Solana’s Marinade Finance Acts Swiftly to Ensure FCA Compliance, Blocks UK Access

DeFi UK

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Fredrik Vold

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Last updated:

October 24, 2023 14:02 EDT

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Marinade Finance, the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol on the Solana blockchain, is blocking users in the United Kingdom from accessing its platform over “compliance concerns.”

The concerns are related to newly introduced regulations from the UK’s regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Upon accessing Marinade Finance’s website from the UK, users are now met with the following warning 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 Conduct Authority. Users may withdraw liquidity, claim delayed tickets, or delay unstake via our SDK.”

As of now, Marinade Finance boasts the highest total value locked (TVL) on the Solana blockchain, with $266 million spread across its various staking products.

The entire Solana blockchain has approximately $370 million in assets, data from DeFi tracking site DefiLlama shows.

In response to promotion rules

Although no official statement has been given by Marinade Finance, the move to block access for UK users is believed to be in response to the FCA’s new promotion rules that aim to regulate the marketing of crypto-related products or services.

Among other things, the new rules ban incentives such as free non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and airdrops for users, strategies that are often used by decentralized exchanges (DEXs).

Geo-blocking for UK users has also been implemented by Orca Finance, Solana’s largest DEX.

The new rules entered into effect on October 8, and major crypto firms like Binance and OKX have already taken steps to comply with them by launching dedicated domains for British users.