🇹🇷 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the financial markets regulator in the United Kingdom, on Sunday, October 8, added several crypto exchanges to its list of unauthorized firms that customers should “avoid.”

A total of 143 new companies were added to the alert list, including major exchanges such as Huobi-owned HTX and KuCoin. The warning list doesn't reveal much other than "You should avoid doing business with this company."

However, companies licensed to "carry out crypto asset activities" in the UK must be registered with the FCA or have a temporary permit to operate. In July, Jayson Probin, head of crypto financial promotions at the FCA, stated that criminal penalties could be imposed for non-compliance:

"We will take tough action against those who illegally promote to UK consumers. This may include adding companies to our alert list, requesting to remove websites, social media accounts, apps and any other promotions that are infringing, and taking enforcement action."

In August, the FCA revealed it had received 291 registration applications since 2020 and approved just 38 of them, a rate of around 13%. There are currently 42 firms on the FCA's list of registered crypto asset providers, including Bitstamp, Revolut and Gemini.

PayPal stopped cryptocurrency transactions for UK customers before it figured out how to comply with the FCA's requirements. Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit also suspended all its services in the UK due to "regulatory changes" in late September.

🗨️ What do you think about crypto exchanges added to the FCA's warning list? Share your comments with us!