Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has prohibited the sale of digital currency derivatives to retail investors, according to a Tuesday (Oct. 6) press release.
The watchdog said it released “final rules” prohibiting derivatives and exchange traded notes (ETNs) from being sold that reference particular versions of digital assets to retail investors, according to the release.
The agency said it considers those offerings to not be suitable for retail investors because of “the harm they pose,” while noting that these individuals aren’t able to dependably value them for several reasons.
The prohibition will become effective shortly after the new year on Jan. 6, 2021, and the FCA advised consumers in the country to keep being on the lookout for “crypto-derivative investment scams.”
FCA Interim Executive Director of Strategy & Competition Sheldon Mills said in the release, “This ban reflects how seriously we view the potential harm to retail consumers in these products. Consumer protection is paramount here.”
In other news, over $140 million in assets have reportedly been deposited into the ecosystem of a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that bolsters cross-chain efforts, Cointelegraph reported.
Wing is looking to develop a decentralized governance structure and risk control function to “promote an equally beneficial relationship between borrowers, creditors and guarantors.”
The platform has been based on the Ontology blockchain, while it will harness the ONT ID decentralized identity function.
Ontology Founder Li Jun said per Cointelegraph, “Ontology is really excited to work with Wing to further our shared vision of accelerating the DeFi movement across the globe.”
Furthermore, Wing is intended to add credit scores into its product design. As a result, it will be simpler than in the past to look at a complete view of the financial history belonging to an individual.
WING token holders can take part in the decentralized autonomous organization’s governance, among other privileges.