OANDA, a cryptocurrency brokerage firm based in the United States, is preparing to launch its crypto trading services in the United Kingdom through its subsidiary, OANDA Crypto. The establishment of the crypto subsidiary took place last year when the brokerage firm acquired a majority stake in Coinpass, which is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The new crypto trading platform will provide services for more than 63 cryptocurrency pairs, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), with plans to introduce additional tokens and features in the future.
OANDA’s expansion into the UK follows its introduction of crypto trading services in the US over a year ago in partnership with the popular crypto trading platform, Paxos. The company recently relocated its European operations from Malta to Warsaw, Poland, through the acquisition of the Polish broker, Dom Maklerski TMS Brokers SA, which was subsequently rebranded as OANDA TMS.
OANDA has consistently targeted regions with stringent regulatory requirements, beginning with the US and now the United Kingdom. Since October 2023, several leading crypto companies have withdrawn their services in the UK due to the new regulatory guidelines on crypto advertising issued by the FCA. Last year, crypto firms like Bybit and Revolut temporarily suspended their operations in the UK, citing the FCA’s new promotion rules.
The new advertising rules only permit FCA-registered virtual asset service providers to promote their activities in the country. Additionally, these rules necessitate significant adaptations to the online platforms of crypto firms to effectively warn potential customers about investment risks.
The FCA discovered widespread non-compliance among crypto firms in breach of the crypto promotion rules, which came into effect on October 8, 2023. Between October 8 and December 31, 2023, the regulator issued 450 consumer alerts against virtual asset companies that illegally promoted crypto.
On the other hand, Lucian Lauerman, the Head of Digital Assets at OANDA, referred to the UK market as a highly knowledgeable and active market. He further noted that the market is becoming more similar to the markets in which OANDA has traditionally operated, as the regulatory standards have been raised.
Cointelegraph reached out to OANDA for comment but has not yet received a response.