The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued warnings on Wednesday against two popular crypto exchanges – Kraken and BitMEX – for their operations in the United Kingdom.
While the warning on Kraken turned out to be a major error on the part of the regulator and has since been removed, the warning against the crypto derivatives platform is still standing strong.
“We believe this firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorization,” the UK regulator stated on BitMEX warning. “Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorized by us.”
A major mishap in the part of the FCA
As Finance Magnates reported yesterday, the FCA listed emails and telephone numbers for Kraken warnings raised questions as the employees use “@kraken.com” emails rather than “@gmail.com.” The exchange pointed this out in response to the warning and also said that its brand was falsely used by the regulator while it was warning against a scammer.
However, for BitMEX both the email addresses listed by the regulator are the exchange’s official domain.
BitMEX offers digital asset derivatives instruments with 100x leverage and is facing regulatory backlash in several jurisdictions. The exchange is officially not offering services to many regions, including the United States, Hong Kong, Canada’s Quebec province, and a few more.
Notably, the name of the United Kingdom is nowhere to be seen on the restricted areas list on BitMEX’s “Terms of Services” page.
“This firm is not authorized by us and is targeting people in the UK. Based upon information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorization,” the financial watchdog noted.
The FCA’s warning highlighted that such warnings are also issued to bust scammers who are luring potential victims with investment schemes.
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