The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the United Kingdom’s primary financial regulator, has stated that the crypto platform FTX lacks the required authorisation to offer products or services nationwide.
Despite market dips, the trading venue has been on a roll for several months. It established regional headquarters in Dubai earlier this year and subsequently launched a crypto exchange in Japan to serve local crypto traders and investors.
According to a Bloomberg report, FTX, an exchange run by Sam Bankman-Fried, is not permitted to conduct business in the United Kingdom. However, an FTX spokesperson said that it believes a scammer is impersonating the company.
Heads up: a scammer has been impersonating FTX in the UK by phone! Please only use https://t.co/ZcBNEuyQvH, https://t.co/6mG6iOFv3o, https://t.co/X88vVFRKde, etc. to access FTX, and do not respond to any phone numbers etc. FTX will never call you by phone.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) September 19, 2022
Further, the regulator asserted that the site targets individuals in the United Kingdom and that investors are unlikely to receive their money back if things go wrong. The FCA said that the country’s ombudsman could notcannot assist users in the event of a financial loss.
In April of this year, the agency mandated that all cryptocurrency companies offering services in the United Kingdom fulfil specific anti-money laundering requirements. Popular exchanges like Kraken and Crypto.com have completed this phase and gotten the watchdog’s approval.
The FCA said a year ago that Binance Markets Limited (a UK-based subsidiary of Binance) is not authorised to engage in any regulated activity in the UK. As a result, the business was instructed to cease offering derivative items.
In the following months, Binance expanded its workforce and implemented Know-Your-Customer (KYC) regulations to secure regulatory permission. The dispute was resolved at the end of August 2021, when the watchdog issued the following statement: “On June 25th, 2021, the FCA imposed requirements on Binance Markets Limited. The firm complied with all aspects of the requirements.”
