Solana DeFi protocol Marinade Finance restricts UK access following new FCA rules

Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Marinade Finance has blocked users from the United Kingdom in compliance with the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulations.

CryptoSlate attempted to access the website from a U.K. IP address and received the following response:

Access to this site is unavailable in the United Kingdom due to compliance concerns relating to rules and regulations promulgated by the U.K. Finance [sic] Conduct Authority. Users may withdraw liquidity, claim delayed tickets or delay unstake via our SDK…”

Marinade is a staking solution designed for the Solana network. The protocol has around 75,000 users, with the total value of assets locked on it valued at $241 million. This makes it the largest DeFi protocol on Solana, contributing nearly 70% of the total value of assets locked on the blockchain network, according to DeFillama data.

FCA rules draw action from crypto companies

The FCA introduced new regulations earlier in the year that govern the promotion of crypto products in the region. The financial regulatory body had emphatically pledged strict enforcement, accompanied by the threat of penalties that included up to two years of imprisonment, unlimited fines, or a combination of both. These regulations officially came into effect on October 8th.

Consequently, several crypto companies have taken steps to either adapt to these rules or announce their departure from the country.

Crypto companies like Bybit and PayPal have exited the market, while OKX has restructured its operations to conform with the new regulations. On the other hand, other major crypto companies, Binance, PayPal, and ByBit, have chosen to exit the jurisdiction, citing the new regulations.

In addition to these measures, the regulator published a list of over 100 unauthorized crypto companies operating within its jurisdiction, including prominent crypto exchanges like HTX and KuCoin.