They claim to hold tens of millions of pounds of bitcoin and crypto investments made by UK customers and boast of getting approval from the City regulator.
But a Times investigation has found that some cryptocurrency firms given a green light to operate by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) often report having zero employees, have complicated foreign ownership structures, no contact details, discrepancies in their addresses and no way to properly value some investments they claim to have.
About two-thirds of investors mistakenly believe that cryptocurrency firms are regulated, which would mean investors could complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service if anything went wrong, or lodge a claim with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which can cover up to £85,000 of savings if the firm holding
