Kraken co-CEO warns UK rules meant to protect users now punish them: FT
Arjun Sethi, the co-CEO of major crypto exchange Kraken, criticized the United Kingdom’s crypto regulations, which he believes hinder services for their customers.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Sethi said that “in the UK today, if you go to any crypto website, including Kraken’s, you see the equivalent to a cigarette box.” He suggested that the disclaimers have a significant impact on customer experience.
Sethi suggested that disclosures slow users down and that, because of the importance of speed in crypto trading, “it’s worse for customers.” He concluded that “disclosures are important […] but if there are 14 steps, it’s worse.”
The UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) updated financial promotion regime came into force in October 2023. It introduced a “cooling-off” period for first-time crypto investors and requires firms to assess whether users have sufficient knowledge and experience before trading.
Sethi said that the rules may prompt customers to avoid investing in crypto altogether, potentially leading to missed potential gains. The FCA defended the rules, noting that “some consumers may make an informed decision that investing in crypto is not right for them — that is our rules working as intended.”
Related: ClearToken gets FCA nod for crypto settlement platform amid UK rules push
The UK is slowly opening to crypto
Despite frustrations with the FCA, the UK appears to be moving toward a broader alignment with the United States on digital-asset oversight.
Lisa Cameron, a former United Kingdom Member of Parliament and founder of the UK-US Crypto Alliance, said she believes a joint “sandbox” between the UK and the US is in development to align their crypto markets.
She came to this conclusion after discussion with US Senators and regulators and expects the sandbox’s purpose to be to “iron out some of this in terms of passporting” for crypto licenses between the UK and the US.
On Monday, the Bank of England published a consultation paper proposing a regulatory framework for stablecoins. The new legislation is focused on sterling-denominated “systemic stablecoins” widely used in payments, similar to the US’s GENIUS Act.
Related: British crypto firm KR1 eyes London Stock Exchange as UK warms to industry: FT
UK looks to the US for an example on crypto
A crypto collaboration between the UK and the US is not a new phenomenon. September reports noted that treasury authorities in the US and UK created a transatlantic task force to explore “short-to-medium term collaboration on digital assets.” Also in September, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed how the two nations could strengthen their coordination on crypto.
September also saw UK trade groups urge the UK government to include blockchain technology in a technology collaboration with the US program known as “Tech Bridge.” A joint letter by the organization warned that “excluding digital assets from the UK-US Tech Bridge would be a missed opportunity,” and that it “risks leaving Britain on the sidelines.”
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Cryptocurrency-based yield products still lag far behind their traditional finance (TradFi) counterparts, but new blockchain sectors such as liquid staking tokens (LSTs) and real-world assets (RWAs) are steadily closing the gap, according to a new report co-authored by RedStone Oracles, Gauntlet, Stablewatch and the Tokenized Asset Coalition, shared with Cointelegraph.
Only 8% to 11% of cryptocurrencies offer passive yield-generating models, indicating a significant gap compared to 55% to 65% of TradFi assets, roughly a fivefold disparity, the report found. However, stablecoins, RWAs and “blue-chip” yield tokens are rapidly closing decentralized finance’s (DeFi) passive income gap.
Emerging regulations, such as the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, passed in July, are helping the industry catch up, resulting in a rising demand for both yield-bearing stablecoins and RWAs, the report says. The GENIUS Act established clear rules for stablecoin collateralization and mandates compliance with Anti-Money Laundering laws.
“As clarity emerges, yield-bearing stablecoins are exploding: market capitalization is up 300% YoY, with new protocols launching monthly to capture the opportunity.”
RWAs, which are tokenized versions of traditional assets such as bonds or funds, are also introducing new sources of passive income as major institutions recognize the efficiency of onchain settlement.
Related: Sonic Labs pivots from speed to survival with business-first strategy
Ether and Solana LSTs gain traction
Blue-chip yield tokens, such as Ether (ETH) LSTs and Solana (SOL) LSTs, are also gaining traction by creating more capital efficiency for cryptocurrency stakers.
ETH LSTs rose from six million to 16 million in the two years leading up to November, gaining $34 billion in notional value based on today’s prices.
LSTs, such as Lido’s stETH (STETH), offer crypto stakers an equivalent of the staked token, which can be traded or deployed in other DeFi protocols, thereby creating more capital efficiency.
Related: Bitcoin ETFs roar back with $524M inflows in best day since market crash
Crypto yield-bearing assets poised for “exponential growth” in the next months
Crypto yield-bearing assets are poised for “exponential growth” in the coming months and are set to benefit from the gap between DeFi and TradFi, according to the report, which called it “crypto’s greatest opportunity.”
“As the ‘Crypto-as-infrastructure’ thesis gains traction and onchain finance proves its superior capital efficiency, yield-generating crypto assets are positioned for exponential growth,” as institutional capital will seek more “efficiency,” it said.
Yield-generating tokens, such as Solana LSTs, are also gaining traction among institutions, as they can earn a passive yield of approximately 4% on top of their holdings.
Much like Ether, Solana LSTs doubled in supply, from 20 million in January 2024 to about 40 million at the time of writing, with a total of 67% of the Solana token supply now locked in staking smart contracts.
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Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will reincorporate to Texas from Delaware, a move highlighting the respective states’ legal and regulatory environments.
In a Wednesday X post, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said the crypto exchange would move its incorporation to Texas. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Grewal wrote that the climate in Delaware’s courts had become “rife with unpredictable outcomes,” while Texas offered “efficiency and predictability.”
“This decision was not made lightly, but we’ll always do what’s best for our customers, our employees, and our shareholders,” said Grewal.
Coinbase announced in 2021, as COVID-19 restrictions lessened in the United States, that it would close its physical headquarters in San Francisco as part of the company’s “remote-first” policy.
Although the crypto exchange has since opened another location in the city and maintains offices in New York, it was incorporated in the state of Delaware.
Related: Coinbase to hire 130+ staff as it expands into Charlotte’s fintech hub
Grewal’s announcement followed Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong saying that the company would “hire about 1,000 people” in the US as a result of the country’s regulatory environment for digital assets.
Armstrong has been a regular visitor to Washington, D.C., since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, lobbying for a market structure bill and attending a White House crypto summit.
Texas as a US crypto and blockchain hub
Several cryptocurrency and blockchain companies have offices or operations in the Lone Star State, notably miners like Riot Platforms, MARA Holdings and Bitdeer. The city of Austin, the state’s capital, is also home to local offices of Big Tech companies like Meta and Google.
Cointelegraph reached out to Coinbase for comment on the Texas move, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
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This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
Thousands of job cuts at the NHS will go ahead after the £1bn needed to fund the redundancies was approved by the Treasury.
The government had already announced its intention to slash the headcount across both NHS England and the Department of Health by around 18,000 administrative staff and managers, including on local health boards.
The move is designed to remove “unnecessary bureaucracy” and raise £1bn a year by the end of the parliament to improve services for patients by freeing up more cash for operations.
NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Treasury had been in talks over how to pay for the £1bn one-off bill for redundancies.
It is understood the Treasury has not granted additional funding for the departures over and above the NHS’s current cash settlement, but the NHS will be permitted to overspend its budget this year to pay for redundancies, recouping the costs further down the line.
‘Every penny will be spent wisely’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to make further announcements regarding the health service in the budget on 26 November.
And addressing the NHS providers’ annual conference in Manchester today, Mr Streeting is expected to say the government will be “protecting investment in the NHS”.
He will add: “I want to reassure taxpayers that every penny they are being asked to pay will be spent wisely.
“Our investment to offer more services at evenings and weekends, arm staff with modern technology, and improving staff retention is working.
“At the same time, cuts to wasteful spending on things like recruitment agencies saw productivity grow by 2.4% in the most recent figures – we are getting better bang for our buck.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting during a visit to the NHS National Operations Centre in London earlier this year. Pic: PA
Mr Streeting’s speech is due to be given just hours after he became entrenched in rumours of a possible coup attempt against Sir Keir Starmer, whose poll ratings have plummeted ahead of what’s set to be a tough budget.
Mr Streeting’s spokesperson was forced to deny he was doing anything other than concentrating on the health service.
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He is also expected on Wednesday to give NHS leaders the go-ahead for a 50% cut to headcounts in Integrated Care Boards, which plan health services for specific regions.
They have been tasked with transforming the NHS into a neighbourhood health service – as set down in the government’s long-term plans for the NHS.
Those include abolishing NHS England, which will be brought back into the health department within two years.
Watch Wes Streeting on Mornings With Ridge And Frost from 7am on Sky News.
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