The new rules would cover crypto-related admission to a trading platform, making a public offer, executing payment transactions or remittances, arranging deals, operating a platform, custody, and mining transactions, or operating a node on blockchain.
It would be up to the Financial Conduct Authority to decide if a foreign operator needs a physical presence in the UK. Currently, crypto firms need only show they can comply with anti-money-laundering safeguards, though this has not stopped “dark money” flowing through the sector. Surveys show that 5-10 percent of adults in Britain now own cryptoassets, an increase of more than 100 percent over the past one-two years, with participation by institutional investors also growing, the ministry said.The sector shrank dramatically last year, with the total global market capitalisation falling to below a trillion dollars from a peak of roughly $3 trillion.