“…Blockchain.com is now operating under the same rigorous standards as traditional finance and banks in the U.K.,” the company wrote in a post on social platform X Tuesday (Feb. 10).
This came after the firm was included in the Financial Conduct Authority’s registry of licensed cryptocurrency companies.
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“By operating as a registered crypto asset business under the FCA, we are doubling down on our commitment to security and transparency,” Blockchain.com said in the post.
Blockchain.com chose to withdraw its application for FCA licensing in March 2022 after not getting approval ahead of an impending deadline, CoinDesk reported Tuesday.
The U.K. registration lets Blockchain.com carry out certain crypto-related activities in that country so long as it adheres to money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules, the report said.
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However, the FCA’s licensing system for crypto firms stops short of full financial services authorization, something due to be included in a new licensing framework that is scheduled to go into effect in October 2027, according to the report.
The FCA has begun publishing information designed to help companies get ready for the new regulatory regime.
The new rules “will expand the FCA’s regulatory remit to include protecting consumers from poor business practices, helping to build trust in the crypto sector, and ensuring that firms are operationally resilient and prepared to fight crime,” PYMNTS reported Jan. 9. “Many of the proposed rules already apply to traditional financial firms.”
The crypto industry in the U.K. backed a decision by the FCA last year to end its prohibition on offering crypto exchange-traded products to retail investors. Members of the sector compared the move to the so-called “Big Bang” regulatory rollbacks that took place in the U.K. in 1986 and said it could usher in a “seismic shift” in the acceptance and adoption of digital assets.
In other crypto news, the industry has begun seeing investors turn their attention to prediction markets and AI companies. The shift is being fueled in part by a decline in digital asset prices, with bitcoin down by nearly half after its October high, and altcoins shedding up to 70% of their value in the last year.
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