Last summer, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was keen to provide regulatory clarity on how cryptocurrency companies can register and operate in the country – as part of his ambition to make the UK a global hub for web3.
However, months later, some companies have now suspended services or withdrawn from the UK market due to strict marketing rules from the country's financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Attorney Oliver Linch, CEO of Bittrex Global, said: “For some cryptocurrency companies, the FCA’s fairly stringent marketing rules are acting as a deterrent and may be a potential reason for them to leave the jurisdiction. Consumer protection Safety is paramount, but the best way to achieve this is to have a legal framework that is clear enough for the market to comply, and clear enough for the regulator, in this case the FCA, to enforce it.”