‘Use this and you’re going to die’ — Kraken co-CEO slams cigarette box-style UK crypto promotion rules as overly restrictive: FT

Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi strongly criticized the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) financial promotion regime, implemented in October 2023, stating that the required risk warnings are excessively restrictive, likening them to a cigarette box warning that says, "use this and you're going to die."

Sethi argued that the procedural hurdles, including extensive disclosures, slow down transactions and ultimately harm consumers by deterring engagement with digital assets and causing them to miss market opportunities. He noted that Kraken's UK users cannot access about 75% of the products available in the U.S., such as DeFi offerings.

The FCA defended its framework, asserting that it ensures customers understand the risks and benefits, and that requiring customers to answer questions before seeing a promotion is working as intended. Meanwhile, Kraken's UK managing director, Bivu Das, urged regulators to move faster on stablecoin and tokenization frameworks to prevent the UK from falling behind competing jurisdictions, despite the UK remaining Kraken's second-largest market.

(Source：The Block)