Financial news

Despite some concerning news emerging from the US last week with the SEC filing lawsuits against huge crypto names, on the other side of the pond, the crypto world is continuing to find success. The UK regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has allowed Bitstamp, the crypto exchange, to fully operate in the UK following the exchange’s registration.  

Since the UK Treasury marked the next stage of the UK’s approach to crypto regulation with its consultation in February, no exchange has been registered by the FCA. Bitstamp is the first. The Bitstamp group’s accomplishment is even more impressive considering that they have now registered in their 52nd country.

The FCA’s registration not only demonstrates Bitstamp’s consistency of operating at a high standard, but it only shows that the company is willing to adhere to the same anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing protections that traditional financial institutions go by.

After registering, the crypto exchange is now providing the following services to UK retail and institutional customers:

• custody cryptoassets
• the purchase or sale of cryptoassets in legal tender
• the trading of cryptoassets against other cryptoassets

Bitstamp‘s latest successful registration adds to its growing regulatory footprint as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in Europe. Over the past year, Bitstamp has obtained VASP licenses in three of the largest markets in the region: Italy, Spain, and France.

Jean-Baptiste Graftieaux, global CEO of Bitstamp, said: “We are proud to be one of a very small number of crypto exchanges being recognised by the FCA as providing the gold standard in crypto compliance to customers in the UK. With mainstream adoption continuing to be our goal, Bitstamp is establishing itself as a driving force in advocating that increased regulation is key to this journey.

“Since 2011 we have been in a strong regulatory and trusted position and have built our business around offering safety and security to all our customers. This latest registration in the UK supports our mission to be the most compliant, secure, and transparent crypto exchange for both individuals and businesses.”