Digital Banking Platform Revolut Confirms it has Temporary Permit from FCA to Offer Cryptocurrency Services, Issues Update About Ripple’s XRP

UK-based digital bank Revolut notes that in 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had introduced a requirement for all cryptocurrency-related companies or businesses (in the UK) to register with the regulator to confirm that they’re adhering to the country’s money laundering regulations.

Revolut’s management pointed out that the FCA had set a deadline of January 10, 2021 for all UK crypto-focused firms to be registered or they’d have to stop providing crypto services. Revolut confirmed that it filed an application “on time during the middle part of last year, but unfortunately due to a bit of a backlog, the FCA hasn’t been able to process all UK crypto businesses’ applications by this date.”

Revolut further noted that this is why they’re informing their clients that the FCA has granted them “a temporary registration while they work through this backlog, which is valid until 9 July 2021, pending the determination of our application.” As mentioned in a blog post by Revolut, this means the bank can “continue to offer [its] crypto services to use as usual.”

Revolut added:

“We take our regulatory obligations very seriously at Revolut and welcome these regulations applying to crypto businesses. We know that well thought-out regulation in the crypto space is a good thing. The FCA’s registration process in particular is a step in the right direction as it should decrease the ability of criminals using crypto for illegal purposes like money laundering and terrorist financing.”

Revolut also mentioned that it’s hoping this will “increase the public’s perception and trust in this wonderful technology.” The digital bank claims that it’s quite experienced in “applying advanced anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing systems to [its] regulated products (e.g. payments and e-money).” Revolut noted that it applies this same technology and checks to its cryptocurrency services.

The bank also mentioned that it will make sure to keep customers updated regarding its  registration if there are any new developments.

Revolut’s management further noted that its customers might be aware that there’s been a lot of news related to Ripple’s XRP. At present, Revolut customers are still able to purchase and sell XRP on Revolut’s platform, however, the bank confirmed that several exchanges have begun to delist or halt XRP trading. Revolut says it’s “monitoring this situation closely.”

The digital bank added that its partner exchanges “continue to list XRP so you can still buy and sell XRP through your Revolut account, but please note that the situation is evolving quickly, and the price of XRP is very volatile.”

Revolut confirmed:

“If XRP was to be delisted by all of our partner exchanges, it’s likely that we would have to delist XRP as well. We might also have to halt trading with very little notice if the liquidity on our partner exchanges drops and we can no longer buy or sell XRP. This would mean you might not be able to sell your XRP balance and could be stuck with a holding for which the price could drop to zero, in a worst case scenario. We do not currently offer a service to allow you to withdraw your XRP balance to an external wallet.”

(Note: for more details on this update, check here.)