Recommendation 100

However, witnesses were clear that the regulators must balance the need to work quickly to leverage new opportunities with adherence to their primary objectives, recognising that innovation can introduce new risks and consumer harms. Witnesses pointed to cryptocurrency as an example of a highly volatile product which presents a material risk of financial harm to consumers who purchase it. Soups Ranjan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sardine, told us: “One method of regulating crypto could be to think of it as any asset that has a lot of volatility. You could think of regulating it like gambling.” 162 Simon Taylor, Head of Strategy and Content at Sardine, praised the FCA’s work to clarify the consumer-facing rules on cryptoassets, telling us that: “the FCA has done a commendable job clarifying the nature of what a crypto asset is for the benefit of the UK population. There has been good work clarifying the online promotions section of the FCA handbook. There is now a register of crypto asset firms held at the FCA.” 163 Enabling innovation