ONE OF THE FIRST UK EXCHANGES TO BE REGISTERED AS A CRYPTOASSET COMPANY WITH THE FCA

One of the world’s longest-running cryptocurrency exchanges, CoinJar UK Limited has been officially registered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a Cryptoasset Exchange Provider and Custodian Wallet Provider.

In January 2020, new regulatory powers were introduced to allow the FCA to supervise how UK cryptoasset businesses manage the risk of money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. Now these businesses must be registered and comply with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs). 

While more than 150 businesses applied for the Temporary Registration Regime, CoinJar is very pleased to be one of the first crypto exchanges to be officially registered with the FCA. 

Headquartered in London’s Canary Wharf, CoinJar has actively structured its UK team to meet its compliance obligations, including hiring a dedicated UK Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), along with other compliance staff.

Asher Tan, CEO of CoinJar said,  “We are a long-established, highly regarded crypto exchange, so we are very pleased to have this official recognition by the FCA and to be one of the first to have received it.  As a business that embraces regulation and innovation in equal measure, the establishment of a clear regulatory framework from the FCA gives CoinJar long-term operating certainty in the UK, benefitting our investors and company partners.” 

In a sign of the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency, an estimated 2.3 million UK adults now hold cryptoassets, a rise of 400,000 since last year.  

Tan continues, “As the UK cryptocurrency market expands and matures, we can offer people a positive experience of buying, selling and trading digital currency. Alarmingly, there are still few legal crypto options here and far too many people are having bad experiences with shady companies that have no chance of ever being regulated. The FCA has said that a significant number of businesses aren’t meeting the money laundering regulations and an unprecedented number of companies have withdrawn their applications.”

Under the new regulations, any investor can check the FCA’s public register to ensure that a crypto company is operating legally.  There are three simple steps to check a company’s current licensing status:

Step 1: Check if the firm is on the Financial Conduct Authority Register or list of firms with temporary registration.  

Step 2: If they aren’t on the FCA Register, ask them if they are allowed to carry on business without being registered.

Step 3: If they aren’t allowed to carry on business, the FCA suggest withdrawing your crypto assets and/or money, as the firm is now operating illegally.

CoinJar, which was originally established in Australia, will be launching a number of new products in the UK this year including a white label service for businesses to provide state-of-the-art backend digital currency processing, and the consumer-focussed CoinJar Card Mastercard, which allows users to spend their crypto like cash, online and in-store.

Since establishing itself in London, Coinjar has signed a sponsorship agreement with Brentford Football Club, who are playing in the Premier League for the first time this year.  This is in addition to their partnership with Aussie Rules footy premiership contenders, the Melbourne Demons, who coincidentally are enjoying their best season in years.