Payments giant PayPal will stop allowing UK customers to buy cryptocurrencies through its platform from October, as the company struggles to comply with new rules on cryptocurrency promotions.
Britain’s financial watchdog is set to introduce tougher rules to limit how cryptocurrencies can be advertised to British consumers, including requiring cryptocurrency companies to issue warnings about risks and scrapping “refer a friend” bonuses.
In an email to customers on Tuesday, PayPal said it would “temporarily suspend” customers’ ability to buy cryptocurrencies on its platform starting Oct. 1 as it works to meet new regulations that went into effect on Oct. 8. . It said it expected to restart in “early 2024”.
“PayPal always works closely with regulators around the world to comply with applicable rules and regulations in the markets in which we operate,” the company told customers in an email, which shared a copy of the email with Reuters.
It says customers can hold and sell their cryptocurrencies “at any time.”
Cryptocurrency media outlets including CoinJournal reported the news earlier.
PayPal will launch cryptocurrency buying and selling services in the UK for the first time in 2021.
Regulators around the world are increasingly looking to regulate crypto assets after several crypto firms, including FTX, collapsed last year, leaving amateur investors with huge losses.
After a sharp drop in the token’s price last year, top cryptocurrency bitcoin is gradually recovering, up around 76% so far this year. Still, its price is less than half of its all-time high reached in November 2021.
Earlier this month, PayPal’s stock got a boost when it announced the launch of a U.S. dollar stablecoin, a cryptocurrency designed to keep its price constant by pegging it to a stable asset.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from syndicated feeds.)
Svlook
