The head of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has declared that “too many young people invest in crypto.” Nikhil Rathi, the FCA’s chief executive, made these anti UK crypto market comments during a meeting with lawmakers on Tuesday (March 25).
During the same meeting, Rathi said the FCA estimated “several million” people in the UK under the age of 35 have invested in digital assets without properly understanding the risks.
Stop buying crypto ! Buy more stocks and bonds…
The head of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority – concerned young people are investing in crypto instead of traditional assets (stocks or bonds).
He warns that crypto investments carry a high risk of “losing all your money”… pic.twitter.com/mtAqw8nZAF
— Solomon – M – Prestige (@SolomomPrestige) March 26, 2025
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UK’s FCA FUD-ing Crypto While Telling Young People To Invest In The Loss Making UK TradFi Markets
“We know it’s potentially very high-risk, and you could lose all of your money,” Rathi said in Tuesday’s meeting. He added that the FCA would prefer young people invest in equity, bonds, or other more traditional markets.
The regulator said that helping UK consumers invest more in equity or bond markets to achieve higher long-term returns was one of the four key objectives of its new five-year strategy.
Yes, you heard that right; the FCA is trying to pigeonhole retail investors into propping up fleeting British economic power – while the City boys (sorry *ahem* accredited investors) have free reign on crypto derivates.
Someone HAS to Call Out @TheFCA #UKCrypto Crusade. On Tues, FCA Exec Nikhil Rathi said ‘too many young British people invest in crypto’, and recommended propping up the FAILING UK economy by buying loss-making bonds and struggling UK stocks.
UNACCREDITED INVESTORS SAY NO. pic.twitter.com/pdqaVKW75T
— Luumuno |
UNACCREDITED INVESTORS SAY NO. 
(@samuel_cooling) 99Bitcoin’s Lead Editor, Sam Cooling, spotlights the audacity of this sentiment from the FCA, which purports to ‘protect’ investors while funneling them away from high-growth assets into underperforming British stocks and bonds.
Indeed, a closer examination of Cooling’s position reveals that since 2020, FCA-recommended assets, including the FTSE100 (the top 100 companies on the London Stock Exchange), have provided a modest +13.12% gain, while UK bonds massively underperformed at -31% returns (an active loss for investors).
By comparison, the price of BTC USD surged by +1,058% in the same period. Is it really any surprise that young British traders are ignoring the institutional mirage and making moves that actually make money? We don’t think so.
These comments come amid the ongoing $84 trillion wealth transfer from older generations to younger ones. It is expected that with this wealth trickling down to those under 35, crypto will benefit greatly as the younger generation mostly favors digital asset investment.
An October survey from investment bank Charles Schwab supports this. When asked where they would invest their money in 2025, 62% of millennials surveyed said they would invest in cryptocurrencies. American stocks and fixed-income assets were second and third, respectively.
In the same survey, older generations preferred investing first in American stocks before investing in crypto exchange-traded funds.
The UK Dinosaur Clings to Anti-Innovation Stance: Rathi And The FCA Say Otherwise – But Are They Telling The Truth?
UK regulators are driving bitcoin businesses away while other countries capitalise on the opportunity. The FCA’s blanket cryptoasset policy is crushing innovation, stifling growth, pushing companies offshore, and making the UK increasingly hostile to bitcoin businesses.… pic.twitter.com/8jVxVxnIn2
— Decentra Suze (@DecentraSuze) March 18, 2025
The FCA has gained a fair reputation for treating crypto too strictly, especially compared to other regulators in jurisdictions like the US and UAE, where the industry laws are becoming more relaxed.
Two years ago, in 2023, the FCA expanded its rules on how financial firms can market themselves. The strict rules saw firms like PayPal and Binance suspend their UK services, removing key platforms for UK investors.
The regulator also continues to reject the majority of businesses that have applied to register as crypto firms in the UK, sending its natives to more accepting parts of the world, such as the United Arab Emirates.
“We are not anti-innovation,” Rathi said. “We absolutely want to make sure the UK is an attractive place.” He defended the heavy rejection of UK businesses applying to be a crypto firm.
The FCA chief executive said that 86% of the applications were refused because they did not meet anti-money laundering standards that the UK parliament had given the FCA. However, it’s notable that in typical FCA fashion, those license-holders approved are not small start-ups but those connected with the revolving door.
This meant that it had to hold back “approvals of some of the largest firms in the world,” which led to the FCA receiving a lot of backlash. “We had a job to do, and some of those things went badly wrong elsewhere, and we didn’t allow that to happen here,” Rathi said.
In December, the FCA released an updated roadmap for crypto regulation. It calls for the agency to outline its full policy statements, including approaches to crypto staking and market abuse, in 2025.
It is yet to be seen if the UK will attempt to reverse its strict and often unfair crypto policies so as not to be left behind by Dubai and the USA.
As for now, young people trying to grow their wealth via cryptocurrency in the UK remain largely locked out – with VPN access and Palau Digital IDs forming the backbone of the grassroots response in retail to maintain market access.
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