Members of parliament and crypto critics are pressuring the government to take action and crack down on the growing industry.
Football tokens are under special surveillance
According to information provided by iNEWS, UK MPs are pushing the government to take a tougher stance on the cryptocurrency industry.
“ This is the “Wild West”, a gray area between highly leveraged financial investments and products that could quite easily and reasonably be considered games of chance.Tory MP Richard Holden told News.
” Clear differentiation is needed to protect our citizens“, he added.
Matt Zarb-Cousin, a former aide to former Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, has particularly tackled the growing interest of football clubs infan tokens.
They are basically cryptocurrencies linked to a football club. Some of the biggest clubs have already spent over $ 350 million to start their own fan tokens , which aroused, however, controversial reactions.
” It’s one thing that allows football clubs to market the game to the fans, which could lead to quite a few people destroying their lives, but I think it’s rather an exceptional case. “Zarb-Cousin said. “It’s even worse to offer a way to enter the cryptosphere under the pretext of making them more autonomous in a completely unregulated field. . “
However, this is of course not the first time that the cryptocurrency industry has gone wild in the UK.
The UK’s strained relationship with crypto
Over the past 12 months, the UK has widely treated the crypto industry with skepticism.
In January 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published five concerns about the cryptosphere, including a tangible lack of consumer protection and misleading advertising.
The regulator has also cracked down on Binance, one of the largest and most well-known cryptocurrency exchanges. In 2021, the FCA clarified that it had a “huge problemBecause of the lack of Binance headquarters.
In September, the FCA redoubled its attention and claimed that the Binance platform “was not ableTo be regulated after a British entity of Binance failed to provide basic information to the regulator.
Binance has since noted that it is trying to sort out the issue with the FCA, but there is no evidence that its efforts have paid off. When it comes to misleading advertising, the FCA is not the only authority interested in cryptocurrencies.
L’Advertising Standards Authority(ASA) has spent the past 12 months suing Coinbase, Papa John’s, eToro and several crypto companies for their advertising strategies incorporating the latter.
“We see this as an absolutely crucial and priority area. Where we find trouble, we crack down hard and fastNoted Miles Lockwood, director of complaints and investigations at the ASA.
Binance, Coinbase and British brands like Papa John’s have come under scrutiny in the UK, but recently prominent London football club Arsenal FC has also come under fire following the launch of itsfan tokenAFC.
In December 2021, the advertising control body banned Arsenal FC token advertisements, claiming that they “trivialized investment in cryptoassets and took advantage of the inexperience and gullibility of consumers“.
Notwithstanding, it remains to be seen whether other well-known teams that have createdfan tokenslike Barça or Paris Saint-Germain will experience a similar setback.
Great Britain continues its specific relationship with the field of cryptocurrency. After having introduced certain prohibitions, it targets the cryptosphere as a whole. Nevertheless, we can see that the booming industry has still not received clear and precise regulations. In the meantime, we invite you to stay on Cointribune in order to be up to date!
Source: Decrypt
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Salome Guerin
If cryptocurrencies are synonymous with financial freedom, then they must play a key role in the financial empowerment of women. With the right education, crypto can be a powerful tool in fighting the battle against gender inequalities.
