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Building on my 2024 warning, my latest Forbes article digs deeper.

Uniform frameworks ignore Bitcoin's decentralised, no-issuer structure, flatten risks, confuse consumers, and push activity offshore - undermining the UK's hub ambitions.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/01/19/why-bitcoin-shouldnt-be-regulated-like-crypto/

At the beginning of 2024 I wrote an article in Forbes on how UK regs were already undermining our crypto hub vision.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/01/11/uk-undermines-crypto-hub-vision-as-us-approved-bitcoin-spot-etf-approval/

"The UK is getting the balance wrong by failing to differentiate clearly between Bitcoin and other crypto assets and by not offering timely, actionable guidance."

As I highlighted to Cointelegraph, Gemini's departure from the UK is a warning sign for policymakers chasing crypto hub dreams.

Firms like Gemini are focusing on markets like the US and Singapore, where high compliance costs and limited opportunities don't outweigh the benefits.

Businesses will stay and scale here if the economics make sense. It's time for clearer rules, faster guidance, and real differentiation to make the UK competitive again.

Full article: https://cointelegraph.com/news/gemini-exit-tests-uk-crypto-hub-ambitions

“Gemini’s exit seems to be about friction. The company is leaving the UK, Europe and Australia while focusing on the US and Singapore, which tells you capital is moving to jurisdictions where firms can operate with clarity and scale.

Prolonged regulatory uncertainty in the UK makes it harder to hire, invest and build compliant operations, and that has real consequences.”

This is what I told Payment Expert on Gemini's exits.

Gemini is describing a regulatory regime that is more expensive and less certain than alternatives, leaving firms to reallocate to where they are treated best.

If the FCA and UK policymakers want innovation here, they need to fix that rather than celebrate frameworks that chase business away.

Full article:

https://paymentexpert.com/2026/02/06/gemini-lay-offs-exits-three-markets/

Gemini has announced it is leaving the UK, alongside exits from Europe and Australia, and is refocusing on the US and Singapore.

I discussed exactly this risk at the Financial Times Digital Assets Summit last May.

This is what happens when compliance becomes cumbersome and prohibitively expensive. Smaller companies are pushed out first. Over time large and established businesses reassess whether it makes sense to continue operating in an environment where regulatory uncertainty, cost and process complexity keep increasing.

Gemini is not a small startup, it is one of the largest regulated exchanges to have operated in the UK.

When firms of this size choose to concentrate activity in jurisdictions they view as more business friendly, it reflects how growth conditions, capital allocation, and long term viability are being weighed.

What we are seeing is business leaving the UK, reduced competition, slower growth, and fewer companies choosing to build here.

This is an important moment for policymakers and regulators to reflect on how current frameworks are affecting business confidence, competition, and growth in the UK.

https://support.gemini.com/hc/en-gb/articles/46255474469275-Gemini-closing-accounts-in-the-UK-EU-and-Australia-Everything-you-need-to-know

I’m not trying to save the system (at all). I’m trying to reduce the damage it does to people using Bitcoin today. We may differ on tactics, but the threat you describe is exactly why disengagement isn’t an option for me.

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I understand why you view it this way. But there are practical issues that cause real harm to people in the UK. For example, the FCA still does not properly distinguish between bitcoin and crypto. Add to that the influence of stablecoins, the flow of money, and increasing centralisation and co option.

I am fully aware there are forces at play, much like those Simon Dixon talks about, that make this feel pointless at times, and in some respects I agree. But there are things that can be done to improve conditions for people buying, holding, and mining bitcoin in the UK.

I set out some of these concerns in an article I wrote ten months ago. Much of it still stands, and in fact several aspects have become worse. My conclusion now is that while they cannot fully capture the base layer, they will try. Companies like Tether, and those linked to it, will increasingly build and control L2s.

I am not saying it is perfect. Bitcoin is not perfect. But where we can help steer understanding and educate and change harmful policies …..it is better that we exist than that we do not.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/01/20/is-trumps-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-a-threat-to-freedom/

Critique is cheap. Building is harder.

Far from pointless. The issue is the U.K. is still in its shitcoin phase.

If you follow our work, you’ll see what we’ve achieved.

https://bitcoinpolicy.uk/blog-1/f/bitcoin-is-officially-property-under-uk’s-new-property-act-2025

We did have big plans, as set out in our 2026 goals. Unfortunately, after a year of fundraising and seeing companies choose to work with crypto lobby groups, we started this year with two strong potential supporters. One later decided not to take on any additional trade associations, and the other again opted for a shitcoin lobby group.

The lack of funding has had a serious impact on the team’s available time, and the combination of these factors landing at once has meant we’ve had to scale back significantly.

We will continue with the work outlined in Section 1, but have had to place the tasks in Sections 2, 3, and 4 on hold until we can secure funding.

https://bitcoinpolicy.uk/blog-1/f/shaping-bitcoins-future-in-the-uk-our-policy-goals-for-2026