Britains’ financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will not regulate Bitcoin (BTC) as a part of its recent guidance on crypto assets. On July 31, the FCA issued its finalized policy statement on cryptocurrencies in a document titled “PS19/22: Guidance on Cryptoassets.” The document represents an updated version of a consultation paper on crypto assets that was first released for public comment in January 2019, and intends to bring more regulatory clarity to existing types of digital assets. In the document, the FCA considered major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) as “exchange tokens,” describing them as types …

Major European crypto exchange Bitstamp has partnered with digital asset brokerage BCB Group to enable direct transfers in British pounds sterling (GBP). A press release shared with Cointelegraph on July 29 revealed that following the new partnership, United Kingdom-based investors will be able to make GBP withdrawals and deposits directly to and from their Bitstamp accounts by the end of this year. In a statement, BCB Group founder and CEO Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie said that the partnership aligns with the company’s broader aim of providing robust and frictionless services infrastructure “covering compliance, trade execution and settlement and custody for clients …

After two arrests in one week, John McAfee says he wants to run for President of the United States and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom simultaneously. McAfee: ‘I am one of the few’ On July 26, the same day when McAfee revealed his “record” second arrest in a week, the U.S. presidential candidate expressed his intention to run for UK Prime Minister too, stressing that he is one of the few people still alive who could qualify. The well-known Bitcoin (BTC) bull and cybersecurity pioneer tweeted: “Can a person run for, and be, President of the United States and …

United States cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has hired the ex-managing director of over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform B2C2 to head of development at its new Bitcoin futures operation. Kevin Beardsley, who previously led the United Kingdom-based company for a year, will now oversee Kraken Futures’ expansion as volumes hit $2.5 billion in June. Beardsley confirmed the news linking to comments he made to cryptocurrency news outlet The Block. “Being a pretty wide range of different types of participants, I have a pretty good understanding of what people are looking for and how to meet those needs,” he said. Kraken acquired its futures …

Cyber criminals have been sending scam emails claiming to be from the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and promoting crypto assets investments, financial market-focused platform FT Adviser reported on July 22. The letter impersonating the FCA is entitled "Guaranteed chance to earn" and features the watchdog’s logo and branding. After reading that "Bitcoin is still a long way off its peak price of $20,000, which it reached in 2017, but some cryptocurrency experts believe it could hit an even higher value by 2020," it offers recipients to follow a link labelled "Click her." The FCA has reportedly confirmed that …

Damian Collins, a senior official at the British Parliament and known critic of Facebook, wants to probe the firm’s crypto project Libra. Damian Collins says Libra is going to be open to massive fraud Collins, chairman of the British Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, who led an 18-month investigation into the company following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, reiterated his negative stance to Facebook in an interview with Financial News, a London-focused financial news outlet, on July 22. A Member of Parliament (MP) at the lower house of the United Kingdom’s Parliament, Collins pointed out that Libra would …

Fiat-crypto exchange Binance Jersey has listed a proprietary GBP-backed stablecoin, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on July 19. ‘Overwhelming demand’ for stablecoin diversification Listing of the Binance GBP Stablecoin (BGBP) confirms earlier indications that the major industry player had its sights on imminently issuing its own fiat-pegged assets, starting with a cryptocurrency 100% backed by the British pound. Binance Chief Financial Officer Wei Zhou has given an official statement, in which he noted that: “There has been an overwhelming demand in the market and Binance community for more stablecoin diversification, including a GBP-pegged stablecoin.” Zhou added that …

Economist and anti-cryptocurrency pundit Nouriel Roubini has recently declared that there is “overwhelming evidence of rampant fraud and abuse” in the crypto space. Roubini, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, also took aim specifically at the compliance policies of crypto exchange BitMEX in an essay entitled “The Great Crypto Heist.” The essay was published by opinions publication site Project Syndicate on July 16. According to Roubini, anonymous sources from within BitMex told him that criminals perform a massive amount of money laundering on the exchange: “BitMEX insiders revealed to me that this exchange is also used daily for …

United States cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has abruptly imposed a minimum deposit amount of 1,000 British Pounds ($1,240) for United Kingdom account holders, staff reportedly confirmed in private emails on July 16. Report: Coinbase suspends faster payments deposits in U.K. Coinbase, which previously allowed U.K. users to deposit fiat funds via the country’s Faster Payments settlement system, has now suspended the service, they said. Instead, users must use the standard international transfer option, sending funds via SWIFT, subject to a minimum payment amount of 1,000 GBP. In the emails seen by Cointelegraph, Coinbase support staff did not disclose the motivation for …

The United Kingdom Finance Minister Philip Hammond said that regulators and not lawmakers should decide on how to regulate Facebook’s stablecoin Libra, CNBC reported on July 15. In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Hammond said that lawmakers should not decide to require the social media giant Facebook to acquire a bank license as it is “an issue for regulators to determine, not for politicians to determine.” Hammond said that Libra could be “a very positive thing” once it is properly regulated, and added: “We’re not going to turn our back to it or try to stop it. We’re going …

While we often get to hear about how cryptocurrency adoption is rapidly gaining ground in the West, a number of countries across the Middle East — such as Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia — often tend to get overlooked, despite them having made tremendous strides when it comes to establishing regulatory frameworks that are geared toward the optimal utilization of this burgeoning asset class. For example, a recent report by Asia Times has revealed that the UAE is one of the few nations in the world where the local government has placed special emphasis on promoting the …

The CEO of financial advisory giant deVere Group said positive cryptocurrency regulation should form a central part of the post-Brexit United Kingdom. Nigel Green made the comments in an interview with fintech news outlet Verdict on July 9. DeVere, which has around $10 billion of assets under advice, is concerned the U.K. will end up in recession in the event of a no-deal Brexit, which politicians have promised could happen as soon as October. “The growing cryptocurrency market has already provided tangible economic benefits to other major economies,” Green said. He added: “Post-Brexit Britain will be uniquely placed to go …