Five million Brits now own risky crypto: City watchdog sounds alarm

Nearly 5m people in Britain own cryptocurrency despite warnings that they could lose all their money.

As it announced its latest crackdown on what critics have branded a ‘Wild West’ industry, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed 9pc of UK adults were invested in digital tokens such as bitcoin last year.

That amounts to 4.97m men and women, more than double the 2.3m who had crypto assets in 2021. 

With fears mounting that more people are taking undue risks, the FCA announced measures to make the industry safer.

It comes amid a major crackdown in the US where regulators are targeting two of the world’s largest crypto exchanges – Binance and Coinbase.

The Securities and Exchange Commission this week filed lawsuits against both, accusing Binance and its boss of ‘an extensive web of deception’ and ‘calculated evasion’ of US laws.

Today, the FCA repeats its warning that investors ‘should be prepared to lose all their money’.

Its new measures include a compulsory ‘cooling-off period’. Under advertising changes coming in from October 8, firms will need to wait 24 hours before letting new customers buy crypto assets – hoping to mitigate the number of impulsive decisions.

It also plans to ban ‘refer a friend’ bonuses used to lure novices, with the aim of guiding consumers, who may not understand that crypto is not backed by a central bank, away from a rash decision.

The FCA has been on a mission to stamp out get-rich-quick scams for crypto, as well as celebrity endorsements of high-risk and unregulated products on social media.

In a report today, the FCA found over a third of consumers regretted purchasing cryptoassets, while 46 per cent of people said their investments are now worth less than the initial purchase value. 

Sheldon Mills, executive director at the FCA, said: ‘Our rules give people the time and the right risk warnings to make an informed choice.

‘Consumers should still be aware that crypto remains largely unregulated and high risk. Those who invest should be prepared to lose all their money.’

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, said: ‘The message to crypto firms is that if they want to play in the mass market, they’re going to have to play by the rules.’

Rio Stedford, financial planning expert at Quilter, said: ‘While some have made money through crypto, and there is nothing wrong with that, those investing are taking a real gamble as they run the risk of losing everything.

‘It is particularly concerning where people are inexperienced investors and may be vulnerable to the promotions seen on social media which can be highly misleading, and it is right that those promoting crypto will soon be held accountable. 

These rules follow a significant crackdown in the US, and we could see further changes yet in a bid to protect consumers.’

But critics said the measures have not gone far enough.

Dame Angela Eagle, a Labour MP who is on the Treasury committee, said although the measures were ‘very welcome’ she was uncertain whether 24 hours was a long enough cooling-off period.

The FCA crackdown comes as the industry reels from greater scrutiny in the US. Walid Koudmani, at broker XTB, said US regulators hoped to ‘set an example’ with lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase. ‘Whatever the US does, UK regulators are likely to follow,’ he said.