Overview
- Arjun Sethi compared U.K. risk pop-ups to cigarette-box warnings and argued that multi-step disclosures can worsen outcomes for retail investors during price moves.
- He estimated the current regime blocks access to roughly 75% of crypto products for U.K. users, citing limits on areas like DeFi staking and lending.
- The FCA’s 2023 rules require prominent risk warnings, introduce deliberate “positive frictions” including knowledge checks, and prohibit trading incentives.
- The FCA said the measures help customers make informed choices, noting some may decide crypto is not suitable and that this would reflect the rules working as intended.
- Kraken said it will not offer tokenized shares of private companies, holds an FCA Electronic Money Institution license, and the regulator has recently pursued enforcement including a lawsuit against HTX.