Coindesk Logo

'Very High Risk': UK Finance Watchdog Issues Statement on ICOs

'Very High Risk': UK Finance Watchdog Issues Statement on ICOs

'Very High Risk': UK Finance Watchdog Issues Statement on ICOs

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority is the latest in a wave of regulators to issue a formal warning on initial coin offerings.

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority is the latest in a wave of regulators to issue a formal warning on initial coin offerings.

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority is the latest in a wave of regulators to issue a formal warning on initial coin offerings.

AccessTimeIconSep 12, 2017, 11:30 AM
Updated Aug 18, 2021, 6:54 PM

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the latest in a wave of regulators around the globe to issue a formal warning on initial coin offerings (ICOs).

The FCA states on its website that ICOs constitute "very high-risk, speculative investments," and that, as they are largely unregulated, it may not be able to offer protection of any kind.

The warning urges investors to report any potential scams to the FCA, whilst suggesting the public should "learn more about potential benefits and challenges of the underlying technology that facilitates ICOs" via a link to in-house research on distributed ledger technology (DLT).

The statement follows similar warnings that have emerged from financial regulators internationally, such as U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Canadian Securities Administrators, Malaysia's Securities Commission, the Bank of Russia, the People's Bank of China and the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.

China's financial regulators also issued a full ban on ICOs earlier this month, in a statement which has been fully translated by CoinDesk here.

UK Justice Court image via Shutterstock

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information have been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.