Investing.com - The U.S. and U.K may be taking a two-pronged approach to cryptocurrencies. Parliament's treasury committee said it is launching an inquiry into the currencies to discover their potential risks and benefits.The committee said it wanted to pursue regulation to protect investors without stifling innovation.The approach and tone is similar to that of the two top financial regulators in the U.S. in their recent appearance before Congress. The heads of the Securities Exchange Commission and Commodities Futures Trading Commission both acknowledged the groundbreaking contributions of blockchain technology to the financial sector. At the same time, they stressed the need for investor protection given the volatile and risky nature of digital coins.Both the U.S. regulators and the head of the U.K. parliamentary committee said more needed to be learned about cryptocurrencies.