The United Kingdom has long been a financial mecca. Ever since the Big Bang and the arrival of Thatcherism in the ‘80s, Britain has cultivated a finance-friendly environment revolving around the city of London, with deregulation inviting a wave of foreign investment and trading activity. However, while it has even been suggested that London will overtake San Francisco as the fintech unicorn capital of the world, the U.K. has been less welcoming of crypto than it has of traditional finance.
As industry bodies like CryptoUK as well as other commentators have complained, the lack of regulatory clarity and the presence of suspicion toward cryptocurrency has been holding back the U.K.'s crypto industry. However, the situation has slowly begun to change in recent months, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updating its guidelines on cryptocurrencies, and with a series of consultations on crypto regulation due to begin toward the end of the year.