Last month (September 2018), the House of Commons Treasury Committee issued a report on its inquiry into the regulation of crypto-assets. The inquiry examined, amongst other subjects, the role of digital currencies in the UK; the impact of distributed ledger (blockchain) technology; and how these should be regulated. The report recommends improvements to consumer and anti-money laundering protections (AML) when dealing in crypto-assets. The improvement will be achieved in part by extending the Financial Services and Markets Act (Regulated Activities) Order 2000 (RAO) to crypto-assets and associated activities.

‘Crypto-assets’, not ‘cryptocurrencies’

As a point of protocol, the report employs the term ‘crypto-assets’ instead of the more commonly used ‘cryptocurrencies’ on the basis that they do not demonstrate the functions of a conventional currency, such as a medium of exchange or store of value.

Crypto-asset concerns

The report also identifies a number of inherent problems with crypto-assets. It identifies the inherent risks to investments due to volatile crypto-asset markets, when compared to conventional fiat currencies. Related to this is the vulnerability of crypto-assets to market manipulation given that the exchanges currently sit outside of market abuse regulations.

There is also increased scope for hacking, which would inevitably lead to the theft of the crypto-assets. The Committee suggests that such risks were exacerbated by the lack of a deposit insurance scheme (such as the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme) to compensate investors in the event of a hack. Investors themselves have also caused losses, particularly where they have lost their passwords and have, therefore, been barred from accessing the exchange.

The Committee believes that investors and consumers are further let down by the irresponsible nature of promoters, whose advertisements are often misleading (and in some cases initial coin offerings have used celebrities to advertise the offering). The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is powerless in mitigating this, as crypto-assets, conveniently (!) fall outside of its remit.

Crypto-asset platforms were widely considered to provide opportunities for money laundering and other criminal enterprises because exchanges allow anonymous access and are not governed by the AML regulation.

Each of the above concerns is underpinned by the absence of a secure regulatory environment that affords investors and consumers sufficient safeguards.Continue Reading The dawn of crypto-asset regulation