FCA allows five crypto firms to operate in the U.K.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated its list of crypto asset firms with temporary registration Thursday

Britain’s top financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has allowed five crypto firms to continue to operate in the U.K. with temporary registration. The deadline for crypto firms to register with the FCA was last week but these five firms’ applications are still pending.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated its list of crypto asset firms with temporary registration Thursday.

There are now five firms on the list: Cex.io Ltd., Copper Technologies (UK) Ltd., Globalblock Ltd., Revolut Ltd., and Moneybrain Ltd.

At the end of March, the British financial regulator said that it extended the registration deadline for some crypto firms to meet its regulatory requirements. At that time, there were 12 firms on the temporary registration list. Companies that are not on the latest list cannot continue to operate after April 1.

The financial regulator has registered 33 firms altogether.

We have been reviewing crypto asset firms’ applications to ensure they meet the minimum standards we expect that those who run these firms are fit and proper and that they have adequate systems to identify and prevent flows of money from crime, a spokesperson for the FCA recently commented.

Last week, the U.K. government unveiled a detailed plan to make the country a global crypto hub, and a ‘hospitable place for crypto.’

As part of the plan, the government has decided to regulate stablecoins and the chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has asked the Royal Mint to create a non-fungible token (NFT) to be issued by the summer.

Sunak opined: It’s my ambition to make the U.K. a global hub for cryptoasset technology, and the measures we’ve outlined today will help to ensure firms can invest, innovate, and scale up in this country.