On January 23, the Financial Conduct Authority launched a comprehensive consultation on how regulation should be applied to everything from cryptoassets and the exchanges on which they trade, to payment companies, wallet providers and the brokers seeking to benefit from the market’s growth.
https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/fca-takes-first-steps-towards-crypto-regulation-20190123
The regulator now wants to give companies active in the crypto markets “greater clarity” on applying for regulatory authorisation if they need to. It is also seeking to assess whether or not the assets themselves are financial instruments as defined by the European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II rule book.
Christopher Woolard, executive director of strategy and competition at the FCA, said:
This is a small but growing market and we want both industry and consumers to be clear what is regulated, and what isn’t. This is vital if consumers are to know what protections they’ll benefit from and in ensuring we have a market functioning as it should.