Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps her Department has taken to strengthen consumer protection in relation to investments in unbacked cryptocurrencies.

Since January 2020, certain cryptoasset firms have been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the UK’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (MLRs). To date, 51 cryptoasset firms have been registered with the FCA under the MLRs and there are 49 firms with current registration.

On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets that will protect consumers while supporting growth by giving industry the certainty it needs to invest in the UK. The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year.

The FCA is operationally independent from Government and is a self-financing organisation funded via a levy on financial services firms. Any costs incurred under the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime will therefore be recovered by the FCA through authorisation fees and the annual levy.