Bitget re-enters the UK market under FCA rules

What’s new? One of the largest centralized crypto exchanges (CEX) Bitget has resumed operations in the UK, bringing the website into compliance with local legislation on the promotion of financial services. Bitget restricted access for local customers after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) extended strict standards on financial product promotion to crypto firms last October.

Material by Cointelegraph

What else is known? Under FCA rules, crypto companies must ensure that their advertising is clear and not misleading, as well as adequately inform consumers about the risks associated with investing. In addition, unregulated overseas platforms can only promote their services through FCA-authorized local companies.

Thus, exchanges must find an authorized agency to collaborate on promotional materials and get approval to advertise their financial services.

Industry representatives responded by calling compliance with these requirements complicated and costly. Crypto exchanges Binance and Bybit suspended operations in the country after they came into effect.

In turn, Bitget suspended services to British customers in May this year. At that time, the company noted that it needed time to bring the website into compliance with the new regime.

As a partner, Bitget chose Archax agency, registered with the FCA in 2020. It gave the exchange approval to advertise its services in the second quarter of this year.

Bitget can now promote cryptocurrency and tokenized real-world asset (RWA) trading and storage services in the local market. The guidance noted that Bitget offers trading of over 150 tokens in the UK, which is double the number of other local exchanges.

In general, the FCA is known for its fairly strict approach to crypto regulation. As of September 1, 2023, crypto firms in the local market were required to hand over customer information when making transfers to identify suspicious transactions. Overall, the FCA approved only 4 out of 28 crypto license applications last year.

In September this year, the Wallet app for Telegram temporarily stopped serving customers in the UK in order to register with the FCA.