PayPal scores UK crypto license after brief local Bitcoin buy halt

Global payment giant PayPal has received approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to offer crypto services in the United Kingdom.

According to official FCA data, PayPal has been registered to offer “certain crypto asset activities” in the U.K. since Oct. 31, 2023.

According to the register, PayPal has requirements or restrictions placed on the financial services activities that it can operate.

“This includes, but is not limited to, ceasing on-boarding new customers and restricting existing customers to hold and sell functionality,” the information on the FCA register reads.

“The firm cannot expand its current offering in crypto assets,” the register notes, adding that it’s “including, but not limited” to crypto exchange services, participation in initial coin offerings, staking, peer-to-peer exchange and decentralized finance activities such as lending and borrowing.

PayPal reportedly became the fourth firm to receive the FCA’s crypto registration in 2023 after Interactive Brokers, Bitstamp, and Komainu. The license acquisition comes shortly after PayPal briefly paused the ability for its U.K. customers to buy cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in early October. The firm told Cointelegraph in August that it was working to comply with new regulations in the country.

Related: UK publishes plans for stablecoins regulation

The United Kingdom has been noticeably emerging as a major cryptocurrency economy. According to an October 2023 report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the U.K. is the biggest crypto country in terms of raw transaction volume in Central, Northern and Western Europe. According to a study by the crypto tax platform Recap, London was the world’s most crypto-ready city for business in February 2023.

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