgama, co-founder and Director of Exponential Science, a foundation that pioneer’s innovation in emerging technologies, and an Associate Professor in financial computing at University College London.
Completing the lineup were Richard Baker, CEO of fintech firm Tokenovate, a post-trade lifecycle automation platform for derivatives and securities financing transactions; and Tim Daley, strategy and transform director at Perago, a financial infrastructure transformation company.
The specialists were joined by an eager group of around 75 invite-only guests, many of whom – it became clear when they introduced themselves before asking questions – also work in the blockchain space or public services.
Lessons of DOGE
The energy at the standing-room-only summit was high, as were the temperatures in the boiling hot room of the House of Lords, a building whose lamentable air conditioning is not prepared for the challenges global warming presents – and yet a better setting for a discussion of outdated government systems you won’t find.
After some opening words on the challenge and opportunity of blockchain in government, first on the agenda was a discussion of DOGE, as both an example to follow and a source of lessons on the harsh realities of battling government inefficiency.
DOGE originally set itself the goal of finding $2 trillion worth of savings by taking a hacksaw to bloated US government departments and regulations. However, this goal was soon reduced to $1 trillion, and then later revised again to $150 billion – less than a tenth of the initial goal. It remains unclear exactly how much savings, if any, Musk and DOGE managed to make.
The House of Lords panel kicked off by pointing to DOGE as more of an aspirational model to follow, an organisation with commendable ambitious and targets – i.e., reducing waste and improving efficiency in government – but uncertain end results.
What is clearer, noted by more than one of the speakers, is the increased transparency that DOGE has brought to government. While its overall achievements may be uncertain, DOGE is – as one panellist pointed out – undoubtedly trying to do something radical, and the area it has seen most tangible success, improving government transparency, is also an area blockchain, with its immutable public ledgers, can distinguish itself.
It was noted by one panellist that blockchain, if applied across government spending, could provide every citizen the ability to see exactly how their taxes are being spent – far beyond even the transparency DOGE as achieved.
DOGE, and its erstwhile head Elon Musk, are also no strangers to another of the major talking points from the summit’s discussion: bad publicity.
Better Education and Publicity
As the evening progressed, a wide range of topics were covered, from tokenisation and sovereign systems to African blockchain adoption and the benefits of fractional ownership.
During this diverse and wide-ranging discussion, two themes were frequently returned to, the need for better education and the need for better publicity around blockchain technology.
On the latter issue, one panellist pointed out that blockchain has an unavoidable image problem, in part due to its associations with illicit finance. Blockchain is often associated with ‘crypto’, which in turn brings to mind the numerous and well publicised scandal, ponzis, frauds and money laundering schemes that plague the digital money sector – think FTX, Silk Road, and Terraform Labs, to name just a few.
However, blockchain is not just cryptocurrency and meme coins, it is the underlying technology that these are built on, which has myriad applications beyond digital money. This is the message that the sector needs to get out, according to several speakers and the furiously nodding attendees.
One panellist argued that getting mainstream media onboard with the positive side of blockchain and changing the public narrative will help government feel more comfortable implementing blockchain in public services, which is why events like Blockchain in Government Summit and London Blockchain Conference are important.
On the misuse of blockchain technology, one attendee queried how a government can account for this danger while deploying the technology at scale. In answer, a panellist with experience in public services and blockchain said that having in place standards to follow, some of which already exist, goes a long way to accounting for the risks of blockchain. They went on to note that the UK, for instance, wants blockchain firms to sit within existing anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing rules.
Another speaker took a different tact, arguing that the associations between blockchain and illicit financing are somewhat of a straw man – that, in fact, blockchain is no more dangerous than cash.
Whether based on fact or fiction, bad press exists, and the solution suggested at the summit was – unsurprisingly – good press. The panel was in agreement that getting mainstream, legacy media onboard with the positive utility blockchain can bring to public services is key to changing ‘hearts and minds,’ and ultimately to broader adoption and increasing efficiency.
The debate around the general misunderstanding of blockchain technology also relates to another of the evening’s key themes, education.
When one eager attendee posed the question, “what role does education play?” the answer from the panel was that it is “mission critical.”
Elaborating on this, it was discussed how blockchain is not a subject taught in schools, and even at higher education only a few courses exist focused on the technology. For one speaker, this presents a problem, as a lack of understanding of how the technology works means people are less likely to trust and adopt it – especially when misinformation and bad press abound.
However, another panellist, while agreeing in principle that a better understanding of blockchain would undoubtedly be a good thing, did make the counter point that the end result is still more important. Not everyone needs to understand the technology’s ins-and-outs, as long as it does its job and serves a clear purpose.
One thing that the panellists and attendees all agreed on, was the importance of positive examples to help change public opinion of blockchain, and the summit explored a few notable ones.
Positive Use Cases
One of the first and most prominent examples of blockchain enhancing government systems is in Estonia, which proudly publicises itself as “the first country in the world to deploy blockchain technology.”
Since 2012, KSI Blockchain technology, developed by Estonian-based company Guardtime, has been in use in Estonian governmental data registries such as the national health, judicial and legislative systems.
Estonia’s broad adoption of blockchain technology has not gone unnoticed. A 2019 World Economic Forum report praised the policy for its effect on government efficiency and citizen interactions with public services, saying: “Take a look at Estonia, where every citizen is given a digital identity, and almost every interaction with government takes place online. Blockchain technology ensures security and protects privacy. Bureaucracy has almost disappeared.”
This example is exactly the kind of thing many attendees of the Blockchain in Government Summit would like to see. This was made clear in the Q&A portion of the evening when the first question asked was whether the UK has sent anyone to Estonia to see how it is functioning and bring back lesson for the aging UK systems.
While the panel was unsure if the UK had been observing and learning from the Estonia example, the consensus was that it was at least aware of it, and that either way it serves as a benchmark and important success story for blockchain deployment.
But Estonia wasn’t the only positive example highlighted. One panelist pointed to how Dubai is using blockchain to make government paperless, as well as the city’s progress towards tokenising its land registry in the coming years; while yet another speaker highlighted the UK’s digital securities sandbox (DSS) as an equally revolutionary blockchain development, facilitating the use of distributed ledgers in the issuance, trading and settlement of securities in the UK.
Such examples of blockchain deployment by governments and legacy institutions are necessary to change the narrative around blockchain technology, but also to show governments and voters that it can be done and can produce results.
Regulatory Promise and Wine
Finishing on an optimistic note, the summit rounded off with several panelists pointing to regulatory developments, particularly in the US and UK, that give them hope for the future of blockchain in government.
Legislation, one panelist noted, is the “missing ingredient” to mass adoption and making innovators feel secure in their efforts to develop new technology. Up until very recently, blockchain government regulation has struggled to keep pace with the ever-evolving tech space, especially with regards to blockchain, but it is slowly catching up.
In January, the European Union’s landmark Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation came fully into force, bringing with it a tailoured regulatory framework for digital assets, and laying down a marker for other jurisdictions.
In this regard, several panellists and attendees of Tuesday’s summit were keen to note the progress the US is making, with the GENIUS Act and STABLE Act working their way through Congress and looking like they may make it to the President’s desk before the end of the year. Both these acts are focused on stablecoins regulation, which has been a priority for US lawmakers, but their progress and bipartisan support is a positive sign of a desire to provide legislation to support blockchain innovation.
Meanwhile, another panellist highlighted the UK Property Bill, which is in its final stages in the House of Commons and lays the groundwork for digital assets to be recognised within the definition of personal property, and thus protected by UK law.
It’s hoped, and expected, these legislative changes will further legitimise and support the blockchain industry, whilst growing trust amongst users and government.
With this rosy future in mind, the panel discussion portion of the summit concluded and – as did the last two summits – the event transitioned to the equally iconic venue of the Churchill War Rooms for an exclusive evening of drinks and networking, where the panel talking points were mulled over with wine and canapés.
For those who missed out on this unique experience, fear not, for the conversation will continue at the main event. Anyone looking to take part, or continue the discussions around blockchain and innovative tech’s role in public services and government can attend the London Blockchain Conference taking place on 22-23 October at Evolution London.
