- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England are collaborating to enact new crypto regulations
- Government authorities are planning to focus their efforts on fraudulent crypto activities
- Experts are saying there is a need for a more sophisticated Legislation
Experts are wary that the government’s intent to regulate cryptocurrency in the UK will do more harm than good to the fintech market as reported on 29th October, 2018.
The UK’s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England are collaborating to enact new crypto regulations to curb the fraudulent allegations involving money laundering in the sector.
No Surprises
The news hardly comes as a surprise as earlier this year, head of Bank of England, Mark Carney pitched for greater regulations to stop the wide-spreading anarchy of cryptocurrency in an interview with Bloomberg.
“The time has come to hold the crypto-asset ecosystem to the same standards as the rest of the financial system,” Governor Carney said.
What are the Experts Saying?
The MPs intention to concentrate its effort on the illegal activities affiliated with the crypto industry would see the FCA interfering with other crypto activities and assets – thus deemed as shameful by crypto analysts and experts.
The chief executive of the British Business Federation Authority, Patrick Curry has claimed that the restrictions could inevitably drive crypto exchanges out of the UK and end up towering down the State’s reputation as a fintech hub.
According to the British news outlet, Telegraph, the said report is co-authored by the British Business Federation Authority (BBFA), law firm Baker Botts, a crypto exchange named TodaQ, and venture capital fund Novum Insights who condemn that “bad regulation is worse than no regulation at all.”
There’s a Need for a More Enhanced Legislation
Commenting on the verge of legislative crackdowns on crypto, the BBFA chief executive Patrick Curry noted,
“It is a very blunt instrument approach, and I haven’t seen this in other countries.” He went on and pointed out that the use of cryptocurrency “is still a voyage of discovery and these technologies are being refined for different types of use.”
Neil Foster, a partner to Baker Botts corporate technology, suggested that the authorities should direct their efforts towards developing more nuanced legislation to avoid affecting other “crypto assets” like bonds or stocks under one legal scope. Foster believes it is through “sophisticated classification” that the industry could work out a successful regulated activity.
