PayPal UK Gains FCA Crypto Registration, Paves Path to UK Crypto Market
PayPal UK has scored a major win in the cryptocurrency world. It’s now registered with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This moves PayPal UK Limited closer to performing particular cryptoasset tasks within the UK. If a business wants to get involved in this market, it must have registration approval. Plus, it must follow the FCA’s strict rules against money laundering.
Empowering PayPal in the UK’s Crypto Market
In 2023, PayPal became the fourth company to obtain FCA registration for crypto, following Interactive Brokers, Bitstamp, and Komainu. This lets the company work in the UK’s crypto market and comply with new marketing rules for crypto communications.
Earlier, the company stopped UK crypto buys temporarily to obey these rules. It’s important to understand this suspension isn’t attached to the crypto-register inclusion. A PayPal representative confirmed this.
The PayPal spokesperson explained:
The Financial Conduct Authority has approved PayPal UK Ltd as an authorized electronic money institution and consumer credit firm and registration as a crypto asset business, enabling the transfer of PayPal’s U.K. customer accounts to this new U.K. entity from PayPal Europe on 1 November 2023.
Even so, PayPal UK has some restrictions. It can’t grow its current crypto services into things like staking, swapping crypto assets, joining initial coin offerings, or taking part in decentralized finance tasks like lending. This can only happen with clear approval from the FCA, as stated on the authority’s official webpage.
The company seems to be steadily advancing in its continual change process. The firm’s third-quarter outcomes outdid analyst forecasts, with altered earnings buoying up by 20% compared to last year to $1.30 per share and revenue reaching $7.4 billion, just as predicted. The overall payment volume grew by 13% up to $387.8 billion, though the entire count of active accounts dipped slightly, losing four million, to land at 428 million.
Following these positive financial outcomes, PayPal raised its full-year earnings forecast and introduced Jamie Miller as its new chief financial officer, underscoring its commitment to sustained growth and innovation in the fintech sector.
Related Reading | FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Found Guilty Of All Seven Fraud Charges