-
Global
brokerage
firm
OANDA
is
officially
opening
for
crypto
trading
in
the
UK. -
OANDA
Crypto
will
be
based
in
London
and
comes
with
FCA
registration
thanks
to
last
year’s
acquisition
of
Coinpass.
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.
