Nearly 90% of Crypto Firm Applications Rejected by UK Regulator

The UK doesn’t seem to be warming up to crypto. A report released Thursday by the country’s financial watchdog said that nearly 90% of applications from crypto firms were rejected over the past year. 

The reason? Inadequate protections against fraud. 

“Over 87% of crypto registrations were rejected, withdrawn or refused for weak money laundering controls,” the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in its latest annual report. The FCA regulates financial services firms and financial markets in the U.K.

The body added that it had introduced new rules so that firms promoting crypto must do so in a way that is “clear, fair, and not misleading.”

Of 35 applications received in the past year, the FCA noted, only four were successfully registered. Nearly half, or 15, were withdrawn, and 9 were rejected.

“We have rejected submissions that didn’t include key components necessary for us to carry out an assessment, or the poor quality of key components meant the submission was invalid,” the FCA explained.

The FCA also said that it issued 450 consumer alerts against firms illegally promoting cryptocurrency in the first three months of the rules going live. 

“We continue to play a leading role internationally—shaping the global standards on crypto, sustainability, and non-bank finance, to name but a few,” the FCA added in its report. 

Back in July, the FCA hit CB Payments Limited (CBPL)—a part of Coinbase, one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges—with a £3.5 million ($4.5 million) fine for allowing “high-risk customers” to buy crypto.

The regulator claimed CBPL, which allows customers to buy digital assets on Coinbase, had been lax with its anti-money laundering (AML) controls—increasing “the risk that criminals could use CBPL to launder the proceeds of crime.”