Largest DeFi protocol on Solana reportedly quits UK market, citing FCA rule

Marinade Finance holds over $265 million in total value locked, accounting for 70% of all funds locked on the Solana blockchain.

Marinade Finance, the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol running on the Solana blockchain, has reportedly started blocking users from the United Kingdom. Customers in the U.K. discovered the problem on Oct. 23 while trying to access Marinade’s website from local IP addresses and were met with this message:

“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 Finance has around 75,000 users with a total value locked of over $265 million at the time of writing, accounting for 70% of all the funds locked on the Solana blockchain. 

Related: Huobi, KuCoin, over 140 crypto exchanges ‘non-authorized’ — UK regulator

While the message from Marinade doesn’t specify the rules, the protocol isn’t the first to quit the U.K. market in recent months. On Oct. 16, crypto exchange Binance stopped accepting users from the U.K., citing certification issues with its local business partner. PayPal has also halted crypto transactions for its U.K. customers, as did Bybit in late September.

On Oct. 8, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced the Financial Promotions (FinProm) Regime for cryptocurrency companies to promote “fair, clean and transparent” advertising in the crypto industry. Some companies, including OKX and MoonPay, have already announced they plan to comply with the FCA rules.

Cointelegraph contacted Marinade Finance for further information but did not receive an immediate response.

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