31st October

You can read the last “This week in crypto” here.

For many UK investors, the tax aspects of crypto assets now feel far more immediate. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has ramped up its guidance and warning messaging: if you buy a token, swap one crypto for another, spend a token or withdraw fiat, you may have triggered a taxable disposal event. That means keeping detailed records of when you bought, what you paid in GBP, when you sold or swapped, and how any gain or loss arises.

Beyond that, the introduction of the Crypto‑asset Reporting Framework (CARF) for service providers from 2026 means crypto service firms will feed transaction-level data to HMRC. One report suggested that more than 65,000 warning letters were sent last year in suspected crypto tax non-compliance.

For a retail investor using platforms like coinpass, or for a pension scheme or B2B treasury evaluating crypto exposure, the takeaway is this: crypto access may seem simple, but the tax department’s interest is real. The era of “I’ll deal with it later” is closing fast.

It’s also important to highlight something often missed: even if you’re using a tax-efficient wrapper (for example, a pension or an ISA), the underlying event still matters. The change in your token holdings, the swap, the spend - all of that needs to be treated with the same discipline as selling shares or real estate.

In short, tax is no longer an afterthought in crypto. It must be built into how you think about the asset, how you document your transactions, and how you communicate with any provider or platform you use.

One of the quieter but structurally important developments this week is around the protocol NEAR Intents (built on the NEAR ecosystem). According to DefiLlama data, the cumulative bridge-aggregator volume exceeds US$2.3 billion, with roughly US$23.5 million processed in the last 24 hours.

Why does this matter for UK users of coinpass? As the ability to move value, tokens, and assets across chains becomes more fluid, it begins to change how people engage with crypto. Instead of being stuck on one chain or managing multiple wallets and bridges separately, the infrastructure is increasingly layered, abstracted and focused on user experience. One breakdown described NEAR Intents as “eliminating friction for users who want to swap, bridge or stake without thinking about the chain underneath”.

That said, with greater infrastructure complexity comes greater responsibility. If you participate in multi-chain assets or engage with staking or cross-chain liquidity, the questions you must ask include: What’s the custody model? Who audits the bridge? What happens in a freeze or exploit scenario? These aren’t minor footnotes - they can determine your outcome if something goes wrong.

From a strategic standpoint, this week’s numbers reinforce that crypto isn’t just about price moves or speculation: it’s about infrastructure. And for investors and platforms alike, infrastructure matters just as much as token selection.

The UK investment landscape for crypto became more interesting this week. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) lifted the retail ban on crypto exchange-traded notes (cETNs) as of 8 October 2025, meaning retail investors can now access listed products that track underlying crypto assets.

For UK retail and pension-facing investors, this means you have more options: direct crypto ownership, or access via a listed product (an ETN) which may sit in familiar investment accounts like stocks & shares ISAs or pension funds. However, the picture is not without its complexities. According to industry commentary, while retail access is open, HMRC’s approach to tax-wrappers will force many investors to move their holdings into a less familiar form of ISA (Innovative Finance ISA) from April 2026.

Here’s the practical takeaway: If you invest via a cETN, you need to understand that you don’t own the underlying coin. There is issuer risk, tracking risk, liquidity risk, and different tax treatment compared to holding the token directly. A recent explainer noted these are securitised instruments - essentially debt that tracks a crypto asset - so if the issuer fails, you could lose more than just price exposure.

For pension allocators, funds, or advisers in the UK, this expansion of product access is meaningful, offering cheaper access and more regulated formats. However, they must carefully evaluate governance, suitability, and wrapper eligibility. The advantage of direct token exposure (control, self-custody, full upside/downside) remains different from listed product exposure. Both routes should be evaluated, not assumed equal.

Over the last 24 hours, the crypto market has experienced a modest and broad-based pullback, aligning with broader weakness in risk assets. The total global crypto market capitalisation is approximately US$3.78 trillion, down about 3 % on the day.

Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading near the US$108,000–US$109,000 range; Ethereum (ETH) sits roughly around US$3,900.

From a sentiment perspective, the retreat comes even as structural progress continues (product access, infrastructure expansion, regulatory framing). That gap between “what is happening” (building) and “how people feel” (cautious) may well be important for the coming weeks.

For UK-based investors or pension managers considering crypto exposure, this means the price environment may be choppy, and volatility is a real concern. However, the product and infrastructure layers are advancing nonetheless, which may provide an opportunity if aligned with a clear strategy, disciplined risk management and appropriate time horizons.

This week, the crypto narrative for UK investors underwent a significant shift: tax rules and enforcement are gaining increasing relevance, cross-chain infrastructure, such as NEAR Intents, is gaining real traction, and access to investment products is expanding through listed formats.

For users of coinpass - whether retail, B2B, or focused on pensions - the message is clear: progress is being made in access, utility and regulation. However, that does not reduce the need for vigilance around tax, custody, product design and overall risk.

Price moves may capture headlines, but what matters now is how you engage with the system, what choices you make and how you position for the next chapter.

At coinpass, we provide a secure and efficient platform designed to meet the needs of professional and corporate investors. Whether you’re looking to diversify your treasury, explore new markets, or integrate digital assets into your financial strategy, our platform offers the necessary tools and expertise.

Book a call with coinpass today.

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