Nearly $1 trillion in British savings accounts could open to crypto investment as the UK Financial Conduct Authority prepares to lift a ban on crypto exchange-traded notes.
Exchange-traded notes, or ETNs, are debt instruments that track an underlying asset’s price. They are listed and traded on exchanges, and in most respects function the same way as the more common and popular exchange-traded funds.
In January 2021, the FCA banned the sale, marketing, and distribution of derivatives and ETNs that reference unregulated crypto assets to retail investors.
That ban will be reversed on October 8, a move that could vault the UK into a major player in the global crypto market.
“The UK has the potential to be the largest crypto market in Europe, especially if crypto’s eligibility for individual savings and self-invested personal pension accounts is confirmed,” Dan Gold, founder of Stratiphy, an AI-powered investment platform, told DL News.
In the UK, residents can deposit money to individual savings and self-invested personal pension accounts. Investors do not need to pay tax on investments made through these accounts, however investment options are limited to assets available on regulated exchanges.