Wallet app for Telegram has temporarily stopped serving customers in the UK

The crypto wallet’s team for the messenger has started the registration procedure with the financial regulator FCA

26.09.2024 - 09:40

3 min

What’s new? Access to the wallet app in the Telegram messenger will be temporarily restricted to users in the UK until they receive registration as a crypto service provider from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The company managing the wallet also intends to restructure, following which Wallet will become part of The Open Platform company.

What else is known? Wallet is managed by a separate team not affiliated with Telegram. It is also noted that the application for registration with the FCA has nothing to do with the case against Telegram founder Pavel Durov and recent changes to the messenger’s policies.

While receiving registration, UK Wallet users will be given the ability to withdraw funds to external wallets without fees.

Durov was arrested in France in late August and charged with a number of offenses related to activity on Telegram, including distributing banned materials and substances.

He was released on bail and agreed to cooperate with law enforcement. After France, authorities in India and Indonesia, where a significant portion of messenger users live, also began investigating Telegram.

In September, the messenger team announced that it would start handing over user data to law enforcers if there was a legally justified request. Telegram also stopped supporting the Telegraph blogging platform, citing the activities of malicious users. Durov emphasized that their share in the total number of users is only 0,001%.

FT: Pavel Durov’s arrest may prevent Telegram from going public by 2026

The company placed $2б4 billion in bonds maturing in 2026, but their value has fallen dramatically since the entrepreneur’s arrest

As for the FCA, it has a reputation as a strict regulator. Tougher rules in the field of crypto services promotion last year forced exchanges Binance, OKX, and Bybit to restrict access to services in the country. Binance later suspended the registration of new users altogether. In addition, the regulator approved only 4 out of 28 applications for crypto licenses last year.

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