Cryptocurrency companies are dropping the United Kingdom as one of the preferred jurisdictions as the number of withdrawals of the applications for regulatory registration has increased significantly, Reuters reported.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) mandated the registration of crypto businesses, but the approval process turned out to be extremely slow. Out of many submitted applications, the British regulator only gave the green light to six crypto firms that include the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini and Arca.
In addition, the sluggish process forced the regulator to increase temporary relief to crypto companies until next March.
However, several crypto exchanges are withdrawing their applications and preparing to exit from the country. An FCA spokesperson revealed that a total of 64 crypto companies have withdrawn their applications, which is up from 51 from early June.
Chasing the Giant
The FCA itself is turning hostile towards the crypto companies. The regulator last week issued a warning against Binance, flagging that the cryptocurrency Exchange giant is illegally operating in the country.
Interestingly, Binance withdrew its registration application with the FCA in mid-May, according to the spokesperson, which might have prompted the warning.
A Binance spokesperson told the publication that the exchange giant worked closely with the British regulator to further the security and sustainability in the industry while providing the best services and protection to our users, but that certainly did not help it to gain UK operations.
Founded in 2017, Binance turned out to be a crypto giant with services ranging from spot and derivatives trading to mining and lending. Recently, Japan’s top financial market regulator flagged the exchange for illegally operating in the country.
Meanwhile, the FCA seems to be launching its crackdown on crypto companies. Recently, its head of enforcement revealed that 111 unregistered crypto companies are operating in the country. Interestingly, all of this is happening when demand for crypto is skyrocketing in the country as the number of crypto-holding adults jumped to 2.3 million.
