- The UK’s crypto U-turn
- UK crypto utilization
Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK’s largest funding platform, has issued an anti-crypto assertion, arguing that digital belongings shouldn’t be included in investor portfolios, the Monetary Instances stories.
The Bristol-headquartered monetary providers firm argues that Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, has no intrinsic worth, including that it shouldn’t be considered as an asset class.
Hargreaves Lansdown says that it must conduct additional danger evaluation earlier than making a choice on enabling entry to cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs) on its platform.
The UK’s crypto U-turn
The UK’s Monetary Conduct Authority (FCA) initially imposed a ban on the sale and distribution of crypto ETNs to retail traders again in January 2021 because of considerations about their volatility, valuation, and another points. These merchandise remained accessible solely to institutional gamers.
The ban was lifted by the FCA on Wednesday, that means that retail traders will now have the ability to buy the merchandise on the exchanges authorized by the regulator.
Nonetheless, the FCA nonetheless emphasised that such ETNs are a dangerous funding, urging warning.
The merchandise are anticipated to begin buying and selling later this month following the conclusion of the regulator’s assessment course of.
UK crypto utilization
Based on the information printed by the FCA on the finish of 2024, roughly 12% of all UK adults personal cryptocurrency belongings. This marked a notable improve in comparison with 2021, when solely 4% of the respondents have been crypto house owners.
Earlier this yr, the FCA printed a roadmap for regulating cryptocurrency actions.