Payments giant PayPal announced on Wednesday that it will temporarily suspend purchases of cryptocurrencies in the UK until early 2024, citing stricter regulations from the country's financial regulator.
The company said customers who previously purchased crypto assets through their PayPal account can keep them on the platform or sell them at any time. However, new purchases will no longer be possible after October 1st.
PayPal said in a statement: “We are taking this action in response to new rules set by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that require crypto companies to take additional steps before customers can purchase cryptocurrencies.” said.
“We remain deeply committed to our compliance obligations, and PayPal consistently works closely with regulators around the world to comply with applicable rules and regulations in the markets in which we operate. PayPal said.
PayPal has been accelerating its push into cryptocurrencies in recent weeks, particularly in the United States. The most important development for the company is the recent launch of stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD), which the payments giant announced earlier this month.
Oliver Knight contributed reporting to this article.
Correction (August 17th 13:19 UTC): The text and subheadings make clear that travel rules against money laundering, not advertising, are scheduled to come into effect on September 1.
