U.S.-based forex pioneer OANDA is opening a cryptocurrency trading platform in the UK, registered with the country’s regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), based in London and dubbed OANDA Crypto.
It’s the summation of last year’s acquisition of a majority stake in FCA-registered crypto firm Coinpass, and will offer trading in over 63 cryptocurrency pairs, including Bitcoin, Ether, and Ripple, with plans to add more tokens and features over the course of the year, the company said.
While some crypto-focused companies tend to stay away from places like the U.S. and other heavily regulated jurisdictions, this was an attractive feature for OANDA, said the firm’s head of digital assets Lucian Lauerman.
“The UK has a high level of participation and is a very well educated and active market,” Lauerman said in an interview. “What we liked about the opportunity in the UK, when it comes to crypto, is that it’s becoming more aligned with the markets where we’ve traditionally operated. The regulatory bar has been set slightly higher.”
OANDA already offers crypto in the U.S. via a partnership with New York State Department of Financial Services-regulated Paxos. The brokerage also refocused its mainland Europe operations away from Malta to Warsaw in Poland, with the acquisition of Polish broker Dom Maklerski TMS Brokers SA, which was rebranded to OANDA TMS.
