The Treasury’s consultation asks respondents whether staking should be considered similar to cryptoasset lending, which is likely to be regulated as a priority with rules that bring it closer to traditional loans.
Revolut already lets customers invest in more than 100 different cryptocurrencies – nine times as many as it offered a year ago. It launched its crypto staking service last week, offering returns of between 2.99pc and 11.65pc with users locking their cryptocurrency holdings up for a month.
Revolut’s foreign exchange and wealth business, which include revenues from cryptocurrency trading, rose from 19pc of its total sales in 2019 to 31pc in 2020. The company is months overdue in filing its accounts for 2021, although it has said they are finalised.
Staking involves cryptocurrencies being pledged to help maintain the blockchain that powers the technology. Online exchanges often pool multiple users’ holdings together when staking on their behalf, and US regulators have said this makes the service similar to lending and thus regulated.
Revolut finally received approval to run its cryptocurrency business in the UK in September, earning a place on the FCA register of crypto asset businesses, but is yet to secure a UK banking licence.
An FCA spokesman said: “Cryptoassets are high-risk and anyone who purchases them should be prepared to lose all their money.”
Rishi Sunak has said he wants to make the UK a cryptocurrency hub, but his ambitions have come up against sceptical regulators and banks, and cryptocurrency companies have warned that lenders are blocking them.
In a letter to the City watchdog and the Treasury, seen by The Telegraph, Crypto UK attacked British banks for issuing “blanket bans” on customers transferring or receiving payments from crypto-related companies.
