UK: New Report Warns Over ‘Bad’ Government Cryptocurrency Regulation

Published at: Oct. 29, 2018

U.K. businesses and analysts have hit back at government plans to regulate cryptocurrencies and related technology, describing them as a “blunt instrument approach,” British daily news outlet the Telegraph reported Monday, Oct. 29.

Calls to step up the level of power the country’s finance regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has over cryptocurrency — which Cointelegraph reported on in September — allegedly focus on consumer protection and anti-money laundering (AML) policy.

Now, a joint report from the British Business Federation Authority (BBFA), venture capital fund Novum Insights, and fintech expert Hazem Danny Al Nakib has urged caution about overly far-reaching regulation.

According to the document seen by the Telegraph, “bad regulation is worse than no regulation at all,” with the implication of knock-on effects for the wider U.K. fintech scene.

“It is a very blunt instrument approach and I haven’t seen this in other countries,” BBFA chief executive Patrick Curry told the publication, adding:

“The use of this technology is still a voyage of discovery and these technologies are being refined for different types of use. My concern is the law of unintended consequences.”

The Telegraph reports that the U.K. has so far been slow to get to grips with its domestic cryptocurrency ecosystem, despite London being home to some of the industry’s well-known names such as trading platform eToro and exchange Bitstamp.

In March, the FCA initiated a cryptocurrency “task force,” the premise of which was to assess “what to do about” the phenomenon, FCA chairman John Griffith-Jones said at the time.

Cryptocurrencies, he added, had “the potential of causing consumer harm unless brought within the regulatory perimeter.”

Tags
Aml
Related Posts
Crypto Fights for Freedom in India’s Supreme Court, Critics Cite Risk
Following the session that took place last August, a three-judge panel from India’s Supreme Court reconvened once again this week to discuss the much-hyped Crypto v. RBI case. During the last hearing, the Supreme Court had asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to clarify its position as to why exactly it enforced a nationwide banking ban on the country’s crypto market, as well as to discuss the seemingly unconstitutional nature of its aforementioned move. Ever since the RBI decided to go ahead and issue its controversial prohibition order, a number of public and industry-led petitions have been filed by …
United States / Jan. 19, 2020
FATF to Strengthen Control Over Crypto Exchanges to Prevent Money Laundering
Today’s Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) announcement focused on digital currency’s role in money laundering and heightened regulation, as Secretary Steven Mnuchin noted in his closing remarks. The FATF — an intergovernmental organization that focuses its efforts on fighting money laundering — is planning to strengthen control over cryptocurrency exchanges to preclude digital currencies from being used in money laundering and related crimes. U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said that the new measure will require that crypto assets service providers comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) procedures in the same way traditional …
Bitcoin Regulation / June 21, 2019
Binance Partners With Blockchain Analytics Company CipherTrace to Enhance AML
The world’s third-top cryptocurrency exchange by adjusted volume, Binance, announced that it has partnered with blockchain analytics company CipherTrace. The partnership was announced in a blog post published on April 11. Per the announcement, the partnership is meant to strengthen the company’s regulatory compliance by enhancing its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures. The post claims that CipherTrace also serves regulators, financial institutions and auditors. Cointelegraph reported in March that the Malta Financial Services Authority has appointed the company to monitor activity by crypto businesses in Malta. CEO of CipherTrace Dave Jevans is quoted in the announcement as stressing the importance of …
Bitcoin Regulation / April 11, 2019
Study: 14% of Major Crypto Exchanges Are Licensed by Regulators
Only 14 percent of 216 global crypto exchanges were confirmed as being licensed by regulators, regulatory technology (regtech) startup Coinfirm found in its crypto exchange risk report released on March 27. Coinfirm, а London-based regulatory tech firm for digital currencies and blockchain, studied 216 global cryptocurrency exchanges to outline the key risks that can be associated with each platform, as well as to assist monitors in developing necessary regulatory frameworks. The analyzed exchanges reportedly represent more than 90 percent of global crypto market activity. In the study, Coinfirm evaluated the exchanges into seven categories of risk, including license and authorization, …
Adoption / March 28, 2019
Japan’s Financial Watchdog Publishes Results of Its On-Site Crypto Exchange Inspections
Japan’s financial watchdog, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has published the results of its on-site inspections of cryptocurrency exchange operators, Cointelegraph Japan reports August 10. Based on its findings, the watchdog has decided to apply more rigorous oversight into new applications from exchanges hoping to receive an official operating license. Newly registered exchanges will be required to undergo on-site inspections at an early stage and the agency plans to closely examine the effectiveness of their business models. According to the agency, there are currently “hundreds” of companies awaiting its review. The FSA probe revealed that exchange operators’ maintenance of their …
Bitcoin Regulation / Aug. 10, 2018