The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has now issued a warning to investors against using any of the more than 100 cryptocurrency companies operating across the country without licence.
At a recent City Week 2021, held virtually, Mark Steward, head for market oversight and enforcement at the FCA, made the warning. Steward stated that 111 crypto companies operating the UK were volatile and unregulated, presenting a significant risk to both financial institutions and investors involved with them.
Steward commented:
“We have a number of firms that are clearly doing business in the UK without being registered with us and they are dealing with someone: banks, payment services firms, consumers. This is a very real risk, so we are worried about that.”
The FCA’s executive likened the current crypto market to the world-famous tulip mania in the 17th Century, adding that investors new to the cryptocurrency industry were entering it for fear of missing an opportunity that could be a boom.
UK investors with concerns about specific asset classes can often benefit from professional financial advice in Shropshire, Chester, and other parts of the country.
The warnings issued by Steward on behalf of the FCA follows recent research undertaken by the financial regulator that revealed that approximately 2.3 million UK consumers currently own crypto assets, marking a significant increase from the 1.9 million recorded last year. An earlier FCA study also identified that younger investors in the UK were making investments in crypto currency without registering the associated potential risks of such an asset.
