FCA to Brits: withdraw your cryptocurrencies before January 10, 2021

The British supervisory authority FCA will supervise the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing in companies exchanging money for cryptocurrencies from 10.01.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX. The problem is that it has not kept up with the verification of applications for years of legally operating entrepreneurs, which may result in ... penalties not only for companies, but also for individual investors.

As you can see, we can expect bizarre statements from supervisory institutions not only on the Polish market. Because the FCA threats against the cryptocurrency sector cannot be called otherwise. Financial Conduct Authority From January 10 of the coming year, it will supervise the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing also in companies that exchange traditional money for cryptocurrencies and in those that store them. However, the new FCA guidelines are not everything, because the date 10.01.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX also means that all companies operating in the cryptocurrency and digital assets industry must register with the FCA. Problem? As it turns out, this is not a problem for companies, but FCA already has problems.

Whoever does not make it through our fault will have a problem ...

The FCA has just issued a statement in which we read, among other things, that the applications of companies that have dealt with cryptocurrencies and submitted registration applications before December 16 this year are still being assessed. And to a large extent they will not be judged on time. FCA is explained by the workload and problems with visiting companies due to the restrictions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, it will create an additional, temporary register of companies, thanks to which companies under verification will be able to freely continue their operations until July 9, 2021, when all applications should be finally assessed and approved.

The problem is that whoever has not submitted the application by 15.12.2020/10/2021 will not participate in the registration process at all. What does it mean? Companies will have to return all cryptocurrency funds to their clients and cease operations by January XNUMX, XNUMX. Whoever does not, will pay a penalty. Moreover, not only entrepreneurs are at risk, but also investors who hold funds or part of funds in cryptocurrencies. Private individuals FCA, in turn, urges them to withdraw their funds immediately. It is not hard to guess that this can lead to large losses and even unstable bankruptcies in this industry. Who will be to blame for this? Certainly not FCA - assures the regulator.

“Many cryptocurrencies are highly speculative and can therefore depreciate quickly. The FCA is not empowered to protect consumers regarding cryptocurrency businesses. Even if the company is FCA registered, we are not responsible, among other things, for ensuring that cryptocurrency companies protect customer assets " - highlights the FCA.

So what are the customers to do? The Financial Conduct Authority recommends checking whether the companywhere they deposit cryptocurrencies is the FCA registry. In fact, in one of the two registers, because there will be a main register and a provisional one… Checking, however, can not change much, because there are entities that can operate in Great Britain without registering with the FCA. It is enough that the company is registered in another country. Nevertheless, FCA urges customers to withdraw funds deposited in cryptocurrencies from such companies by January 9, 2021 at the latest.