Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said rules governing how crypto companies market themselves to consumers should be slackened, after the digital asset industry has struggled to comply with its standards.
The UK’s financial promotions regime, which oversees communications made by companies on their websites, emails and social media posts, was widened in 2023 to include crypto firms. All crypto platforms are required to display clear risk warnings to UK-based consumers and meet higher technical standards, including a 24-hour cooling-off period for new customers.
Digital asset businesses have complained that the rules apply a standard that’s too high to meet. The regime covers any promotion that’s visible in the UK, regardless of whether the company is based there.
“It’s too onerous,” Farage said of the regime, speaking in an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday. The Reform leader has repeatedly railed against the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s markets watchdog, as part of the party’s political mission to champion crypto and financial services.
“Free things up,” Farage added. “Don’t attempt to protect investors from themselves. Just ensure they have places where they can trade and do things where the money’s not going to get stolen. That’s all we need.”
The FCA said more than a thousand warnings last year led to crypto companies amending or withdrawing their financial promotions. Earlier on Wednesday, the watchdog sued digital asset exchange HTX, whose owner Justin Sun has ties to the Trump family’s crypto projects, for unlawfully promoting its services in the UK.
The FCA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside of business hours on Wednesday.
Reform announced a Donald Trump-style foray into cryptocurrency policy in May, unveiling a slate of pledges including cuts to capital gains tax on crypto investments and the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve. The party has pledged to support the sector in a bid to attract younger voters, and some industry executives see in Farage a political backer in the mold of Trump.
“Either I’m here to support your community, or your community is here to support me,” Farage told attendees at crypto industry conference Zebu Live in London on Wednesday. “But either way, this is a trade that works for both of us.”
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