London and Melbourne-based Coinjar has become the 11th firm registered as a crypto exchange in the United Kingdom by the market watchdog there.

The exchange on Monday was registered by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority as a Cryptoasset Exchange Provider and Custodian Wallet Provider, per a 2017 money laundering and terrorism financing law.

The FCA has taken a hard line on unregistered crypto firms, warning more than 100 firms in June and declaring that Binance can’t be supervised properly in August.

CoinJar said that crypto firms should embrace regulation and work collaboratively with the government to increase consumer confidence.

The company said it would like to see Australia adopt a similar strict licensing scheme. There’s currently a very low bar for receiving a crypto exchange licence from AUSTRAC here, involving know-your-customer policies. There is no requirements for how crypto funds should be handled, for example.

The Senate’s Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre, chaired by Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg, has been holding hearings on this issue and is scheduled to issue a report next month.

“UK is a world leader in fintech and a progressive regulator so we are very pleased to have received this recognition as part of our commitment to offering people a safe and positive experience of buying and selling digital currencies,” said Coinjar chief executive Asher Tan.

“With the establishment of the UK-Australia Fintech bridge, we hope that a similar scheme is replicated here via ASIC and AUSTRAC, with learnings from the two-year process taken into account.

“As the industry grows and innovates at a rapid pace, it’s vital that legitimate businesses are nurtured further, while cowboy operators are swiftly removed to prevent reputational damage to the industry caused by consumer scams and fraudulent behaviour.

“Cryptocurrency is not the Wild West, it’s here for good. Regulation brings long-term certainty and a wealth of investment and job opportunities to the market.

“While we are willing, ready and organised for cryptocurrency regulation in Australia, until it is brought into effect we aim to set the benchmark for best-practice in self-regulation by adhering to the spirit of the FCA obligations on home soil.”

 

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