CF Benchmarks has received authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to become a Benchmark Administrator under the European Benchmarks Regulation (EU BMR).
Announced today, the company has become the first such cryptocurrency benchmark provider regulated by the United Kingdom’s financial regulator.
With this, financial service firms across Europe can use CF Benchmarks’ in any European financial products after the full effect of EU BMR on January 1, 2020.
CF Benchmarks is the first #crypto index provider to receive EU BMR authorisation from @TheFCA pic.twitter.com/msLJbTXgQa
— CF Benchmarks (@CFBenchmarks) September 13, 2019
Commenting on the development, Sui Chung, chief executive of the company, said: “We are proud to be the first regulated cryptocurrency index provider to meet the EU BMR’s stringent requirements. The industry can now gain access to regulated, high integrity benchmarks, which will spur innovation, furthering the adoption of digital assets in Europe and beyond.”
Formally known as Crypto Facilities, it is also the index provider of the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate. The company was acquired by US-based crypto exchange Kraken earlier this year for an undisclosed nine-figure sum.
“Reliable and trusted benchmarks are critical to growing the cryptocurrency ecosystem as they attract more individual and institutional investors to the asset class,” Chung added.
High demand for crypto indices
With the popularity of crypto investment rising, crypto indices are gaining attention from mainstream financial houses.
Nasdaq recently included a crypto market index developed by Exante to project the growth of a set of Blockchain companies working in the field of decentralized finance (DeFi). Also listed on platforms like TradingView and Google, the index includes projects like Augur, MakerDAO, Amoveo, and 0x.
In June, Crypto Compare partnered with Nasdaq to launch a crypto pricing product. The crypto data provider also launched an index ranking crypto exchanges in the same month.
