Binance, OKX to comply with new financial promotions rules in UK

Major global cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and OKX have announced that they’re working to comply with new financial promotion regulations in the United Kingdom.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) enacted the country’s new Financial Promotions (FinProm) Regime on Oct. 8 for cryptocurrency firms, aiming to ensure fair, clean and transparent crypto promotions.

Binance announced on Oct. 6 that it has launched a new domain for U.K. users and partnered with the local peer-to-peer lending platform Rebuildingsociety.

In line with the compliance update, Binance’s U.K. retail users will be redirected to a localized domain starting from Oct. 8, which will only show Binance products and services that are permitted in compliance with U.K. regulations. Such products will include spot and margin trading, Binance Pay, its nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, loans and others.

However, in compliance with the new FCA rules, Binance will cease to offer products like gift cards, referral bonuses, academy and research, the announcement notes.

The changes will only apply to retail users in the U.K. and will not affect users who are exempt under the new FinProm rules, including certain institutional and professional investors.

OKX issued a statement on FinProm compliance on Oct. 6 as well. The exchange said it had reduced its token offering to around 40 assets and adopted eye-catching risk warnings on its interface. One such warning is located at the top of OKX’s main page, inviting investors to take a few minutes to learn more about the risks of crypto investment. The warning reads:

Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.

Additionally, OKX has launched a dedicated U.K. account on X (formerly Twitter). The firm has promised to mention the products and services that will comply with new U.K. regulations on the social media page.

Crypto payment service MoonPay is another industry firm working to comply with the new FinProm rules. According to MoonPay deputy general counsel Matt Sullivan, one of the biggest challenges of ensuring compliance with the rules is associated with operating a global business.

“The challenge arises in ensuring compliance with all of these new requirements in the U.K. while operating across the globe,” Sullivan said in a statement to Cointelegraph, adding:

Ensuring compliance with the FinProm rules requires localized product updates, implementation of new processes and policies, as well as education across the company. [...] There may be a bit of a ‘settling in’ period, and that initial views as to the application of certain rules may evolve over time.

Some crypto firms have apparently been struggling to comply with the new promotion rules in the United Kingdom. According to official statements issued by the FCA on Oct. 8, major crypto exchanges like KuCoin and HTX (formerly Huobi) might have been promoting their services without permission. The firms were listed among 143 entities described as “non-authorized firms” that are not allowed to operate in the United Kingdom. The warning list doesn’t reveal much apart from the statement, “You should avoid dealing with this firm.”