Cryptocurrencies go mainstream

In 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sternly warned that “crypto-assets have no intrinsic value” and that investors in them “should therefore be prepared to lose all the value they have put in”. Now the regulator has had a change of heart. From 8 October, ordinary retail investors will be allowed to buy crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs). Broadly similar to exchange-traded funds (ETFs), ETNs make it quicker and easier to gain exposure to assets such as bitcoin and ether. London-listed...