The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is looking over proposals to ban cryptocurrency-related products due to the huge factor volatility that has been more evident these past weeks than ever before. In fact, the group is actually mulling over the possibility of banning all cryptocurrency derivatives.
The FCA claims that digital currencies are far too unpredictable and pose a huge risk to investors. The rise in the price of cryptocurrencies has been often accompanied by an increase of general interest by investors. At the end of 2017, we saw a lot more people enter the market who probably never had even heard of cryptocurrency and get involved with the space. With this in mind, the FCA is concerned that many will be hurt and is moving for the ban of crypto in general.
Ban on Crypto
The UK Authority thinks that crypto products are “ill-suited to retail consumers who cannot reliably assess the value and risks of derivatives or exchange-traded notes (ETNs) that reference certain crypto-assets.” The agency went on to say the “prevalence of market abuse and financial crimes” in the crypto secondary markets are a reason for a possible ban.
The FCA has the consumers interest in mind, which is understandable with what the crypto space is known for, but a lot of investors are concerned over this. Although, the ban could incentivise these investors to look riskier options, leading to worse financial moves.
The Regulators
As reported by Be in Crypto:
“The proposed ban comes at a time when the FCA is targetting all retail access to CFD markets. Last week, the FCA made permanent the EU ban on all types of CFDs to retail consumers. The ban is set to go into effect by the end of October which is also around the time the UK is expected to leave the European Union.”
A lot of long-time investors will probably stay pretty calm despite the ban. With big players like Facebook getting into crypto, it is unlikely that this could have an extreme impact on the future of the space, although it is a step back nevertheless.
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