All cryptocurrency businesses must warn users of the risks of this market and bonuses to refer new people will be prohibited.
The United Kingdom will more strictly regulate the promotion and sale of cryptocurrencies to the general public, announced the regulator of the British markets, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA, for its acronym in English).
The number of people who own cryptocurrencies in the United Kingdom has doubled, reaching 10% in 2022, according to a survey commissioned by this body according to which “many of them now regret their decision.”
Starting in October, buyers will need to be explicitly told about the risks of loss in the volatile, decentralized cryptocurrency market , refer-a-friend bonuses will be banned, and a withdrawal period will be in place for newcomers. users, listed the FCA
“Our rules give users adequate time and warning to act in an informed manner,” said Sheldon Mills, an executive at the regulatory agency.
Controls in main countries
Su Carpenter, head of the British lobby group CryptoUK expressed concern, considering that the new rules that may create “excessively high barriers to entry”, harming new companies on the one hand and encouraging some groups to circumvent regulation by operating on the other. “from outside the UK”.
“The FCA follows in the footsteps of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, the US authority for financial markets), which announced legal actions against Binance and Coinbase ,” two of the main cryptocurrency sales platforms , analyst Susannah Streeter said, by Hargreaves Lansdown.
Following the boom in the cryptocurrency sector during the pandemic, the market crashed in late 2021, going from a value of around $3 trillion to just over $1.1 trillion today.
The image of the sector was tarnished by several scandals that culminated in the bankruptcy at the end of 2022 of one of the largest exchange platforms, FTX.