October 18th Notice to Bitfinex Customers – UK Financial Promotions
announcement
On 7 June 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority published the Financial Promotion Amendment Order 2023, which extends the scope of the UK Financial Conduct Authority to include cryptocurrency assets. These rules apply to all financial promotions affecting the UK. Therefore, overseas companies do not need to actively advertise to UK-based consumers to be within their scope if the channels they utilize are accessible in the UK.
As part of Bitfinex’s commitment to operating in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, persons residing in the United Kingdom and certain United Kingdom customers will experience changes when accessing the Bitfinex website and using our products and services. Going forward, UK residents who create an account on the Bitfinex platform after November 1, 2023 will no longer be able to apply for personal account verification. Additionally, any British person believed to be accessing the Bitfinex public website from the UK will no longer be able to view certain pages providing information about various products and services, including:
- subsidiary
- staking
- Credit/Debit Card
- Lending Pro
- Bitfinex Loan
- Various ‘How to Buy’ pages, including ‘How to Buy’… : Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin
- Mobile app information page
When you try to access pages related to these services, you will be redirected to the home page of that website with the following message:
Under the Financial Promotion Scheme, UK customers will see changes to the availability of certain products and services. UK customers can no longer create new referral codes within the affiliate program. Additionally, we will aim to remove other Bitfinex services where applicable under the new rules and all affected customers will be notified appropriately.
Additionally, a disclaimer will be embedded on our website, such as when a UK customer first creates an account and attempts to access Bitfinex services. This disclaimer is placed on the sign-up page to inform customers of the risks associated with investing in crypto assets. It is stated as follows:
Cryptocurrency assets are high-risk products, so they are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.
Risk Disclaimer
Crypto asset trading is volatile and markets change rapidly in terms of price, liquidity, market depth and trading dynamics. Therefore, you should not do it unless you are prepared to lose all the money you have put at risk. Cryptocurrency assets are often high-risk products and cannot be protected if something goes wrong. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) does not protect these types of products and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) cannot consider complaints relating to these companies. Likewise, there is no guarantee that acquiring a cryptocurrency asset will be readily sellable at any time. You should do your own research before investing. It will take you about 2 minutes to review Bitfinex. Risk Disclosure Statement Alternatively, visit the FCA website for further information on crypto assets and their risks. here.
Here it is 5 questions to ask before investing. You can also visit the FCA website to find out more about how to protect yourself. here.
Bitfinex is committed to continuing to provide services to its customers while taking the necessary steps to ensure that it operates in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.