UK FCA Releases Marketing Guidelines for Crypto Companies, National Crime Agency Recruiting Cryptocurrency Investigators Simultaneously

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK announced the "Crypto Assets Promotional Guidance" yesterday to ensure that cryptocurrency companies clearly understand all the requirements and regulations they must comply with. The guidance emphasizes multiple times on the specific and concise disclosure of "risks." Additionally, the National Crime Agency is also seeking to recruit cryptocurrency investigators, even though the salary may not meet the expectations of the community.

FCA Releases "Guidance on Cryptoasset Marketing"

Due to the confusion and chaos caused by the new crypto regulations that came into effect in October, the FCA has issued the "Guidance on Cryptoasset Marketing."

Reportedly, the guidance clarifies more detailed specific measures of marketing regulations, while also consolidating the key issues and responses from consultations between the FCA and industry representatives from June to August this year. Key points include:

1. Companies must provide appropriate risk warnings in all promotional content targeting UK customers to alert investors of risks.
2. When products are claimed to be backed by physical assets, companies need to provide evidence through independent audits or reserve proofs to demonstrate their legitimacy and stability.
3. For financial promotions such as lending, companies must disclose specific risks, including complex revenue models, and provide clear evidence about potential returns.
4. Companies must clearly indicate changes in the legal and substantive ownership of assets to customers.
5. Companies must conduct due diligence on the promoted crypto assets to ensure they are not associated with fraudulent activities.
6. Companies must not use their regulatory status to claim or imply a competitive advantage over other companies.

FCA Consumer Investing Director Lucy Castledine stated in a statement:

We have engaged extensively with industry firms and designed this guidance to enhance compliance for cryptocurrency companies. Overall, the new rules for promoting cryptocurrencies to UK consumers will align with existing rules for other high-risk investments.

In addition, the FCA has indicated that it has added non-compliant companies to a warning list and pledged to take enforcement action against companies that have not carefully approved advertisements.

Affected Companies Adjusting Business Operations

Reports indicate that with the various crypto regulatory measures introduced by the FCA over the past six months, the success rate of crypto companies applying to operate in the UK is less than 15%, forcing entities to make changes.

Some businesses choose to continue operating locally, while some find it difficult to comply and decide to exit the UK market.

A few weeks ago, a UK company, Rebuildingsociety.com, authorized by the FCA to promote crypto asset business on behalf of Binance UK, suddenly had its authority restricted by the FCA to approve crypto advertisements, prompting Binance to find new authorized institutions to work with. Prior to that, they had suspended new user registrations and product listings.

Furthermore, up to 10 cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase and OKX, are having their ads approved in the UK through the trading platform Archax. However, whether Archax, as an authorized ad approval entity, will continue to operate remains uncertain.

Coindesk points out that these sudden changes have left crypto companies confused about which entities have the correct authority to assist them in compliance.

UK National Crime Agency: Recruiting Cryptocurrency Investigators

Meanwhile, the UK National Crime Agency is also recruiting six cryptocurrency investigators to form a specialized digital assets team responsible for investigating and tracking related criminal cases.

The recruitment website shows that these investigators need to understand cryptocurrencies and their operations, be able to effectively track address dynamics on the blockchain, and provide colleagues with investigative tools, strategic advice, and professional guidance for cases.

In terms of salary, the authorities are offering £42,000 to £45,000 (approximately $51,000 to $55,000) and have faced widespread criticism from the crypto community:

The basic salary for this position is too low and may not attract top talent in the field.

They are also concerned that "these people will quickly figure out how to make more money in cryptocurrencies while avoiding being investigated by colleagues."