The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warns UK consumers about FTX, reminding them how it has not yet been regulated and therefore authorized for Saxons.
UK: FCA warns against the FTX exchange
The Financial Conduct Authority, the counterpart of its US cousins, is in charge of safeguarding the interests of British consumers and the whole kingdom of King Charles III and boasts some 50,000 licensed financial services in the country.
Recently, Caribbean exchange platform FTX, which boasts $10 billion in daily trades and more than a million users, has caught on among many Britons who prefer it to its American cousin Coinbase and Binance for their cryptocurrency deals.
Sam Bankman Fried, co-founder of the platform based in the Bahamas but originating from Antigua and Barbuda, has not yet obtained the necessary approval to carry out its services in the territory of the Kingdom of His Majesty Charles III however many investors prefer it to carry out their trades, buy or sell NFTs etc.
The success experienced by FTX is so great and such that it has mobilized the Financial Conduct Authority to intervene in this regard so as to stem a trend that had taken hold rapidly.
The FCA, in an official statement was compelled to specify how the Caribbean platform has not yet been regulated and therefore for all intents and purposes is to be considered not to be used to carry out transactions of whatever nature and interest they may be.
The statement is aimed both at the protection of the platform that could run into unpleasant sanctions in a country with which it could operate in the future when regulation takes place, and above all the British citizens and investors who in the absence of certain rules would find themselves deprived of those protections that the law would provide them with, so as to obtain refunds from any fraud.
The security offered by FTX and the privacy guaranteed by the platform certainly will also be of the first order because it is in their interest first and foremost, but until this is ascertained, the Financial Conduct Authority will not issue authorization.
The regulator stated:
“Almost all companies and individuals offering, promoting or selling financial services or products in the UK must be licensed or registered by us. We believe this company can provide financial products or services in the UK without our authorization.”
FTX must obtain authorization to operate in the UK
Platforms that operate cryptocurrencies in the UK must comply with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Payer Information) Regulations, and this goes through registration with the FCA.
As for the solvency of the platform following any problems, the body specified that:
“You won’t have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), so it’s unlikely you’ll get your money back if things go wrong.”
Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor stated that:
“It is my ambition to make the UK a global hub for cryptocurrency technology and the measures we have outlined today will help ensure that businesses can invest, innovate and grow in this nation.”
He is echoed by his former colleague Glen when he said:
“We want this country to be a global hub, the best place in the world to start and scale cryptocurrencies.”
Everything seems to point to a rosy future for the marriage of crypto and the United Kingdom, but there remains uncertainty about the new government of the new British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not yet spoken on the matter, just as the new King Charles III understandably has not, busy with the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, which has shaken a country already so tried by Brexit.
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