UK Financial Watchdog Moves to Ban Crypto Purchases Using Credit—Because What Could Go Wrong?

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) just dropped a regulatory hammer: no more buying crypto with borrowed cash. Because apparently, gambling with house money wasn’t risky enough.

Active traders and leverage junkies, meet your new reality. The proposal aims to curb reckless speculation—but critics say it’s another case of old finance slamming the brakes on innovation.

One thing’s clear: when regulators and crypto collide, the only certainty is volatility.

UK is ‘open for business’: FCA director

David Geale, FCA executive director of payments and digital finance, stated that these regulations aim to provide investor protections. However, he dismissed claims that the country was cracking down on the crypto industry.

“Crypto is an area of potential growth for the UK but it has to be done right. To do that we have to provide an appropriate level of protection,” David Geale, FCA.

He compared crypto with other high-risk assets and noted that, in many cases, crypto regulations offer even less protection. However, he emphasized that the country is welcoming toward crypto trading and innovation.

“I would in some ways compare this to any other high-risk investments, which if anything often have less protections . . . We are open for business”