United Kingdom could ban sale of crypto derivatives to retailers

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a British regulatory body, is studying the ban on the sale of cryptocurrency derivatives to retail investors. This was announced by the agency through the document entitled “Restriction contract for difference products sold to retail customers.”

The FCA plans to publish a consultation document (CP) to prohibit the sale of, for example, bitcoin futures, transferable securities and similar items in the critical ecosystem. Also, “they will replace the final regulation of contracts based on difference (CFD) based on cryptocurrencies”.

The FCA has studied the environment and determined that the derivatives offered to retail customers represent a risk. That is why he expects to regulate them. In fact, the agency expects investors to “save from 267 million pounds sterling (USD 338 million) to an annual amount of up to 451 million pounds (USD 570 million), according to its restrictive measures.”

The agency has been studying the strategy since 2018. In this sense, the executive director of strategy and competence of the FCA Christopher Woolard, hinted at the possible prohibition mentioned during his speech at the recent event “The Regulation of Cryptocurrency” in London.

Woolard’s statements appears in an antagonistic environment regarding the launch by Facebook of the Libra cryptocurrency, and the need for global regulatory measures.

M.Pino

Source: Cointelegraph