Two people were detained by the British FCA and Metropolitan Police Service for running a multi-billion crypto exchange.
Two London residents who are suspected of running an illicit cryptocurrency exchange have been taken into custody by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Metropolitan Police Service.
The FCA stated in a news release on Thursday that they believe the business has handled over £1 billion ($1.2 billion) worth of unregistered cryptocurrency transactions.
The names of the detained people and the identity of the exchange they were operating are withheld from the public. The police “seized several digital devices during searches of 2 residential London properties,” according to the press release, while the FCA inspected the suspects’ connected offices.
“The FCA cautiously interviewed both suspects and released on bail. The FCA’s investigation into the case is ongoing,” The Financial Conduct Authority stated.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said that it will ban crypto businesses from operating illegally in the United Kingdom by using “everything in our power,” according to Therese Chambers, executive director of enforcement and market monitoring.
Providers of cryptocurrency exchanges are required by U.K. law to register with the FCA and abide by money laundering laws in order to conduct business lawfully.
With Binance and Bybit going offline following the FCA raid, it is evident that not all foreign cryptocurrency companies have been given licenses to operate in the United Kingdom.
The U.K. Treasury released a report early in May that detailed its attempts to monitor the cryptocurrency market during the previous two years. “Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing” was the title of the paper that disclosed that the FCA investigated 238 companies between 2022 and 2023, with about one-third of its employees supervising activity linked to cryptocurrencies.
