The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), also known as the UK’s Financial Watchdog, has undertaken once again another step to combat unlawful crypto activity.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recruited an entire team of Bitcoin (BTC) Experts to better train its personnel on detecting financial crimes using cryptocurrencies, per the most recent development in the UK’s crypto crackdown.
The watchdog has set aside £500,000 to engage Bitcoin (BTC) Experts as consultants, who will help the watchdog gain entry to a blockchain analytics platform and coach personnel on how to detect terrorist rackets and money laundering among other cryptocurrency crimes.
The FCA “requires access to specialist services to support the analysis of crypto-asset blockchain data” according to the website update issued by the UK government.
UK regulators have previously allocated quite a lot of funds to crackdown on crypto, most recently back in July of 2021. The FCA announced the commencement of an £11 million digital marketing campaign geared specifically at alerting younger crypto investors about the risks and volatility in the cryptocurrency sector.
CEO Nikhil Rathi during his address at the ‘FCA’s Our Role and Business Plan webinar,’ conveyed that the UK regulatory system has grave reservations about the significant growth in the number of younger investors dabbling in the volatile cryptocurrency market. Rathi claimed that, as the use of technology to encourage investments has exploded, the regulators now face a critical need to develop a comprehensive set of rules and safeguards to protect consumers.
Rathi emphasized that “when technology is used to promote new investments to consumers, it is essential that the right controls are in place. We’ve seen an explosion among younger people speculating on cryptocurrencies or other high-risk investments. In the last year, we published research that found nearly 2.5 million people in the UK had bought crypto assets.”
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