The city minister has called for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to take a softer and clearer approach to new cryptocurrency marketing rules – only days after they were introduced.

In the run-up to the new regulations coming into effect earlier this month, a letter from Andrew Griffiths to the UK regulator asked for greater leniency.

The updated rules, which ban unauthorised cryptocurrency companies from advertising to UK customers, set new standards which are among the toughest in the world.

In addition, the penalties, which include an unlimited fine and potentially up to two years imprisonment, apply to all crypto firms both UK-based and abroad.

In the letter, Griffiths informed FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi that crypto companies had expressed concerns about the uncertainty regarding the new rules, due to elements such as the FCA not yet providing clear guidance on what firms must do to comply.

Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free

Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning

Other concerns raised by Griffiths include extent of activities covered by the new rules.

Some firms shared with him that they didn’t realize decentralized finance, a form of crypto trading that bypasses intermediaries like exchanges, would fall under these rules – leading them to be surprised that their global websites might be affected.

In response, the FCA said it did not have the powers to change the rules as they were now set by legislation, commenting:

“The shortened implementation period meant we could not publish the guidance before the regime came into force.”

It added, that it had “raised concerns multiple times” that the government’s decision to speed up the introduction of the rules from six months to four, claiming it cautioned that it would create “a problem for the industry”.

The city minister’s pleas follow in the wake of the FCA issuing 146 alerts on the first day of the implements of its new rules to crack down on rogue crypto currency marketing.