The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is reportedly in discussions about whether to ease its long-standing ban on prediction market platforms for retail investors, according to a report from The Times.

The FCA imposed the restriction in April 2019, arguing that many prediction markets resemble binary options—products it had prohibited from being sold to retail consumers. Now, if the FCA were to move away from that position, platforms that have been operating primarily outside the UK could see their compliance models and market access in the country change significantly.

Key takeaways

• The FCA’s retail ban on prediction market-style binary options dates back to April 2019.
• According to The Times, the FCA has contacted prediction market companies to discuss potentially lifting the restriction for UK-based retail investors.
• UK retail users have reportedly used VPNs to access platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, both operating in the US.
• Any UK regulatory shift could expose platforms to a similar regulatory patchwork risk that exists in the US.

Why the FCA’s 2019 ban matters

The original FCA prohibition was tied to how prediction markets can be structured—often as event-based contracts that pay out based on whether a specific outcome occurs. In its April 2019 action, the FCA said companies were “prohibited from selling, marketing or distributing binary options to retail consumers,” a category that includes binary options offered to individuals outside a more restricted framework.

At the time, the FCA’s executive director of strategy and competition, Christopher Woolard, described binary options as “gambling products dressed up as financial instruments.” That framing helped justify a permanent retail ban rather than a limited restriction or additional disclosure requirements.

Contact signals potential regulatory shift

In Friday’s Times report, the FCA is said to be weighing lifting the ban for UK retail investors and has reached out to prediction market companies as part of those discussions.

While the details of the proposal are not specified in the report, the fact that the regulator is engaging directly suggests the FCA may be re-evaluating whether prediction markets should remain grouped with binary options as retail products. For investors and traders, the practical implication would be the possibility of regulated or at least more clearly permitted access pathways in the UK, rather than relying on offshore services.

For platforms, regulatory engagement can be a turning point: it signals that market access could become less dependent on workarounds and more dependent on compliance with UK rules—if the FCA decides the product structure can be reconciled with its retail-protection framework.

UK users reportedly bypass restrictions

The Times report also highlights how some UK retail participants may have already been finding ways around the FCA’s limitations. It says many have used virtual private networks (VPNs) to access prediction market trading—executing trades on Kalshi and Polymarket, both of which operate in the United States.

That matters because a ban that prompts consistent circumvention can become harder for regulators to enforce in the real world. It can also create a compliance mismatch: retail users may be actively participating in markets that the UK regulator views as unsuitable, even if those users are technically accessing platforms from outside the UK’s jurisdictional boundaries.

The report notes that market analysts have projected strong growth for the broader prediction market industry. Bernstein Research, as reported by CNBC, previously speculated that total prediction market trading volume could reach around $240 billion in 2026 and about $1 trillion by 2030.

If the FCA were to loosen the UK retail prohibition, the UK could become part of that growth story—though whether it does so through outright permission or a more restrictive licensing model would likely determine how quickly retail participation expands.

US legal pressure could foreshadow the next regulatory test

Any UK relaxation would not necessarily eliminate legal uncertainty for prediction market operators. The main reason is that the industry’s structure—event contracts that resemble wagers—has triggered a regulatory and legal debate in the US between state-level gaming authorities and federal oversight.

The article notes that US challenges are already unfolding through lawsuits. Last week, New Jersey officials petitioned the Supreme Court to hear their case against Kalshi, potentially leading to clarification over how state and federal authority apply to prediction markets.

That dynamic illustrates what could happen if the FCA revises its approach: even if the UK decides to allow retail participation, the global industry still has to contend with unresolved questions about classification—whether these contracts are best treated as financial instruments, regulated derivatives, or gambling products.

As a result, UK policy changes may shift where the compliance burden falls, but not necessarily remove it. Operators could still need to design products and distribution methods that satisfy multiple regulators across jurisdictions.

What to watch next

UK readers should watch for any formal FCA consultation, guidance, or policy statements that specify what changes—if any—would be required for platforms to offer prediction market products to retail investors. Until then, the key open question remains whether the FCA will distinguish prediction markets from binary options in practice, or keep the same underlying treatment while adjusting enforcement or access channels.

Organized crime groups in Ireland have been storing cryptocurrency private keys and seed phrases in rented vaults alongside cash and luxury goods as criminals spread their assets across different forms, according to the head of the country’s Criminal Assets Bureau.

The Sunday Independent reported that Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins, who heads the Criminal Assets Bureau, said investigators had encountered the practice during their own cases and had raised the issue with Ireland’s Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee.

Gubbins said rented vaults can contain access credentials for cryptocurrency wallets alongside assets traditionally associated with criminal proceeds.

“Could be cryptocurrency keys or cash or watches or could even be passports,” he said. “Again, it’s from our experience, what we would have seen around those matters.”

Private keys allow users to authorize transactions from crypto wallets, while a seed phrase can be used to restore access to a wallet. Losing either can permanently prevent an owner from accessing funds, while someone who obtains them may be able to take control of the associated cryptocurrency.

Irish crime gangs are spreading assets across crypto and cash

Gubbins said criminal groups have turned to cryptocurrency partly to spread the risk of having their assets seized and because they believe digital assets provide anonymity.

“They believe there’s an anonymity attached to it,” he said.

The CAB chief pointed to drawbacks for criminals using crypto, including price volatility and the possibility of losing passwords or other credentials needed to access their wallets.

Despite its increased presence in investigations, Gubbins described crypto use among Irish criminal groups as “still quite basic.” Cash continues to dominate the proceeds generated by organized crime, particularly drug trafficking.

“It’s still a cash business for those engaged in drug trafficking,” he said.

Ireland has already identified digital assets as a significant financial crime risk. As crypto.news previously reported, the Department of Finance classified crypto assets as a “very significant” money laundering and terrorist financing risk in its 2026 National Risk Assessment.

The assessment cited risks including crypto-related fraud, sanctions evasion and difficulties surrounding tax enforcement, while the government set out plans for further standards covering crypto-related sources of funds.

Ireland followed the assessment in August with its first national AML strategy, which runs through 2030 and places additional attention on digital asset transactions involving self-hosted wallets and overseas crypto firms.

Under the framework, regulated crypto service providers must conduct enhanced checks on certain transfers involving private wallets. For transfers above €1,000, firms must take steps to assess whether a customer owns or controls the self-hosted address involved.

EU anti-money laundering rules tighten cash and crypto checks

The findings reported by CAB come as Ireland prepares for another stage of the European Union’s anti-money laundering framework.

EU rules taking effect in July 2027 will impose a €10,000 maximum on cash payments for goods and services, although member states can adopt lower limits. Obliged businesses handling occasional cash transactions of at least €3,000 will have to identify and verify the customer.

Crypto-asset service providers face separate customer due diligence requirements under the regulation. They will need to conduct customer checks on occasional crypto transactions worth at least €1,000, while applying identification measures to transactions below that level.

The framework brings crypto-asset service providers, crowdfunding operators and several other sectors within the EU’s updated anti-money laundering regime. It contains measures covering self-hosted crypto addresses, requiring service providers to identify and assess money laundering and terrorist financing risks linked to transfers involving them.

Ireland’s Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee is part of the preparation for the changes. Chaired by the Department of Finance, the committee brings together agencies including the Criminal Assets Bureau, Central Bank of Ireland, An Garda Síochána and Financial Intelligence Unit Ireland.

Ireland’s MiCA transition period ended in December 2025, meaning firms previously operating under domestic registrations needed authorization under the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework or another lawful route to continue providing covered services. The country’s latest crypto compliance rules have since placed more attention on transactions involving self-hosted wallets.

Professional money launderers remain part of Irish crime networks

CAB investigations have encountered professional money launderers who move funds on behalf of criminal groups, according to Gubbins.

Some operators use hawala, an informal value transfer system where money deposited with one operator in one country can be paid through another operator elsewhere without the original cash physically crossing the border.

Gubbins said professional laundering services can charge commissions of roughly 6%.

During one investigation involving the system, CAB seized €230,000 from a safe deposit box held at a private vault company.

The use of vaults for cash, luxury goods and crypto credentials gives investigators another physical component to cases involving digital assets. Although cryptocurrency itself exists on a blockchain, control ultimately depends on the credentials required to authorize access to the associated wallet.

Irish authorities have confronted that problem directly while trying to recover one of the largest cryptocurrency holdings seized in the country.

CAB works through 6,000 BTC seized from cannabis grower

CAB has been trying to access 12 Bitcoin wallets containing a combined 6,000 BTC seized from convicted cannabis grower Clifton Collins in 2019.

Collins had acquired the Bitcoin in late 2011 and early 2012 using proceeds from his cannabis operation. He divided the holdings across 12 wallets containing roughly 500 BTC each and wrote the private keys on paper before hiding them inside the aluminum cap of a fishing rod case at a rented property.

The fishing equipment disappeared after the property was cleared following his arrest, leaving authorities unable to access the Bitcoin despite having seized the assets.

Progress came in March when CAB, working with Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, accessed the first wallet containing 500 BTC. Europol provided technical expertise and decryption resources for the operation, though authorities did not disclose how they recovered access.

A second 500 BTC wallet was secured in May, taking the recovered amount to 1,000 BTC. By July, authorities had gained control of another 500 BTC, raising the total accessible amount to 1,500 BTC.

Activity connected to the holdings continued in late August, when another Collins-linked wallet moved 500 BTC worth nearly $40 million at the time. No statement from CAB, An Garda Síochána or Europol accompanied that transaction, leaving its purpose unconfirmed.

Gubbins told the Sunday Independent that more than €130 million of the roughly €360 million holding has now been realized as CAB continues working through the seized wallets.

The agency returned almost €15 million in recovered assets to the Irish exchequer last year.

Zcash price traded near $1,197 on Sept. 7 after gaining roughly 43% over the week, as its breakout above $1,000, ETF demand, and short liquidations fueled the rally.

Zcash price holds above $1,190 after 43% rally

According to data from crypto.news, Zcash (ZEC) price traded near $1,197 on Sept. 7 after one of its strongest weekly advances in recent history. The privacy coin rose by about 43% from its Sept. 1 opening price of $829.69, outperforming several major crypto assets during the period.

The rally accelerated after buyers cleared resistance near $888 and pushed ZEC through the psychological $1,000 level on Sept. 4. Price later reached an intraday high of approximately $1,230 before easing as traders took profits.

The daily chart shows ZEC opening Sept. 7 at $1,227.59 before retreating by about 2.5% to $1,197.14. Despite the pullback, the token remains well above its recent breakout zone and the daily Supertrend level at $934.49.

Chaikin Money Flow stands at 0.31 on the daily chart. A positive reading indicates that buying pressure continues to outweigh selling pressure, although the vertical nature of the advance raises the risk of wider price swings.

US-listed ETF and short squeeze support ZEC

The rally followed Grayscale’s conversion of its Zcash Trust into the ZCSH exchange-traded fund. The product began trading on NYSE Arca on Aug. 25 and became the first US-listed exchange-traded product dedicated to ZEC, according to Grayscale.

ZCSH opened a regulated brokerage route for US investors seeking exposure to Zcash without holding the token directly. Grayscale reported more than $400 million in fund assets after the launch, although part of the increase reflected ZEC’s rising market value rather than new capital alone.

Derivatives positioning amplified the spot-led move. ZEC’s break above $1,000 reportedly liquidated approximately $34.5 million in short positions within 24 hours, forcing bearish traders to repurchase contracts as prices climbed. Open interest also rose from around $1.6 billion to more than $2.4 billion during the broader advance.

Higher open interest shows that traders are adding leveraged exposure, but it does not identify whether those positions are bullish or bearish. The combination of rising leverage and thinner order books can intensify moves in either direction.

Demand for Zcash’s privacy features has provided another part of the market narrative. Earlier crypto.news reporting showed that roughly 30% of the circulating supply had moved into shielded pools by May, while shielded transactions accounted for 59.3% of activity.

ZEC faces resistance between $1,240 and $1,273

The 4-hour chart shows ZEC consolidating after its near-vertical advance. Price remains above the Bollinger Band midpoint at $1,097.81, while the upper band stands at $1,272.67.

A 4-hour close above $1,273 would indicate that buyers have absorbed the latest profit-taking. Such a move could clear the path toward $1,300 before traders test the larger $1,500 target.

The Average Directional Index is at 52.94 on the 4-hour timeframe. Readings above 25 generally indicate a strong trend, meaning the existing bullish move retains momentum. ADX measures trend strength rather than direction, however, and does not rule out a sharp correction.

The 24-hour liquidation heatmap places the nearest large overhead liquidity concentrations around $1,235–$1,245 and $1,258–$1,265. A break into those areas could force remaining short positions to close, adding market buy orders.

Downside liquidity has accumulated around $1,160–$1,168, followed by clusters near $1,148–$1,153 and $1,134–$1,140. Losing $1,160 could therefore produce a quicker drop as leveraged long positions come under pressure.

The 4-hour Bollinger midpoint near $1,098 is the next broader support. A sustained move below that level would weaken the immediate trend and expose the former $1,000 breakout area. Daily Supertrend support near $934 remains the main bullish invalidation level.

Analyst sees $1,500 after pennant breakout

Team LAMBO Charts described ZEC’s move as a breakout from a large bullish pennant that had contained price for several months. The analyst said the original $1,000 objective had already been exceeded and identified $1,500 as the next major target.

The projection represents an advance of about 25% from the current price. Reaching it would require ZEC to break the $1,240–$1,273 resistance region and establish support above the recent high.

The bullish structure would remain intact while ZEC holds above its breakout levels, according to the analyst. Failure to defend $1,098 would instead suggest that momentum is cooling and raise the risk of a retest of $1,000 or $934.

US investors also face risks beyond the chart. Zcash remains more volatile than larger cryptocurrencies, and the rapid expansion in derivatives exposure may leave the market vulnerable to liquidation-driven reversals. ZCSH is also not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, according to crypto.news, giving it a different investor-protection framework from a conventional registered fund.

ZEC therefore retains a bullish technical structure, but its next direction may depend on whether buyers can turn the $1,240–$1,273 area into support before leveraged positioning becomes overcrowded.

Solana is targeting September 9 for Transaction v1, a new format that raises the maximum serialized transaction size from 1,232 bytes to 4,096 bytes.

The increase gives developers about 3.3 times more transaction space. Solana’s official roadmap says the additional capacity can accommodate zero-knowledge proofs, large multisignature operations, batches and some onchain signature schemes.

Large operations previously had to be divided into several transactions when their instructions, signatures and account information exceeded the 1,232-byte ceiling. That process added complexity because one transaction could succeed while another step failed.

Transaction v1 could let developers combine more of those instructions into one atomic operation. Either every instruction succeeds or the entire transaction fails. The model could benefit trading routes, confidential transfers, cross-chain operations and applications processing complex cryptographic proofs.

The upgrade does not raise Solana’s limit of 64 referenced accounts per transaction. Applications can include more data and instructions, but they cannot automatically interact with more accounts.

Existing Solana transactions will remain valid

Transaction v1 is optional. Wallets and applications can continue sending legacy and v0 transactions under the existing 1,232-byte limit. Users do not need to migrate tokens, exchange SOL or complete a claim before activation.

Developers must deliberately adopt the new format to access its larger capacity. The Solana documentation identifies three supported formats: legacy, v0 and v1. Each format organizes account addresses and resource limits differently.

The v0 format uses Address Lookup Tables, or ALTs, to represent account addresses through compressed one-byte indexes. V1 removes ALTs and places complete 32-byte account addresses directly inside the transaction.

This creates a trade-off. V1 provides a larger overall envelope, but applications that rely heavily on lookup tables may spend more bytes representing the same accounts. Solana’s technical analysis found that 90% of sampled transactions would add fewer than 1,400 bytes when converted from v0 to v1.

Infrastructure providers must update their software

The main compatibility risk applies to services that read blocks and transactions. Remote procedure call providers must set their maximum supported transaction version to one. Otherwise, requests could fail when they encounter a v1 transaction.

Indexers, explorers and analytics services must also change how they retrieve resource limits. Legacy and v0 transactions place compute limits and priority-fee settings inside ComputeBudget instructions. V1 stores them in a dedicated transaction configuration.

Outdated services could therefore display incorrect information. For example, an explorer might show a zero priority fee even though the user paid one. Fee sponsors and applications that check transaction limits must read the new configuration rather than scan old-style instructions.

Applications sending v1 transactions must explicitly set compute-unit and loaded-data limits because both default to zero. Developers should test transaction construction, signing and decoding before moving production traffic to the format.

September 9 remains a targeted activation date

Solana Foundation Vice President of Technology Jacob Creech identified September 9 as the planned mainnet date. As crypto.news previously reported, the upgrade is included in Anza’s Agave 4.2 rollout.

However, the official roadmap still labels the mainnet feature as “not activated.” It also says Anza’s release schedule is “tentative and subject to change.” Testnet and devnet have already activated the feature, according to the latest Foundation status page.

The size increase comes from SIMD-0296, while SIMD-0385 defines the v1 format. Jacob Creech and Andrew Fitzgerald co-authored both proposals.

The 4,096-byte ceiling was selected partly because four kilobytes matches a common memory-page size used by validator hardware. Larger transactions will also consume additional bandwidth, although the upgrade introduces no separate fee charged per byte.

Transaction v1 remains separate from Solana’s rent reductions, shorter slot targets and Alpenglow consensus redesign. In related coverage, crypto.news reported that Alpenglow targets approximately 150-millisecond finality, with October remaining a development target rather than a guaranteed activation date.

Ethereum developers have committed EIP-8141, known as Frame Transactions, to the network’s 2027 Hegotá upgrade, putting native account abstraction on the path to becoming part of Ethereum’s standard transaction system.

Core developers moved EIP-8141 from Considered for Inclusion to Scheduled for Inclusion during the Aug. 27 All Core Developers Execution call, according to the Hegotá Meta EIP. The change gives Frames a formal place in the planned upgrade, though the proposal remains a draft and its technical details can still change before deployment.

Bitcoin remains near $79,033 as its latest pullback keeps traders focused on critical price levels. The cryptocurrency slipped from $80,530 after reaching a recent local high near $82,262. However, analyst Michael van de Poppe expects Bitcoin to avoid a deep correction despite the recent weakness.

Bitcoin Price Holds Above Key Support

Bitcoin traded around $79,033 at press time, extending a consolidation phase around the $80,000 area. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency has struggled to regain the momentum that pushed it toward $82,262 last week. However, the latest decline has not yet changed the broader technical structure identified by van de Poppe.

The recent move followed stronger-than-expected US employment data, which pressured market sentiment across risk assets. Consequently, Bitcoin retreated from its recent high as traders reassessed expectations for US monetary policy. Still, strong spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have provided additional support for the market.

Van de Poppe has maintained a positive longer-term outlook despite Bitcoin’s short-term price weakness. He considers the current consolidation a normal phase that could precede another upward move. Furthermore, he has identified levels below $74,000 as potential areas where buying activity could increase.

$82,850 Resistance Could Set Bitcoin’s Next Direction

The $82,850 level now represents an important resistance area for Bitcoin’s immediate price structure. A sustained move above that level could strengthen bullish momentum and open the path toward higher prices. Therefore, traders may use the resistance zone as an important reference during the next market move.

Bitcoin also faces several support levels that could determine the depth of any further decline. The key levels include $75,545 and $73,674, which could provide short-term support during renewed selling pressure. If Bitcoin loses those areas, the price could move toward $71,000 or potentially approach $70,000.

However, a decline below $74,000 could also create a potential buying opportunity, according to van de Poppe’s market assessment. That view suggests the analyst considers moderate weakness part of the broader Bitcoin market cycle. At the same time, Bitcoin must recover key resistance levels before confirming another strong upward move.

US Inflation Data Could Influence BTC’s Next Move

Macroeconomic conditions could play a major role in Bitcoin’s direction as markets prepare for fresh US inflation figures. The upcoming Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index reports could provide new signals about inflationary pressure. Consequently, the data could affect expectations surrounding the Federal Reserve’s future interest-rate decisions.

Higher-than-expected inflation could strengthen expectations for tighter monetary policy and increase pressure on risk-sensitive assets. Bitcoin often responds to shifts in liquidity conditions, interest-rate expectations, and broader market sentiment. Therefore, stronger inflation figures could limit Bitcoin’s ability to reclaim its recent highs.

Meanwhile, September rate-hike expectations have increased, with prediction markets placing the probability near 50%. This shift reflects uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve’s policy path following recent economic data. As a result, Bitcoin could remain range-bound until traders receive clearer signals from inflation and monetary policy.

Bitcoin’s current structure therefore centers on the $82,850 resistance and the $75,545 to $73,674 support zone. A breakout above resistance could revive bullish momentum, while a breakdown below support could expose lower targets. For now, BTC remains near $79,033 as technical levels and US economic data shape its next major move.