Crypto.com gets UK regulatory approval

By Elizabeth Howcroft

LONDON (Reuters) -Singapore-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com has registered with Britain’s financial services regulator, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Joining the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) register means that Crypto.com has approval to offer crypto asset services and products to customers in the United Kingdom in compliance with anti-money laundering and “terrorist” financing rules.

The United Kingdom is a “strategically important market for us”, said Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek, citing an increase in crypto adoption in the country and the government’s agenda to make Britain a hub for crypto assets.

As authorities around the world are grappling with how to regulate the crypto sector, firms are racing to register with financial watchdogs.

Cryptocurrencies are not regulated in the United Kingdom and there is no compensation for consumers who lose their digital assets.

The FCA has previously faced a backlash in the crypto sector after turning down registration applications from scores of crypto companies.

Last month the watchdog said it would always be “hawkish around consumer protection” when it comes to crypto.

More than a trillion dollars has been wiped off the global cryptocurrency market capitalisation so far in 2022, according to CoinGecko data, as major central banks have raised interest rates, prompting investors to ditch riskier assets.

Crypto.com, which has 50 million customers globally, registered in South Korea last week and in Italy in July.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft, editing by Sinead Cruise and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)