James Dewar, an accountant and Partner at Bridge to Bitcoin, when asked about Visa’s vision of linking digital IDs to payment argued that another major concern is the concentration of power. He said, “We need to call out the unholy alliance of mega corporations and consultancy firms cosying up to governments to sell them their advice services and help build technological, legal and regulatory moats jurisdiction by jurisdiction. Whether this is in the realm of CBDCs, AI or Digital IDs. They are conspiring to aggregate power in their interests instead of innovating their products and services to benefit customers using open technologies in a free and competitive environment. Profiting from the latter may be harder work, but it is important to understand that in the digital world this is the only route through which 8 billion people will gain and retain their liberty”.

The Labour Party conference illustrated how closely government and financial incumbents are aligned on identity and payment systems. Lucy Rigby MP, now the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, described digital assets and identity as part of the UK’s strategic infrastructure. Speakers stressed interoperability and verification as foundations of the next stage of financial services.

The question of whether the Treasury should consider a strategic Bitcoin reserve to strengthen the UK’s economic position was put directly to Lucy Rigby, but went unanswered.

Peter Kyle MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said that Britain should aim to build the first trillion pound business in the UK. His remark overlooked the fact that Bitcoin already exists at that scale as a global asset class. The contrast highlights the policy gap. While some ministers focus on digital identity tied to payments as a framework of control and verification, Bitcoin operates outside that framework, open to anyone with a device and an internet connection.

International examples show how far different countries are already leaning into Bitcoin. In the U.S., President Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the plan is to treat bitcoin held by the government as reserve assets, not simply liquidate them. Congress has since introduced the BITCOIN Act of 2025 to formalise and expand those policies, including potential acquisition of up to one million BTC over five years. El Salvador has adopted Bitcoin as legal tender and continues to hold it as a reserve asset.

These cases offer policy paths the UK could study, not necessarily to copy, but to see how sovereign Bitcoin exposure might be used strategically to aid growth and innovation.

Ben Cousens, founder of Antidote, the UK’s first Bitcoin incubator and accelerator for startups, says “Policy can be a lot more than just “buy bitcoin”. The UK government has repeatedly referenced its own mandate for national renewal and growth—messages we can surely all get behind. The trick is in how to facilitate and drive that growth, where establishing a productive and favourable regulatory regime for business alongside sensible guidelines for consumers should play a major role. Growth comes from enabling and empowering those who create economic value, and Bitcoin has a 15-year track record of enormous value creation that the UK should participate in whole-heartedly.”

Britain, with some of the highest electricity costs in Europe and billions of pounds in sovereign bitcoin holdings, faces both challenges and opportunities. Energy prices shape its prospects in energy-intensive sectors from AI to bitcoin mining, areas that governments worldwide are tying to future growth. While the Labour Party conference was underway, a representative of the Tony Blair Institute was asked how the UK could reconcile ambitions to be an AI and digital superpower with such high energy costs. The reply was that this remained ‘aspirational,’ a reminder that political ambitions are often not matched by practical delivery.

The same gap between promise and reality is evident in financial policy. On one side, digital ID is promoted as inclusion, even as civil liberties groups warn of exclusion. On the other is bitcoin, with billions of pounds now in government custody, permissionless and global. The petition against digital ID shows the strength of public concern, while the court case confirms that bitcoin is already a state controlled asset worth billions.

Whether Britain recognises it or not, these holdings place it in the global race to define the future of money, a race in which identity linked systems and permissionless networks are pulling in very different directions. The outcome will shape economic sovereignty for decades to come.