Living in the UK and wondering how to buy in cryptocurrency in UK? One of the first questions on your mind may be, “Is cryptocurrency legal in the UK?” Well, the United Kingdom is one of the many nations in the world that is slowly but steadily implementing laws for regulating crypto trading. Cryptocurrency has been acknowledged by the government because of its large potential. FCA is the authority that has been appointed to regulate the trading of crypto assets in the country.
If you wish to find out ‘how to buy cryptocurrency in the UK?’, you have come to the right place. In this post, we find out the legal status of crypto in the UK, and then go on to learn about the steps to invest in crypto in the UK.
Is Cryptocurrency Legal in the UK: Crypto Regulations In UK
Before getting into the process of investing in cryptocurrency in the UK, we should be aware of the laws of the country. The country has announced anti money laundering directives for the crypto exchanges to function in the country. The government has legalized crypto assets and therefore the laws state various terms for trading purposes.
According to the anti money laundering directives, every crypto exchange has to be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. This is in line with the directions given by the government of the UK in January 2021. ‘The crypto exchanges should be having a product or asset in the market and must provide all their services to the UK residents,’ these are also the two conditions set by the government
Is Cryptocurrency Legal in the UK: Tax Laws
Now coming to how the investment from people will be treated in the UK: cryptos are treated as digital assets in the UK, and they may be subjected to both the capital gains tax and income tax, based on the nature of a transaction.
As of February 2023, for capital gains on crypto over a tax free allowance of £12,300, you must pay taxes of 10% or 20%. For other income from crypto over the aforementioned personal allowance, you might need to pay between 20% to 45% of tax. Recently, in the Autumn Treasury Statement it has been announced that the CGT allowance of £12,300 would be cut down to around £6,000 from April 2023.
How to Buy Cryptocurrency in the UK: Investing In Crypto
Now that you know ‘is cryptocurrency legal in the UK?’, you can focus on how to invest in cryptocurrency in the United Kingdom. First of all, you will need to pick a crypto exchange platform. All crypto exchanges in the UK are registered under FCA and have to comply with anti terror funding and anti money laundering directives. This makes the functioning of all crypto exchanges in the UK comparatively safer than most other parts of the world.
Steps to register on crypto exchanges
Some of the common steps that you can follow for registering on crypto exchanges in the UK and starting to invest are:
1. Sign up with your personal details as per the government documents.
2. Verify your contact number and the email.
3. Provide the necessary registration OTP and complete the formalities given by the exchange.
4. Register your bank account/credit card/other payment methods to deposit funds to the exchange wallet.
5. Add a minimum deposit to the wallet to start crypto trading.
Risks Related to Investment
Crypto investments are subjected to market risks just as much as the stocks and mutual funds. This is why it is important that you understand what all you might have to face. Crypto fraud has become quite common globally, so before using any crypto investment platform in the UK,
- check whether it has been registered with the FCA or not,
- look for all the genuine user reviews about the platform,
- check if the platform makes use of security features like two-factor authentication or not.
In case you have become a victim of a fraud, you can register your complaint directly with the FCA using the support request form.
Get Started with Investing in Crypto in the UK
We do hope this post answers questions like ‘how to buy cryptocurrency in the UK?’ and ‘is cryptocurrency legal in the UK?’, and helps you with starting to invest in crypto in the UK. If you are a beginner looking for the best exchange to start out with, Millionero can be a great help to you! Our beginner-friendly UI, easy-to-understand markets, and easily operable wallet are just some of the features that help us stand out in the industry!
Find out more about us on our website!