Credits: CryptoAvanza
Since the beginning of January 2020, a total of 291 cryptocurrency companies have sought to be officially registered with the primary financial oversight body in the United Kingdom, known as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
However, out of these, only a mere 13% managed to successfully secure the necessary authorization to conduct their operations within the country.
On August 11th, the FCA issued a response to an undisclosed individual’s request for information, wherein four specific queries regarding the registration statistics of businesses dealing with crypto assets were posed.
The regulator’s disclosure highlighted that since the year 2020, they had received a total of 291 applications for registration. Remarkably, only 38 of these applications were granted approval. Interestingly, a substantial portion of the applications (155 in total) were voluntarily withdrawn by the respective companies themselves.
This withdrawal action is reportedly influenced by the FCA’s practice of urging firms to reapply at a later time if certain requisite criteria were not initially fulfilled.
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The FCA officially commented, “Firms are required to provide the minimum information set out under regulation 57 of the MLRs, any firm that has not provided the required information will have their application rejected.”
In the United Kingdom, companies that are authorized to engage in “crypto asset activities” are required to either register with the FCA or be granted temporary operating privileges.
In a prior instance, the FCA directed Binance Markets Limited to cease its operations within the nation and issued ultimatums of “cease activity or face escalated measures” to local operators of cryptocurrency ATMs.
As of the current time, the FCA’s roster of officially registered providers of crypto assets consists of 42 entities, including well-known names such as Skrill, eToro, and Gemini.
During the month of July, the FCA reemphasized the obligation for all crypto asset businesses in the country to align their marketing strategies with the financial promotion regulations by October 2023.
In an earlier recommendation, the FCA proposed that crypto firms adopt a marketing approach that incorporates a “cooling-off period,” giving customers time to contemplate the risks associated with investing in digital assets.
