The UK FCA Crypto Regime Explained: Registration, Authorisation and the 2027 Deadline

Last reviewed: 2 October 2026

The UK is adding full FSMA authorisation for specified crypto activities on top of its existing anti-money-laundering registration and financial promotion rules. Until the new regime starts, firms providing in-scope crypto exchange or custody services in the UK must register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the anti-money-laundering rules. From 25 October 2027, anyone carrying on the new regulated crypto activities by way of business in the UK will need authorisation under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), unless an exemption applies.

What does the FCA regulate before October 2027?

Anti-money-laundering registration. Amendments to the Money Laundering Regulations (SI 2019/1511) came into force on 10 January 2020. Since then, cryptoasset exchange providers and custodian wallet providers doing business in the UK must register with the FCA before they start trading. Registration is about money-laundering and terrorist-financing controls. It is not an assessment of whether the firm is financially sound or keeps customer coins safe. The FCA’s AML regime page says its role “is limited to AML/CTF registration, supervision and enforcement only”.

Financial promotion rules. Since October 2023, under an order made on 7 June 2023, promotions of qualifying cryptoassets to UK consumers fall under the FSMA financial promotion restriction, wherever the firm is based. A promotion is lawful only through one of four routes: it is made by an FSMA-authorised firm, approved by an authorised firm with permission to approve promotions, made by or on behalf of an unauthorised MLR-registered crypto business under the article 73ZA exemption, or covered by another exemption. The FCA’s PS23/6 rules, confirmed as final in June 2023, add risk warnings, a ban on incentives to invest and appropriateness checks.

What changes on 25 October 2027?

HM Treasury made the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/102) on 4 February 2026, fully in force from 25 October 2027. They add seven regulated activities:

• issuing a qualifying stablecoin (article 9M), broadly a fiat-referenced stablecoin offered from an establishment in the UK, subject to the article’s conditions;
• safeguarding qualifying cryptoassets and relevant specified investment cryptoassets for others, or arranging for someone else to do so (9N);
• operating a qualifying cryptoasset trading platform (9S);
• dealing in qualifying cryptoassets as principal (9T), and as agent (9W), which count as two activities;
• arranging deals in qualifying cryptoassets (9Y);
• arranging qualifying cryptoasset staking for others (9Z6).

The same instrument also sets rules for public offers of cryptoassets and admissions to trading (regulations 7 to 10) and a market abuse regime covering inside information and market manipulation (regulation 20).

The FCA published its final rules in a set of policy statements on 30 June 2026, then perimeter guidance (PS26/18) on 16 September 2026 on when an activity needs authorisation, including for overseas firms serving UK consumers. Our crypto regulation pillar guide compares the EU and US rules. The UK regime is separate from the EU’s MiCA CASP licence, which is granted under EU law by EU regulators.

How does the authorisation gateway work?

The FCA set an application period from 30 September 2026 to 28 February 2027. Its gateway page explains how existing firms are treated:

• No automatic conversion. MLR registration does not turn into authorisation. Firms already authorised for other business apply to vary their permissions.
• Applied in the window. The FCA expects to decide these applications before 25 October 2027. If it has not, a saving provision lets the firm keep providing crypto services until the application is finally decided, including during an appeal to the Upper Tribunal. In some circumstances the FCA can direct a firm into the transitional provision instead.
• Applied late. A firm that applies after 28 February 2027 but before 25 October 2027, and is not authorised by the start date, enters the transitional provision. It can then carry on the new activities only as needed to perform contracts made before it entered that provision, and cannot take new contracts with new or existing UK customers.
• Did not apply. The FCA says such firms must run off their UK crypto business before the regime starts and get no saving or transitional cover.

Our report on the FCA crypto authorisation window covers the opening and the FCA’s warnings.

What did the FCA cryptoasset register show on 2 October 2026?

We loaded the FCA’s list of registered and formerly registered cryptoasset firms on 2 October 2026 and counted the records.

The 14 include eToro (UK), Interactive Brokers (U.K.), Robinhood U.K. and Standard Chartered Bank. The register does not show which firms plan to carry on a new activity. Those that do would generally apply to vary their permissions. Any of the other 48 that intend to carry on a new activity would need a new FSMA authorisation, the e-money firms included: the FCA says e-money and payment firms also need it. By the “MLRs Status Effective Date” field, which we have not checked against each firm’s original registration date, 20 of the current registrations date from 2021, 9 from 2025 and 10 from 2026 up to 2 October; the most recent is Robinhood U.K., on 31 July 2026.

Each entry shows the legal name, reference number, address, MLR status and status date, not the services offered, finances or custody set-up. The register page also warns that customers are unlikely to be protected by the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for most cryptoassets.

How do you check a UK crypto firm?

1. Match the legal entity. Find the company named in the terms of service, then search for that exact name or its reference number on the FCA register. A group brand is not enough.
2. Read the status, not the logo. “MLRs Registered” means the firm passed anti-money-laundering checks. “Authorised” on the main register means FSMA permissions for specific activities; open the permissions list to see which. The 2026 Regulations limit the MLR crypto register to firms that are neither authorised cryptoasset firms nor specified investment cryptoasset firms, so after October 2027 check an authorised crypto firm’s permissions on its main entry. Authorisation for unrelated business is not the same thing.
3. Check the date. A “Formerly MLRs Registered” status or a recent change is a reason to ask questions.
4. Check the FCA Warning List for clones that copy a real firm’s name and number, and call the firm using contact details from the register, not from an advert.
5. Remember the gaps. The register does not show reserves or whether a firm has applied in the gateway.

Our guide to reading a VASP register entry explains each field in more detail, with worked examples.

After 25 October 2027, comparing this list with the crypto permissions on the main register will show which of these firms moved into the new regime. The MLR register will not disappear: in-scope exchange and custodian wallet providers must still register unless they are authorised cryptoasset firms or specified investment cryptoasset firms.

Sources

• legislation.gov.uk: The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/102), regs 1, 7-10, 20, 40 and Part 7, and new RAO articles 9M, 9N, 9S, 9T, 9W, 9Y, 9Z6 and 88F
• legislation.gov.uk: SI 2019/1511 (MLR amendments, 10 January 2020) and SI 2023/612 (crypto financial promotions)
• FCA: Overview of the cryptoasset regime policy statements (30 June 2026) and PS26/18 perimeter guidance (16 September 2026)
• FCA: How the gateway will operate (updated 30 September 2026)
• FCA Financial Services Register: Registered and formerly registered cryptoasset firms, accessed 2 October 2026