YouHodler is regulated in the EU (Italy) and Switzerland, and does not have a regulated UK entity. YouHodler is NOT regulated by the FCA, and protections offered under UK law do not apply. YouHodler promotions are not targeted at UK investors, and bonuses or loyalty programs like the rewards programme or sign-up offers will not be available to residents of the UK. Do not invest with YouHodler unless you’re prepared to lose all your money invested. Crypto Currency is considered as a high‑risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2min to learn more.

Why is YouHodler changing its relationship with UK customers?

YouHodler is a regulated entity in Switzerland and the EU(Italy), and is not an FCA regulated entity; so it has neither a UK regulated entity, nor does it at this point in time have a UK based company, branch or subsidiary. YouHodler, for UK purposes, is considered as a foreign crypto services firm, regulated in other countries, not the UK.

However, it is important to us at YouHodler that we comply with all laws that apply to us. Therefore, in compliance with the updated Financial Services Promotions Regime, as issued by the FCA, which applies to all Crypto Services Providers with a customer base in the UK, as of 8 October 2023 YouHodler will be making some changes in how it interacts with UK residents.

What is the FCA and why do they have the right to affect the relationship?

Per their website, https://www.fca.org.uk/ The Financial Conduct Authority is the conduct regulator appointed by the UK government for the protection of investors in the UK. They are the regulator for around 50000 UK financial services firms and for the overall financial markets in the UK, setting out guidelines and regulations for the financial industry. According to the FCA's website, their goal is to ensure honest and fair markets for individuals, businesses of all sizes, and the UK economy as a whole.

The FCA has updated its rules concerning financial promotions. Per the FCA “The Government has legislated to bring crypto assets within scope of the financial promotion regime. This is an important measure for ensuring consumers understand the risks of investing in crypto assets.” The regime applies to all Crypto Assets, “ regardless of the name given to them”, since Crypto-Assets are considered as a High risk class for consumers to invest in.

Why is YouHodler changing its relationship with UK consumers if it is not regulated by the FCA?

YouHodler is NOT regulated by the FCA, and instead regulated by the equivalent Swiss, Italian and Cypriot Regulators (the SRO Polyreg under FINMA in Switzerland; and Banca d’Italia and the Register of Financial Agents and Credit Mediators in Italy, (and CYSEC in Cyprus for AML). This means that UK consumer protection laws do not apply, and the company instead applies the relevant Swiss and Italian/EU Laws to its products and services, including Swiss/Italian/Cypriot anti-money-laundering regulations. Under Swiss law, for example, customer assets must be segregated from company assets. However, UK laws and protections, which UK customers may be more familiar with, do not apply.

While the UK guidelines, which came into force on 8 October 2023, expressly allow UK customers to access crypto platforms regulated by foreign regulators, the FCA has updated its regime for financial promotions to UK consumers, and has brought in strict guidelines on promotions to UK consumers by crypto services platforms, including from foreign crypto services platforms based in other countries, like YouHodler. This means that the regulations can apply to YouHodler’s communications with UK residents. The FCA says: “We expect that the vast majority, if not all, websites and apps that enable a UK consumer to invest in cryptoassets will be in scope of the financial promotions regime “

Promotions which are considered Financial Promotions should not be made to UK customers without approval of a registered and approved FCA regulated firm which is authorised to approve crypto marketing and communications materials as an ‘S21 approver’. Beyond that, there are rules on certain promotions, behaviour or offers that should never be made to UK consumers by a financial services firm, as they are considered to unfairly influence consumers who have capital at risk.

These regulations affect some of our products, as any form of rewards are considered as inducements to invest. This means that a limited number of our services will no longer be made available by YouHodler to offer UK residents, and that includes to existing customers who have already experienced those services, as of 8 October 2023.

What is the main change in YouHodler’s relationship with UK customers? Which Products are affected?

We will be both amending our landing pages and UK Social media in order to comply with the new regime, which is aimed at consumer protection, and will also be limiting the products and services that we can offer to UK residents, in compliance with the new laws and guidelines.

Fortunately, we are still able to offer UK residents the majority of our trading services and products. Services which are still enabled include:

The Products which will no longer be available to UK retail users, in line with the regulations, which are targeted at consumer protection, include:

Why are you taking away these products which I have used before?

Per the FCA Guidelines, any promotion or product which offers a consumer any monetary or non-monetary incentive to invest is to be considered as an unfair financial promotion, since it can influence people’s behaviour when they have capital at risk. This includes payouts like new customer bonuses, special discounts or similar. However it also covers certain products since they have included offering ongoing rewards in the definition of unfair incentives - thus Mining, for example, can no longer be offered. This is to make sure that your investment decisions are your own, and not influenced by the company, when your Capital is considered at risk. In order to respect the guidelines and UK law, YouHodler will be disabling services that we believe fall under this criteria.

Why are promotions and giveaways no longer being offered to UK clients?

Per the Guidelines, any promotion or product which offers a consumer any monetary or non-monetary incentive to invest is to be considered as unfair, since it can influence people’s behaviour when they have capital at risk. The ban on giveaways applies even when there is no requirement to invest to gain the benefit, and regardless of the rationale for offering the incentive, This means that giveaways and prize-draws will no longer apply to UK customers moving forward even where it is a random selection. This change is being made in order to respect the FCA guidelines and UK law.

We will be both amending our landing pages and UK Social media in order to comply with the new regime, which is aimed at consumer protection, for full transparency, redirections will automatically occur if a UK customer attempts to interact with a promotion which, under the new regime, cannot be applied to them (for instance if a UK customer finds a promotion that could not apply to UK residents which is targeted at EU customers). This should lead you to these explanations and relevant risk warnings. We want to make sure that our UK customers do not feel misled by content that cannot apply to them.

Why are UK customers receiving less communications from YouHodler from October 8 2023 onwards?

While UK customers will be receiving less promotions and communications from us, YouHodler wants to make sure you know that our amazing Customer Support team will always be there to support you in-app or on our website with any technical issues or complaints. We will also be building UK targeted Pages and communications, tailored to the Products, services and needs of UK customers. This may mean that, for a while, there will be reduced levels of communication.

Any changes to UK customer Products or services will be communicated. If new products are introduced, clear explanations of the products will, as always, be available on our help articles and by talking to customer support.

What if I’m a UK citizen living abroad, or a foreign national who is no longer a Resident of the UK?

The legislation only applies to residents of the UK.

If you wish to formally change your country of residence on file, Please contact customer support, who will guide you through the process. It is best to prepare a recent proof of address (Utility bill, government communication - a bank statement or mobile phone statement will not be sufficient), as well as proof of your formal residence in the new country (e.g. Residence permit or Citizenship documentation, Confirmation from a tax authority, Payslip including tax deductions from a foreign authority)

The FCA has an explanatory page on Crypto assets available here which may be useful to UK consumers who intend to invest in crypto assets.

As a rule of thumb, the guidance from the FCA is that consumers shouldn’t invest in Crypto-assets or with YouHodler unless they are prepared to lose all of the assets money invested. Cryptocurrency is considered as a speculative and high‑risk investment and consumers are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Learn more about various risks below: