The Financial Conduct Authority is a British financial watchdog responsible for the integrity of the financial instruments that deliver trading services to the citizens of the U.K. This week it decided to show cryptocurrency traders who is the boss.
Without our authorisation
On March 3rd, 2020, the FCA announced that the BitMEX crypto derivatives platform is not authorized to provide 'financial services or products in the UK'. Additionally, the surveillance body highly recommends being especially wary of dealing with the firm and avoiding scams.
It was highlighted that the firm is targeting people in the U.K. The FCA claims it has information that the platform is carrying out activities which require authorization from the established order.
The FCA also outlined that it is highly unlikely that users of unauthorized firms will be able to restore their funds with assistance from the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme 'if things go wrong'.
And what about Kraken?
From the very beginning, the similar notice regarding Kraken seemed very strange to participants of the crypto market. The notices from the FCA contain e-mail addresses and phone numbers of persons related to the firms mentioned.
In the case of Kraken, every address listed belonged to Google's free Gmail e-mail service, not to the official kraken.com domain. Also, the firm Crypto Facilities Ltd that uses the brand name 'Kraken Futures' is properly registered by the FCA (No. 757895)
As a result, the FCA has now deleted the warning about Kraken from its official web-site.
Arman Shirinyan
Alex Dovbnya
