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It looks like Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority is getting ever more interested in cryptocurrency…
Whilst most stories this year about investigations into cryptocurrency-related companies have zeroed in on America and Japan, the UK doesn’t want to be left out. As such, it’s come to light that the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK is now investigating 18 different companies in the UK, who are related in some way to cryptocurrency.
The companies concerned are involved in the sale of cryptocurrencies, reports the Financial Times, and warnings have been issued too about other companies the FCA reckons are involved in investment scams. At the time of writing, the names of those companies isn’t freely available, but surely that’s just a matter of time.
As the FT notes, the FCA’s actions come in spite of the fact that cryptocurrencies are not overtly regulated under UK law as things stand. As such, for the FCA to get involved, there needs to be some kind of regulated investment part to what the firms are offering.
It’d been known that the FCA was investigating crypto firms, but was keeping its proverbial cards close to its chest. It’s said of the 18 firms in its crosshairs at the moment that it won’t be commenting further as of yet, given that its investigations are ongoing, and that there may be a commercial knock-on were its work be made public.
Still, we’d expect these investigations to come to fruition in the first half of 2019, and that should go hand in hand with the FCA seeking further powers from the UK government to allow it greater governance of the crypto sector.
SOURCE (https://cryptonewsreview.com/18-cryptocurrency-related-companies-are-facing-a-problem-in-the-uk/)