Britain rejoins the regulated bitcoin club
In a step in the right direction, October brings the regulator’s lifting of restrictions on ETNs, allowing investors once again to benefit from tax-free ownership, writes Edmund Greaves.
The end of the ban on crypto Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) comes into effect on 8 October, marking an end to a nearly-five-year moratorium on consumer crypto ownership in UK-based tax shelters.
The FCA implemented a ban in January 2021 calling the products available “ill-suited” to consumer investors and questioning the “inherent nature of the underlying assets” accusing the likes of bitcoin of having “no reliable basis for valuation”.
Well, we’re nearly five years on and the investment case for bitcoin is largely the same.
To illustrate the breathtaking difference between then and now, if you had bought the equivalent of one bitcoin on 31 December 2020 via your ISA it would have set you back just shy of £20,000.
Today, that same purchase will cost you over £84,000 – a 320% increase. An equivalent trade in the S&P500 would have heralded a 77% increase while the FTSE 100 would have seen 44% growth.
Those who held it on ban day I imagine have kept very studiously in their positions. ‘Diamond hands’ I believe is the internet vernacular!
For anyone else in the UK who decided to invest in bitcoin in the intervening period, the FCA ban would have exposed them to tax liabilities and the risks of investing in ways that its own regulations couldn’t touch.
Word on the street has been that platforms have been reluctant to enable access to the slew of bitcoin products that will now come back on the market – despite many of them having been reliably available to institutional and professional investors for some time in the UK. The opening up is also subject to prospectuses being approved by the regulator.
It is the right step for the FCA to ease up its restrictions on bitcoin products, especially given investors will now be able to enjoy ownership with tax-free benefits. But we can’t forget that, in my view, the regulator made fundamentally a poorly judged decision that has helped no one in the meantime.
Finally, Mouthy Money has a very special surprise guest coming up on the podcast. We’ll be interviewing one of the first companies looking to launch their consumer bitcoin product back into the regulated market once the ban lifts. Keep up to date on our channels to ensure you don’t miss it!
What’s coming up in October 2025
October 2025 is looking set to be a busy month. Fortunately we won’t have either the Budget or a rate decision from the Bank of England though.
Free Wills Month begins on 1 October, when members of the public aged 55 and over can have their simple wills written or updated free of charge in selected locations across England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
On 5 October is the HMRC deadline to register for Self-Assessment Tax Returns.
The ONS Labour Market Overview is on 14 October while ONS Monthly GDP estimates are on 16 October.
On 22 October we’ll get the New Living Wage rates update announcement on the same day as ONS UK monthly inflation figures
On 25 October the new Labour Party deputy leader is announced.
The latest U.S. interest rate decision is on 29 October.
Finally, 31 October is Halloween. But this year it is also the HMRC Self-Assessment Tax Return paper deadline and World Savings Day.
All the best wishing you a colourful Autumn from all of us here at MRM, Octo Members and Mouthy Money.