Crypto.com secures UK registration for ‘cryptoasset activities’

by · August 16, 2022

Digital asset exchange Crypto.com has just received the green light for “certain crypto-active activities” in the UK, after receiving registration confirmation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Tuesday.

According to an August 16 entry in the FCA’s Financial Services Register, ‘FORIS DAX UK LIMITED’ has been registered to carry out “certain crypto-active activities”, while also receiving money laundering regulatory status.

FORIS DAX UK LIMITED is listed as the registered UK trading name for Crypto.com.

Details of the registration are scarce at the time of writing and Crypto.com and the FCA have yet to comment on it, but the FCA website suggests that businesses conducting crypto asset activity in the UK must register to comply with money laundering, terrorist financing regulation and transfer of funds.

As defined by the FCA, cryptoasset activity includes the exchange of cryptoassets for money or money for cryptoassets, or the automation of a machine to do so, and the exchange of cryptoassets for cryptoassets.

On the other hand, the FCA has also compiled a list of 248 UK businesses that appear to be conducting crypto-asset activity that are not registered with the FCA for anti-money laundering purposes.

Existing businesses in the UK were required to be registered with the FCA by 9 January 2021 in order to continue to operate, and businesses that have applied but are still having their applications processed were granted provisional registration.

The FCA has enforcement powers which allow it to investigate and impose financial sanctions on non-compliant companies.

Crypto.com, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange operating globally with over 50 million users, has been chasing regulatory milestones at a breakneck pace lately.

The UK registration follows pre-registration for crypto trading platforms seeking regulatory approval in Canada on Monday and approval as a Virtual Asset Service Provider in the Cayman Islands on August 11.

On August 8, the exchange also achieved registration of the Virtual Asset Service Provider and the Electronic Financial Transaction Act in South Korea following the acquisition of the payment service provider ‘PnLink Co., Ltd.’ and the virtual asset service provider ‘OK-BIT Co., Ltd. ‘.

With these and other additional regulatory milestones, Crypto.com appears to be pushing to be seen as a safe and reliable exchange within the digital asset market, and CEO Kris Marszalek has been open about their progress.