FCA files lawsuit against HTX amid crypto ad violations
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is intensifying its oversight of the cryptocurrency sector by issuing warnings to unregistered exchanges and pursuing legal action against companies serving UK residents or promoting digital assets in the country.
In October, the FCA issued hundreds of warnings to unlicensed crypto platforms, including Elite Bit Markets, Nexure Gainbit, Plux Crypto, and HTX.
On Tuesday, the agency filed a lawsuit against HTX for promoting crypto services to UK residents, an FCA spokesperson confirmed to Cointelegraph.
“We’ve seen crypto companies respond positively to our financial promotion rules; however, when we continue to encounter non-compliance, we will not hesitate to act if firms appear to be breaching our regulations,” the spokesperson stated.
Crypto companies must register with the FCA under anti-money-laundering rules and comply with the UK’s Financial Promotions Regime, introduced in 2023, to advertise or provide services to UK residents.
Strict rules for crypto advertising
The FCA classifies financial instruments into three risk categories, starting with Readily Realisable Securities (RRS), such as publicly traded companies, which carry the lowest risk and are exempt from marketing restrictions.
Restricted Mass Market Investments (RMMI) — which include most cryptocurrencies — are classified as medium risk, meaning they can be offered to the public only under strict consumer protection rules.
- These include prominent speculative risk warnings, mandatory information pages, user prompts, and Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.
- The restrictions also limit incentives or rewards offered to users to encourage participation in specific platforms or services.
Executives of crypto firms that violate UK advertising laws face up to two years in prison and other legal penalties. However, according to The Financial Times, these strict sanctions have not stopped crypto advertising in the UK.
The outlet found that nearly half of all crypto ads flagged by the FCA between October 2023 and October 2024 remained online despite regulatory warnings.
As we wrote, FCA to lift retail ban on crypto ETNs starting October 2025
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