UK Regulatory Watch Dog Probes 18 Crypto Related Firms

Daily news outlet Telegraph reported 29 December that the financial watchdog of the United Kingdom, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has disclosed that 18 companies are being investigated for their crypto related activities.

In response to a request from the publication of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), the FCA said that the vast majority of its investigations into cryptocurrency-related businesses had been closed since May of this year.

Of a total of 67 such inquiries, 49 were concluded either with the issue of a warning to the participants or by admitting that there was insufficient evidence to support the suspicions of the officials.

As of November12, the statistics were accurate, added the FOI response.

Because of the ongoing nature of the proceedings, the FCA refused to reveal any information identifying the remaining 18 targets. The UK is currently in a state of upheaval with regard to its cryptocurrency economy. The desire of lawmakers to take a rather hard line on the industry has met with opposition from sources directly and indirectly involved in cryptocurrency.

In October, a report from the British Business Federation Authority argued that “bad regulation is worse than no regulation at all,” describing current government efforts as a “blunt instrument approach.”

This month, tax authorities released the first version of cryptocurrency tax advice for private investors with similar rules for later businesses. According to the Sky News media outlet, more than 300 cryptographic firms ceased to operate in the United Kingdom in 2018.

At the same time, a recent public opinion survey found that British consumers have a strong awareness of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).