Katie Harries, Coinbase’s head of policy for Europe, said a proposed U.K. crypto rule could restrict customers’ access to decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols through regulated platforms when a protocol has no eligible applicant for authorization.
Harries said the proposal may make venues authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) the only places where regulated firms can execute customer orders. She said many DeFi protocols have no organization positioned to seek that status.
That gap could leave customers without a route to those protocols through regulated services, Harries argued. She urged the FCA to revise the proposal, saying the loss of access through regulated platforms could in practice bar DeFi access.
The issue, as Harries framed it, is how regulated platforms can process customer orders when a protocol has no eligible organization seeking authorization.
