During a panel in London on 11 December 2018, Andreas Utermann, CEO of considerably one of the largest investment management firms Allianz Global Investments (Gl), made his remark that crypto assets should be ‘outlawed’. His reasoning was that cryptocurrencies have undoubtedly lured people to use up all their savings to invest in the market and should be shut down as soon as possible.

It is not a secret that crypto is not having its best times in the year 2018 with the alarming declines they have. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, lost approximately 75% of its value, while the next big two namely Ethereum and Ripple dropped 90%.

Last month, a report stated that the decline in the cryptocurrency market has eased U.K.’s regulators’ pressure to implement new policies and restrict the industry. Government officials and FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) representatives indicated that the decline gives them sufficient time to balance the importance of protecting crypto investors while not hindering the innovation of new financial models. Utermann was “personally surprised” that regulators have not taken the opportunity to further restrict crypto operations while the market can be said to be at its lowest.

FCA head, Andrew Bailey, who was also present at the panel commented on Utermann’s “outlaw” suggestion saying that the remark was rather harsh but agrees that cryptocurrency does in fact lack “intrinsic value”. He did mention that the FCA is carrying out their duties to observe crypto assets as well as keeping a close eye on ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings), which is an alternative method for firms to raise funds using cryptocurrencies.

The British government is undoubtedly paying close attention to the crypto industry. In October, the government’s Cryptoassets Taskforce proposed to implement a new three-fold classification that depended on separate cases for crypto assets. Additionally, the FCA was confirmed to be considering the measure of placing a ban on crypto contracts for difference (CFDs) due to integrity issues in November.