Payments startup Bottlepay said it has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to carry out crypto-asset activities in the U.K., making it the first Lightning network-based firm to win permission from the country’s financial regulator .
- Bottleplay, which is owned by bitcoin investment company NYDIG, allows users to make micropayments using messages on Twitter, Reddit and Discord on the Lightning network, a layer on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that enables transactions to be carried out more quickly.
- FCA registration demonstrates that a firm has met the watchdog’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations. The FCA became the overseer for such matters in the U.K. in January 2021, requiring all crypto-asset firms to register in order to continue to operate.
- Bottlepay is based in Newcastle in northeast England and was purchased by New York-based NYDIG for around $300 million in stock last October. It is available in the U.K. and across Europe.
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